Climbing WaCHEWsett

Every fall, Andrew and I try to squeeze in as many hikes as possible, taking advantage of as many gorgeous New England trails, and mountains as possible, and this, year, a primo textbook fall foliage season, was no exception.

This time, we brought a friend.

Anyone who follows me on any of the other social media platforms knows our two-year-old Cockapoo, Chewie, is quite the outdoor - and athletic - puppy.  He runs with me nearly every weekend, finishes the run, then wants to go for a walk.

So this time out, Andrew and decided to tackle a smaller mountain and bring our 16-pound brown-haired pup along for the outing.  Little did we know it was us who'd be left in Chewie's dust as we climbed Mount Wachusett in Princeton, Mass., just alongside Westminster.

(Mount Wachusett draws its name from a Native American term meaning "near the mountain.")

For many Mays over the last two decades, the E Streeters would take part in a 4/5 mile race up the mountain, and it was quite common for the race course to change from year to year, depending on trail conditions, construction projects, and roadway or trail access.

For this outing, Andrew and I decided to explore the Balance Rock trail option to start, a leg that occasionally served as the finish quarter-mile for the trail race.  Apparently, the boulders of Balance Rock are evidence of glacial activity that shaped the mountain thousands of years ago.

Courtesy of the Princeton Historical Society, here's what the trail path looked like more than a century ago: (the rocks haven't moved, but man, the trees have grown!)

We realized pretty quickly Andrew and I would be no match for Chewie's mountaineering.  He just instinctively knows how to follow a trail, regardless of its twist and turns.

This particular day, we had to contend with some rain.  The temps still hovered near 70, but the rainfall brought with it some fog, especially at the summit, and some slippery footing.

As Chewie scaled the rocks ahead of us, Andrew and I decided to explore the Semuhenna trail.  Now, knowing my late brother Gerald's passion for Native American history, I needed to know the origin of Semuhenna, since I had never heard the word before.  Imagine my surprise/disappointment to find it's the name Anne Humes spelled backwards.  She apparently was the wife of Bob Humes, a trailblazer of the Mid State Trail network.

The whole trail will get you just about four miles, before arriving to the summit, enshrouded this day with a thick, heavy fog.

This particular day, though, thanks to the weather, it also helped keep the population significantly low, giving us almost exclusive access to the trails.

The summit is just over 2,000 feet, so half the size of some of the 4,000 footers Andrew and I have tackled in years past.

Back down at the bottom of the slope, our Chewie bear wanted nothing to do with his distant relatives in the wood-carvings that surround the ski lodge, a popular ski resort in the winter months.

Undaunted by the climb, our intrepid climber, a little wet for the wear, stands ready to head home.  And the four-hour nap that awaits him there.

Chewie joined us in 2021 to scale Rattlesnake Mountain in the White Mountain range.  I'm thinking our four-footed pal is ready to tackle his first 4,000 footer.  Any suggestions from readers?  Chewie awaits your recommendations!