Chickatawbut West (Finale) (Blue Hills Reservation)
Hike Type: Speghetti
Distance: 10.52 miles
Elevation: 1335 feet
Time: 3 hours, 53 minutes
Hiking Challenges: Blue Hills Winter Trace; Blue Hills Grid
Hiking Challenges: Blue Hills Winter Trace; Blue Hills Grid
The Hike
Time for the last hike of winter! The solstice is at 5:24 pm today, so I will definitely be done before then. I parked at the Braintree Pass Path trailhead, already suited up from my warm-up hike, and got right to it! It was still chilly outside, but thankfully not too cold, and the sun was getting warmer by the minute. There were a few other cars in the parking area, but I would be delighted to realize how few people I would see during my journey. I was dreading hiking along the Pipe Line, but I was delighted to learn that it was in decent shape. The flat section only had one short moment of squishy mud, and eveything else was firm and stable. It helped that some areas were still frozen over! It did get muddier as the incline started, which required some tricky maneuvering. I stuck to the lefthand side of the Pipe Line for this, but realized about halfway up the right side was dryer. It was the wettest by the Skyline Trail junction, but thankfully I survived unscathed.
I started my first round of wiggle around 3013, eventually landing along the Slide Hill Trail and Carve Path up Chickatawbut Hill. The Carve Path was an interesting route - an older burned section, a deer enclousure, an eroded path, and a bunch of confusing large cairns that bordered the trail. The climb was steep, but the breaks in the trees allowed the almost spring sun to shine on me, which truly felt revitalizing. Unfortunately, it was at this moment when I realized I forgot to bring a buff AND I forgot to take a puff of my inhaler - oof. There is a lovely open view near the top of the path, and every now and then I could smell a hint of spring.
Once up on Chickatawbut Hill, I had to do some wiggling near the yellow loop where I found what is likely to be the last needle ice of the season! I found myself stopping every time the sun hit me for some much needed lizard time. The power of the sun is incredible.
Next step was to descend the Skyline Trail from Chickatawbut Hill all the way to MA-28. The Skyline Trail descends gradually to a great view of Hawk Hill and Buck Hill, and then descends steeply over scrambles and slabs. It comes to another lower view, and then descends steeply again. At the lowest point, the Skyline Trail travels over flat land, before slightly ascending to a very, very wet area near the Pipe Line. At the jct. with MA-28, the granite trail marker has been uprooted and knocked over, but still intact.
I followed MA-28 for a few feet to now join the Hemlock Bound Trail, which was narrow and had the lovely mysterious yellow blazes. I did a bit more wiggling, which brought me to the loop with the Hawk Hill and Savoy Paths. Just before that loop, the Pipe Line crosses MA-28, and a few feet south of that jct. is an old trail no longer in use that I briefly explored. It seems to maybe connect to the Savoy Path terminus, but I didn't travel too far in. I know there is an old trail somewhere in this area that goes to the Pakomet Spring, but I couldn't find it easily (and still had much ground to cover).
After my loop I headed up back to the Savoy/Hawk Hill Path jct. to see the view just to the left of the junction, and then worked my way toward the Glover Path, where I was greeted by some impressive stone walls and two lovely deer with extremely fluffy white tails. I really enjoy trails like the Glover Path - long (for the Blue Hills) without other junctions. Very peaceful.
From there I made my way back to the Braintree Pass Path with an out-and-back on the Lee Path soon after. The rest of the Braintree Pass Path is a favorite of mine - again, long and peaceful. It's really pretty up near the height-of-land where the old Hemlock Bound Trail intersects. There are some seasonal views through the trees, and the trail terminates at an old barricade just before a steep cliff that plummets to I-93. Even more fun, I could see the barricade on the other side of the highway where it used to connect.
The rest of the Braintree Pass Path is a narrow footpath connecting the old terminus with the Laurel Path, and it's a bit messy. I was able to follow it decently, but it was unclear at times. The Laurel Path was easy and gentle as always, with rushing water near the Great Dome Foot Path. My final climb was on the Curve Path and then Sassaman Notch Path, which is where my lungs really started to get angry with me. I took my time and slowly made my way up, admiring a few well-trained dogs and the eerie burnt woods. Once finally in the notch I hit the 9 mile mark and quetioned my sanity - I really should have drank more water and had some more food, whoops! All I needed was to get up and over Kitchamakin Hill and then down Slide Notch to the car.
The final stretch of trail was much easier, and all I could think about was food, shower, and rest. I was grateful to only have seen a handful of people during this hike. I also remembered that I had hiked an additional 1.5 miles this morning, which definitely contributed to my level of exhaustion. This ended up being my longest-distance and longest-time hike of 2023! Especially when paired with my warm-up hike in Braintree. 12.18 miles/4 hours, 46 minutes! I'm glad I'm still revving things up, which will hopefully help me crush bigger hikes as the weather gets nicer and nicer. Now it's time to put the winter map away and get back to working on my second round of the 125-mile challenge!
Step-By-Step
- Park at Braintree Pass Path Parking (Chickatawbut Road & MA-28).
- Start hike along Braintree Pass Path (Red Blazes)
- At 3022, veer right onto Pipe Line.
- At 3011, turn right onto Bouncing Brook Path.
- At MA-28, turn around.
- At 3011, turn left to retrace steps on Pipe Line.
- At 3031, veer right onto Slide Hill Trail.
- At jct. with Braintree Pass Path, turn left onto Braintree Pass Path.
- At jct. with Bouncing Brook Trail, turn around.
- At jct. with Slide Hill Trail/Carve Path, turn left onto Carve Path.
- At 3065, turn right onto Skyline Trail.
- At second junction, turn right onto Stowe Path.
- At next junction, turn left to continue on Stowe Path.
- At terminus, turn left onto Sassaman Notch Path (Yellow Blazes).
- At next junction, turn around, and hike Sassaman Notch Path to 3094.
- At 3094, continue straight onto Sassman Notch Path (Red Blazes).
- At junction with Skyline Trail, turn sharply right onto Skyline Trail.
- Hike Skyline Trail to summit of Kitchamakin Hill and Fenno Hill (off-trail).
- Re-summit Chickatawbut Hill on Skyline Trail, and then follow Skyline Traill all the way to MA-28.
- At MA-28, turn left to Hemlock Bound Trail Trailhead.
- Hike along Hemlock Bound Trail to jct. with Bouncing Brook Trail.
- Turn right onto Bouncing Brook Trail.
- At 3011, turn left onto Pipe Line.
- At MA-28, turn around and hike to 3005.
- Turn right onto 3005, then make another immedite right onto Pakomet Path.
- At terminus, turn right onto Savoy Path.
- At MA-28, turn around and hike Savoy Path to 3030.
- At 3030, turn left onto Hawk Hill Path.
- Just before 3005, turn left onto Pakomet Path.
- At terminus, turn left onto Savoy Path.
- At 3030, turn right onto Hawk Hill Path.
- At 3044, turn left onto Glover Path.
- At 3040, turn right onto Slide Hill Trail.
- At terminus, turn right onto Braintree Pass Path.
- At 3155, turn left onto Lee Path.
- At terminus, turn around.
- At 3155, turn left onto Braintree Pass Path.
- At terminus, turn left onto Laruel Path.
- At 3130, turn left onto Curve Path.
- At 3135, turn left onto Sassaman Notch Path.
- At jct. with Skyline Trial, turn left onto Skyline Trail.
- At jct. with Slide Notch Path, turn left onto Slide Notch Path.
- At 3072, turn right onto Bouncing Brook Path.
- At 3042, turn right onto Braintree Pass Path.
- Return to car.
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