Massachusetts - Day 4 - Greenfield, Shelburne Falls

Historic Valley Campground, North Adams
Tuesday, 4 September 2018

This morning before we left the campground, I walked the dogs (for the 3rd time) and avoided other dogs but saw a man walking a brown-point Siamese cat on a collar and leash.  That's the second time on this trip I've seen someone walking a cat.  In fact, cats outside of RVs are really rare, let alone wearing a leash.

today's route

I went back through Northampton (Smith College) on today's route, forgetting they've got several bridges that have a clearance of only 11'0".  Complete with several warning signs and flashing lights.  When I came through the other day I tried to detour around the one on the main road, only to find another one.  I saw a car go through and there looked like plenty of overhead for the car so decided to trust my measurement calculations.  And obviously made it through okay, because otherwise I'd've had a lot to explain the other day about how I'd ripped stuff off my roof.

So here I was again, having forgotten the bridge problem, and decided since I'd done it once I could do it again, and sure enough I did.  I must be a little shorter than 11', but I don't think I'm going to risk any lower clearance than that without doing more measurements.

So for today's route, I started with a road that appeared to be going alongside the Connecticut River, and I guess it was because there were occasional highway signs saying it was a Massachusetts Scenic Byway - Connecticut River.  But since I didn't actually see the river, I couldn't swear to it myself.

I can say it appeared to be fertile, as you might expect from a large, long river like that.  There were small farms all along that road, growing all kinds of vegetables.  I saw lots and lots of corn, plus sunflowers, broccoli, yellow squash and butternut squash, pumpkins, chrysanthemums and, on a certified organic farm, sprouts.

I suddenly got a sterling upclose view of Mt. Sugarloaf, but I wasn't sure enough that that's what it was so I didn't try to find any place to take a photo.  Now I wish I had because for some reason there are almost zero photos online that show what I saw.  The only ones weren't marked as generally usable and I don't want to run into copyright problems.  Maybe I'll end up back over there before I leave.

Several of the farms I passed had signs that said "Preserved Farmland."  I've just looked it up and will include a link here details/agricultural-preservation because it sounds like an interesting idea.

Mass. Rt. 2 crosses the entire state, from Boston to Williamstown, and at least in the western part it's designated The Mohawk Trail, and is another Massachusetts Scenic Byway.

French King Gorge/Conn. River

I had heard about the French King Bridge over the French King Gorge and was aiming for that.  The gorge was cut by the Connecticut River and is 40' deep.  It looked and felt a lot deeper than that to me, though, with my medium fear of heights.  Gracie flatly refused to walk across - partly the wind, I think, but mostly the noise of the cars and trucks right beside us, which scare her even from a distance.  Dexter was happy to walk with me, of course, so we went far enough along for me to get this photo - and then I decided I'd had enough of that height.  It's a nice view though, isn't it?

 

bridge detail

The bridge was built in 1932 and was designated the most beautiful steel bridge (class B) of that year by the international steel builders or somebody - there's a plaque.

Oddly, the east end of the bridge sits on Paleozoic metamorphic rocks while the west end sits on Jurassic conglomerate rocks.  Okay, I don't understand all that either, but it's clear the gorge was made by a fault line between 2 geologic periods.  Wish I knew enough geology to appreciate all that.

The bridge's name came from the first European to discover it, a Frenchman obviously, who named it for his king, whichever one it was at the time.  I looked it up but have forgotten and don't really care.  Nice bridge, though, and the highway people have thoughtfully provided small parking areas at either end for people like me, some of whom were on the bridge at the other end.  There was a really odd sign at the parking areas I thought you might enjoy.

Greenfield was the next town down the road, where I had called a prescription refill in to the CVS.  I’m glad I stopped in that town, though, because it seems to be a nice place.  I got groceries while I was there, and then we tried to find some shade.  The day was getting hotter and more humid and, as I keep saying, we do live in a metal box.  We stumbled on a park with about 3 square inches of shade, which was better than nothing; it was in a neighborhood with sidewalks, so we were able to walk around a bit.

One of the houses had an enormous rhododendron in front, tall enough to reach the 2^nd floor windows – and that was a real feat considering the house was raised high enough to have a daylight basement.  That rhodie was absolutely covered with buds and looked like it’d be blooming like crazy in a couple of weeks.  In fact, I’ve seen quite a few rhodies at that stage lately, which seems odd since I went to that rhodie state park – wasn’t that Vermont? - where the blooms had all passed.  I vaguely remember my rhododendrons in Olympia (WA) blooming in August (I remember sunny and hot, which narrows down the possible dates).  Anyway, if they’re going to bloom around here, I hope I can see them.  Nothing as breathtaking as rhodies in bloom.

Down the road from Greenfield (after taking a wrong-road detour, as usual), I found Shelburne Falls.  I’d heard about their Bridge of Flowers and I’m glad I stopped for it. I was curious about where this idea came from and, in case you are too, I’m posting the town’s link to the history. https://www.bridgeofflowersmass.org/history 

Sheffield Falls is the 2^nd place I saw a Girls Club.  I’m only familiar with the Boys and Girls Clubs around Texas.  In both these places there seemed to be a lot of activity.

Driving into Charleton, I saw an official highway sign warning: Thickly Settled.

All along the way I saw thickly wooded hills – and then I was driving in those thickly wood hills.  I’m a little reassured to be able to report that there was hardly a fall color among them – they were all still green.  I imagine it’s still way too hot to make the trees be thinking it’s time to drop leaves.

About the time I passed the Mohawk Trail State Forest I saw a sign saying I was leaving Pioneer Valley, which means I have entered the Berkshires.

Next was the town of Florida, incorporated 1805.  That name seemed odd to me in this location.

Coming into North Adams, the map shows a very odd glitch in the road path.  I saw that little pointed thing in every map I looked at, and now I know what it is: an incredible hairpin turn that has multiple warning signs saying “Hairpin Turn” and 15 mph – and it’s on a hill with an 8% grade and signs telling trucks to use a lower gear.  These were not reassuring signs and the reality was about as bad.  It was just like switchbacks I’ve encountered on mountain trails, only this one was on a highway.

I mentioned it to the manager of this campground and she said oh she was so used to it she didn’t think anything about it.  But I made it.