Monument Mountain & Lion's Head

Given that it's late October, it seemed wise to squeeze a few hikes into this sunny, 70-degree New England Sunday. Feeling autumnal and still impressed with all of the history surrounding us, we headed to Monument Mountain in the Massachusetts Berkshires, for a mellow hike. We wanted to picnic where Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Oliver Wendell Holmes had 150 years earlier. And so we did. With all of the whining kids, unleashed dogs, and people on cell phones Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York could put forward. Even in the somewhat view-compromised picnic spot we had chosen for its lack of appeal to the madding crowd, a woman stood not 3 feet behind us and startled us with her long and sonorous nose blowing. Someone even saw my awesome vintage reproduction 1985 White Sox cap and mistook me for a Boston Red Sox fan. Go Cleveland!

We headed south to our adopted home state Connecticut, and once again, she rewarded us richly. We climbed Lion's Head peak, which folks believe is the loveliest part of the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut. What dogs there were were leashed, and the few well-behaved children we saw listened attentively as their parents explained how the Taconic range was formed and the roles of chlorphyll, carotenoids, and anthocyanins in the life cycle of the leaf. Ahh, the Nutmeg State.

Here's the view from Lion's Head peak with me looking extremely cool:
And Johnny S directing your attention to those lovely reds below:
I always like just walking through the woods at this time of year.