July 18, 2023. After Cold River Virgin Forest NNL, I drove west toward Mt. Greylock. By now it was midday and the bugs were out, so my hike into The Hopper, the area where Mt. Greylock’s Old Growth (Red) Spruce NNL is located, felt fairly icky.
With temps in the 80s and humidity in the 80-90% range, I sweat like mad as I hiked up Hopper Trail. I entered the area where the red spruce are located, then bushwhacked around trying to find definite red spruce trees. I am not a tree expert, and my Seek app wasn’t much help, but I think I encountered at least a few. If the photo below of the tall tree isn’t correct, my apologies. Anyway, I was in there tromping about, and I earned a couple dozen bug bites and a few spiderwebs in the face. I ‘whacked down to Money Brook Trail for my return trip to the car.
I then drove up Mt. Greylock to a couple of look-outs where one can see The Hopper area from a distance. I got a terrible photo, included below. I could have gotten a better photo if I had hiked Overlook Trail to a vista, but by then it was early afternoon and my tolerance for the heat and humidity had reached its limit.
The Visitor Center, which I visited on my way down, has the NNL sign and some nice informative displays. It also had a water bottle refilling station, of which I made use.
