CAMPING
August 2004

at the back of our campsite	on a 5 mile hike in Savoy Mtn. State Forest
the tallest waterfall in MA	standing above the falls
looking down at the falls	resting before the long hike back

We camped for two nights at Savoy Mountain State Forest off of rt. 2 in northwestern Massachusetts right on the Vermont border. From Woonsocket it is a little under a 3 hour drive. We drove up on Thursday night and set up camp in the dark with a light drizzle falling. It tapered off pretty quickly so we didn't really get wet. Savoy Mtn. State Forest campground is a beautiful and secluded place to camp with generous and private campsites, and lots of trees leftover from the days when there was an apple orchard there. Actually, at 2,000 feet above sea level it is sort of an odd place of an apple orchard, but it certainly was picturesque and they say the smell is incredible during apple blossom time.

At the ranger station while checking in, he warned us about the bears and was adamant about us not leaving any food or trash in the campsite overnight so it was actually a pretty quick unpacking since we would be leaving all provisions in the car. We unpacked, blew up the air mattresses at the bathrooms (no water or electricity at the state parks), had an Oreo reward and then headed off to bed. If you did have a gander at the Savoy Mtn. web government website, rest assured that we were not shacked up in one of those fancy, schmancy cabins that they show.

So about those bears...apparently our idiot neighbors decided that the ranger must have been joking about the bears (not to mention the gazillion warning signs at the ranger station & bathrooms) because the morons left out their trash among other things at the table. Sure enough...about four in the morning the bears were over there crunching soda cans and having a rollicking good time marauding their campsite. I was a nervous wreck of course, but needn't have been as the bears were totally occupied next door and didn't want a thing to do with us rule-following campers who put everything in the car for the night.

It certainly was cold up there...not even 70 during the days and about 50 at night. This was the weekend in August that was very fall like and even at home it was only around 70. Needless to say, we were chilled through by the next morning, but we put on a second pair of pants, a few shirts and that sort of took care of the cold. Of course it was a bit windy too and that went right through us...but then again...it's camping and you are supposed to be cold & grimy and entirely without the comforts of home.

On Friday we drove down the road to where some hiking trails started and hiked for a little more than two hours. We were rewarded with a superb look at the tallest waterfall in MA, although we were definitely exhausted by the time we finished hiking. Before driving back to the campground we took the back roads out to the main road to the local convenience store for some ice and saw one of the bears run across the road. Even the little cub was quite large! Back at the campsite we relaxed and read until dinner when we could finally have the fire to warm up to. We spent the night hanging out inches from the heat, roasting marshmallows and making s'mores (of course).

Oh, forgot to say that earlier in the afternoon Stuart overheard the father in the campsite next to us telling his kids that he had better have some help tonight picking up the campsite so that the bears wouldn't come back. He said he wasn't too happy to look out of the tent in the middle of the night and see the huge father bear chowing down on their junk, strewing it all around. We couldn't help but laugh about that. We dutifully packed our foodstuffs and trash into the trunk and there were no bears bothering us.

Saturday was a little warmer which was nice. After breakfast we walked to South Pond which was accessible via wooded path from the campground. It was a nice pond, but North Pond promised to be nicer so we returned to the campsite so that Stuart and Miranda could don their bathing suits. We took the fifteen minute hike through the woods to North Pond which was surrounded by day picnic areas and a lovely, sandy beach. The water was FREEZING, but those two daredevils braved the cold temps and went swimming for a little bit.

Back at the campsite we ate lunch, relaxed and read (Stuart and Miranda played some soccer too) and then in the late afternoon we packed up the car and headed home. We originally intended to stay that night and pack up in the morning, but changed our minds and decided to head home then so that we'd have a full day back at home on Sunday rather than spending the most enjoyable hours of the day on the road. It worked out really well and we felt like we had gotten in plenty of outdoor time.