Western Connecticut is very scenic, so as we drove north from John and Kathy's, we made sure to leave time for several stops.
Lover's Leap, New Milford, Connecticut. We parked by the striking Lover's Leap Bridge and hiked up to a nice viewpoint of the Housatonic River. A beautiful place for a short hike, just less than a mile. I'm unclear if the lover is supposed to leap from the bridge or the overlook, but either way, it was lovely.
Lover's Leap Bridge, New Milford, Connecticut
Housatonic River
Tom at Lover's Leap Overlook – Don't jump!
Bulls Covered Bridge, South Kent, Connecticut. John suggested this one. Tom and I are not ones to stop at every covered bridge, but this was a nice place to walk down to the river – the Housatonic again – and go rock hopping along the rapids.
Bulls Covered Bridge, South Kent, Connecticut
Tom sits on shore
Jana rock hops
Great Falls, Canaan, Connecticut. This is a roaring waterfall below a dam, still along the Housatonic River. It looked like there were some good hiking trails here, but we were running short on time and simply enjoyed the falls while having a picnic lunch. The water was ROARING!
Great Falls, Canaan, Connecticut
From the top of the falls
Trip high point number 4: Mount Frissell South Slope, Connecticut, 2,380 feet. The highest point in Connecticut is not at the mountain's summit, which is located in Massachusetts. The trailhead for Mount Frissell is in Mt. Washington State Forest in Massachusetts, just north of the Connecticut-Massachusetts state line.
Massachusetts trailhead to the Connecticut high point
Springtime blossoms
Beautiful day
The Mount Frissell Trail runs from Massachusetts into Connecticut, wanders back into Massachusetts to the mountain's peak at 2,454 feet, and then continues another 300 yards on the south slope of Mount Frissell to Connecticut's highest point, at 2,380 feet. The state high point is on the Connecticut-Massachusetts boundary and marked with a metal pin.
Mount Frissell
Jana at Mount Frissell's summit
Connecticut high point, MA-CT border
Tom and Jana at Conneticut's crest
We thought the trail would be busy since it was a springtime Saturday, but we only saw a handful of people during our 2.5-mile hike. The hike was moderately challenging and steeper than expected but very enjoyable on this gorgeous afternoon.
Jana enjoys the view
Tom descends the rocky trail
Lodging: Heart of the Berkshires Motel, Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Hotels in New England are kind of expensive, and so relatively speaking, this one was not. The room was very basic but fine for one night, and the manager was accommodating enough to give me the key code for the office so I could access the laundry facilities after hours.
Dinner: Antimony Brewing & Kitchen. The food was wonderful, not just your usual pub grub. And I had my single favorite beer here of the entire trip, an amber – usually not too exciting, but in this case, so delicious.
Elektron amber ale