Lydia Jankowski

Greg Gregory

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Hike50 participant

Date completed: 10/25/2021

Home base: Meriden, CT

Miles: Hiked 52.4 miles. Not sure what the sections translate to, but did several loops of Seven Falls, Bear Hill, did Higby a few times, Mount Pisgah, the Metacomet from Route 15 to Edgewood Rd, the northern-most section of Metacomet down West Suffield Mountain.

Trail Story: 

Last year I hiked the whole Mattabesset trail and this year I repeated some of that and decided to finish off what I haven’t done of the Metacomet. I live in Meriden, so I really like being able to hike close to home and it’s always funny to me to walk from one major road to another through the woods.

Scott Butwill

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Hike50 Participant

Date completed: 10/23/2021

Home base: Litchfield, CT

Miles: I live in CT and completed the whole CT NET, so now I’m chipping away at MA. Completed a series of out and back hikes in various parts of MA, including the Royalston Falls area, Mt Grace, Wendell State Forest, Mt Holyoke, and Mt Tom.

Trail Story: 

I enjoy section hiking long-distance trails like the NET and AT because you can string together a bunch of adventures to create a big adventure. And there is a definite satisfaction when you complete a walk across an entire state.

Katrina Griffin

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Hike100 Participant

Date completed: 10/04/2021

Home base: Belchertown, MA

Miles: I hiked along sections 7-9 in MA at least once a week since January!

Trail Story: 

This is the third year I wanted to reach 50 miles on the NET and the first year I actually did it—in fact, I have done 100+ miles so far. I needed an excuse to get outside and exercise and this helped me to do that.

Amanda Barrow & Carl Clements

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Hike100 Participants

Date completed: 10/04/2021

Base: Easthampton, MA

Miles: January 2021 = MASSACHUSETTS ONLY section 1, 2, part of 6, 8 9…..24.8 miles
Feb 2021 = section 10, 11, part of 6 many times…..14. 5
March = parts of 6 many many times (we live VERY close to Mt Tom!!) ….21 miles
April = parts of section 6, 11, 13…..24 miles
May = section 14, 12 small section, 15, 5……..12.5 miles
Sept = section 6 entire ridge Mt Tom……4 miles
October = section 7 Bare Mountain…. 5 miles (and October just began!)

TOTAL MILES 105.8 so far and we still have two months to go! Yippeeee

How would you describe the NET? Absolutely Varied and Gorgeous = the New England Trail, a real gem, worth fighting for and hiking on.

 

Trail Story: 

We absolutely LOVED section #15 in MA…it was so gorgeous! Lots of water, ponds, birdlife, interesting terrain. We want to go back and swim in Wendell State Forest. A gem! We didn’t even know anything about this area, we love it!

What do you love about the NET? I love all of the birds that we see and wildflowers. I always learn something new on the trail, so lucky to be able to experience it.

Advice for NET Hikers: Go at your own pace, always. Enjoy the journey, and keep exploring!

 

Suzanna Binelli

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Hike100 Participant

Date completed: 10/02/2021

Miles: We hiked the entire Metacomet and part of Mattabesett and Menenkatuk, also points for posting photos.

Base: Brookfield, CT

What do you love about the NET? There are so many different terrains….hills, roads, rocks, grassy fields, slight bushwhacking, mud, dark pine forest, new growth birch, wildflowers…

Advice for NET Hikers: Just go do it and bring snacks.

Trail Story: 

After many years of not hiking I set out in Sept 2020 to start again and completed the AT through CT into NY. I then set out to complete all the blue blazed trails in CT which led me to the NET hike challenge. I am currently at 290miles of BB trails completed and hiked every single weekend through Sept 2021. I first hiked the AT in CT in 4th grade and was an avid hiker for many years, mostly getting out on my local trails or the AT in other states if I was close. I’ve also hiked at Glacier nat part and in Yellowstone and they are magnificent, but I really love walking all over the state I live in and seeing the plants and rivers and towns that make up the state I grew up in.

Eric Oest

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Hike50 Participant

Date completed: 10/04/2021

Miles: I hiked on sections 7-9 throughout the year.

Base: Palmer, MA

Trail Story: 

I went from “dadbod” to “radbod” by completing 50 miles on NET.

Debra Sayles

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Hike50 Participant

Date completed: 09/21/2021

Miles: I hike, I love Farley ledges and Seven Sisters. This is not hard to do!! I did try Section 18 this year. That was new.

Section 17, 18, Long Mt Norwattuck, Seven Sisters, Hermits caves, Mt Grace and little Grace. I doubt I am done for the year. At 64 points that I have remembered to track, but still will find more paces to go.

Base: Worcester, MA

Advice for NET Hikers: Start with some recommended trails and branch out from there. 

Trail Story: 

Farley Ledges and Hermit Caves. We were at the trailhead and the neighbor engaged us in conversation. I hope I relay this accurately. His family has a history of giving back. His property borders a very popular spot. In an effort to preserve his and the other neighbor’s property AND allow people like us to enjoy the wonderful area these property owners worked with officials to set up a small parking area (on their property) and sign up the trails. Sometimes you hike and wonder “who set this up?” In this case, I met the who. And I am grateful to him and everyone else that helps make trails available to us all.

Judy McWilliams

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Hike50 Participant

Date completed: 09/16/2021

Miles: I hiked 50 miles on the following Sections: 2, 5, 6, 8,16, 17 MA, and 20 CT. 

Base: Shelburne Falls, MA

Describe the NET: The New England Trail goes from point A to B. Often one needs to carpool to complete a section or reverse the path doing half of it (as in this time of covid). The trails of MA and CT have some wonderful hills, mountains, rock scrambles, flatlands, etc. to meet the hiking abilities of many hikers. 

What do you love about the NET? Every place takes one to beautiful places and views throughout MA and CT with a variety of hiking challenges. 

Trail Story: 

I belong to a number of hiking groups and normally hike only with groups covering lots of Ma and CT lands. I am delighted whenever the leaders have posted one of the New England trails since this is my challenge not theirs. This year I needed to end my challenge early as I am going to California soon. I surprised myself by setting up some private hikes with a few friends on the NET so I could accomplish this challenge before leaving the area and to show them some other beautiful areas. My favorite hike is Section 20 CT – I hiked this area 5 times!

Kelly & Adam Tull

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Hike100 Particiants

Date completed: 09/26/2021

Miles: We section hiked a lot of the trail that we did not hike last year. We did a backpacking trip in May of the first 67 miles in Connecticut, from Guilford to Timberlin Park in Berlin. We did 6 miles out and back of section 15 in CT, 9.6 miles out and back of section 16 in CT, 4.4 miles out and back of section 1 in MA, 2.8 miles out and back section 2 in MA, 7.5 miles out and back of section 6 in MA, 8 miles out and back of section 7 in MA, 1.5 miles of section 19 in MA (this was part of another backpacking trip we did from Tully trail up to Mt Monadnock via the M-M trail). 

Base: Fiskdale, MA

Describe the NET: Very diverse! Hikes ranging from easy to moderate, some with beautiful views! 

What do you love about the NET? I love that it is so diverse! We can pick and choose what kind of day we would like to have!

Trail Story: 

We had great year hiking this year! We did the first 67 miles of the NET in Connecticut as our very first backpacking trip! We stayed at the Godman Group Campsite, which was very nice and a great start to our trip. We also stayed at the Lamentation Mt primative site, which was perfect! We did a few day hikes to finish out the 100 miles, including another backpacking trip on the Tully trail and up to Mt Monadnock via the M-M trail. We spent one night at the Royalston Falls shelter, which was very nice, well taken care of! We finished out our 100 miles on one of our favorite hikes, up Mt Tom in Holyoke! Thank you for all the work that you do to maintain the trail! You can check out our adventures on our Youtube channel, as we have made ourselves some footage to help remember our experiences! https://www.youtube.com/user/Tizull

Sharon Fales-Bond

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Hike50 Participant

Date completed: 8/04/2021

Miles: Section 17-6 miles. Section 2-8.07 miles. Section 16- 7.14 miles. Section 3-8.54 miles section 7-3.4 miles. Section 1-5.18 miles. Section 6-5 miles, sections 8&9-9.53 miles

Base: Brookfield, MA