3/27/2011 Black Pond Hike

So today Mr. D and my buddy Mr. N and his finance took a hike on the other side of a highway from where myself and several other friends hiked Mt. Higby.  I have done Mt. Higby a bunch of times but could never figure out where the trail continued over the highway.  So after some reasearch we discovered that both sides of the Mt.  where just parts of the 63 or 63 mile Metacoment Trail, so we where like neat we should just be able to find the trail head on the other side of the highway, find some place to park and go from there.  That's exactly what we did.  It was a good day out, nice and cool but extremely windy once on top of the mountain.  The hiking was good, the trail was clearly beaten in to the forest floor, but there were also many different dirt bike and atv trails breaking off so we had to keep checking for the blue blaze of the Metacomet so we wouldn't end hiking head long into an atver, which we heard in the distance.  Once up on top of the mountain the view was amazing.  We could see all the way to New Haven which is approximately 20 miles to the south. 
The trail along the ridgeline was also a little precarious because in some spots there was maybe a foot between you and atleast a 150ft drop to a bunch of loose rocks at the bottom.  Needless to say it would be smart to fall to the left if you had.  On the way up each time we reached the summit of one ridge we would look farther south and see another one so we just kept on going until we were like ok who wants to get some beers which is what we did afterward.  Nothing like getting some beers after a nice little 4mile hike on a Sunday.
The hiking was good and in some spots it was pretty steep which just added to the hiking.  We met some woman who wanted to know if we saw any deer which we hadn't but I let her know that on my last hike I saw a black bear.  I think she almost deficated but then I let her know it was in Bloomfeild at Penwood State Forest and not around here.  That made her happy.  On the way back we deceided to get adventurous and do some bouldering up the side of one of cliff faces we had hiked on top on the way up the ridgline.  It wasn't to hard but it looked hard on the way up.. It's always fun to try and do some rock climbing when you go hiking as long as it's not let's say the American Wall on El Capitan.  Which I do not possess the testicular fortitude to even attempt, thinking about it is cool but doing it is another story.
Overall it was a good day, with some good people and some good beer.  Here are some pics from the hike. ENJOY