Ragged Mountain

This is the plan, not done yet, so take the notes as a plan. After West Rock and Higby, I wanted the one with the most climb to it, and Ragged Mountain is that one. It's the same traprock family as my favorites, part of the blue-blazed Metacomet ridge, but from everything I've read it's the ruggedest of the bunch, with actual rock scrambles instead of just a walk-up. That's exactly what I'm after next.

Here's what I've pieced together. You park on West Lane in Berlin and pick up the Ragged Mountain Preserve Trail, blue blazes with a red center dot, for a loop of about five and a half miles. It's rocky and scrambly, with steep pitches, and the payoff is a run of bare traprock cliffs looking down onto Wassel Reservoir and Hart Ponds, the kind of cliff-edge-over-water view that made Chauncey so good. Along the way there are rock formations, vernal pools, and even a small waterfall.

Real rock scrambles up to bare traprock cliffs, with Wassel Reservoir and Hart Ponds spread out below. The one on my list with the most climb to it.

Two things to plan for. First, parking is the catch. It's a small roadside pulloff tucked in a neighborhood at the end of West Lane, very limited, one side of the road only, so an early start on a weekend is smart. Second, some stretches aren't well marked, so I'll download the blue/red loop before I go and watch the blazes on the ground, especially where the trail splits.

So the plan is: get there early, climb up onto the ridge, follow the blue-and-red blazes around the cliff line over the reservoir, and finally get a hike with some real scramble to it. Same traprock views I love, more of a workout to earn them. I'll come back and write the real trip, with ratings, once I go.