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Teabag Trail LbNA #1356

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Apr 28, 2003
Location:
City:Holyoke
County:Hampden
State:Massachusetts
Boxes:1
Planted by:The L Troop
Found by: Fuchsia
Last found:Oct 29, 2009
Status:FFFFFFFa
Last edited:Apr 28, 2003
Location: Mt. Tom State Reservation, MA
Date placed: 3/02/02 by The L Troop
Time: About 45 minutes (from parking area to letterbox)
Difficulty: Moderately Strenuous

Directions to starting location:
Mt. Tom State Reservation charges a small fee on weekends
and holidays during the summer season.
The entrance to the Reservation is on MA 141
at the Holyoke/Easthampton boundary, across from the Log
Cabin. Note on the
sign after the kiosk when the gate closes. Proceed
uphill for about 1 mile until you reach the park headquarters/
ranger station on the left. If the road to Bray Lake on the
right is open, there is a small lot a short distance down it.
Otherwise, park on the side of one of the roads near
the headquarters.

Access can also be had from US 5, about 4 miles north of
of the interection with MA 141 (Easthampton Rd). Stop
at the kiosk if necessary, then pass Bray Lake on the left, and head uphill to the headquarters building.

Clue:

(Note:Trail maps are usually available at park HQ)
Follow the paved road heading east from the headquarters building.
You are looking to pick up the Metacomet-Monadnock (M&M) Trail
northbound,which is marked with white blazes. Soon, the M&M will join
the road from the right and coincide with it for a short distance.
After about 1/5 mile, the M&M trail heads off the road to the left
(north), generally uphill.
After 15 minutes you will encounter a lovely vista to the west,
complete with benches, overlooking Easthampton.
There is a side trail here on the right, leading to the tower on Goats
Peak (visible to the right).
Continue on the M&M, passing through some mountain laurel stands and
crossing a service road. The blue-blazed Beau Bridges trail will enter
on the right,and also, shortly afterwards, the red-blazed Teabag
Trail. At this junction,
bear right onto the red-blazed trail. Pass through some more mountain
laurel,and then descend into a hemlock forest. Be on the lookout for a
small tree that has a left-pointing arrow and 4 red blazes on it.
Stop. This should be about 30-40 minutes into the hike, if you didn't
stop at Goats Peak. Look to the right
and notice a rocky cliff sloping down to the left, about 40 yards
away. Walk down the hill towards this cliff, staying to the left of
some fallen trees. Now climb
up the hill, staying to the left of the cliff (it's about 8' tall),
and stopping when you notice a log thickly covered with moss. Between
this log and a tree on the cliff (about 10-12 feet), there is a small
pile of basalt rocks in which the Teabag Trail Letterbox is hidden.

You can return via the same route, or take a left onto the Beau
Bridges Trail at the junction mentioned above, which leads you
downhill to several bridges over Cascade Brook. When you reach
pavement, take a left, and shortly, a right
onto the main reservation road. You are now a few hundred yards east
of where the hike started.