Today I hit Mount Watatic and Nutting Hill, two peaks located at the beginning, or the end depending on how you look at it, of the Wapack Trail. What brought me here was the fact I recently completed hiking all of the major peaks along the Wapack Range, but I couldn’t remember what Mount Watatic or Nutting Hill looked like—I had climbed them a long time ago and I didn’t have any pictures from the hike to jar my memory.
Turns out I had a good excuse for my poor recall. I looked it up in www.peakbagger.com, where I track some of my climbs, and it turns out that the last time I climbed these modest peaks in Massachusetts was 16 years ago! Sixteen? How did that happen? I would have thought a few. Maybe ten. But sixteen? Really, where does the time go? If Bitcoin could mine more of that for their blockchains, now that would be something worth buying.
Summit of Mount Watatic
All Not Forgotten
The one thing I did remember was that I thought Watatic was pretty, with clear views and a fun trail. After sixteen years, I’m glad to report that those memories held true. The route up Watatic was extremely enjoyable, with stone staircases, some glacial erratics, and an easy grade for the mile hike up to the summit. What was strange, though, was the number of times I lost the trail without actually getting lost. The route up Watatic is open and wide, with plenty of soft pine-needle coverage, which disguises the trail’s delineation from time to time. I suppose when the trees of the surrounding forest are as spread out as the ones of the determined path, it’s easy to keep walking where you aren’t supposed to.
For an early spring hike, Watatic was a great call. The trail was dry going up, with hardly a hint of the recent snowfall. I didn’t need spikes or any other traction, and the morning sun felt warmer on Watatic than it did forty minutes back north. When I reached the summit, I was certainly standing on the highest peak around, with the exception of Mount Wachusett, resting far to the south, and Pack Monadnock due north. But they were both a long way away. What was close, however, was a little subpeak of Watatic that appeared to have a better viewpoint.
East Watatic & Nutting Hill
East Watatic presents as another outcropping of rocks, less than a few minutes from the main summit of Mount Watatic, and it’s worth the effort to take the extra steps to see it. The dry, rugged condition of the trail, in what should be the wettest time of the year, gave me the impression of a path leading to buried treasure. And you know what? It did lead to some treasure: an open vista encompassing Mount Wachusett and miles of views in every direction. Of the three peaks I bagged this morning, East Watatic was my favorite.
After taking a few minutes to enjoy the scenery, I crossed back over the main summit and made my way three quarters of a mile to Nutting Hill. This section of hiking didn’t yield much in the way of views, but it was a nice trail, nonetheless. Unlike the route up Watatic, it was also a little wetter. Small pockets of precipitation had gathered and frozen on various parts of the trail, like teardrops from a giant, and within each pocket was a unique design resulting from the way wind hit the puddle: one such formation looked like a snake trying to shed its skin.
Alone, but in Good Company
I didn’t cross paths with anyone on the trail today, but they were out there; I spotted a man in orange near the summit of Watatic, passing over the top while I came around from East Watatic; I heard a couple of women laughing through the thicket, as they went running over to Nutting Hill during my ascent of Watatic; I was aware of red squirrels and chipmunks, scurrying through the leaves as they began their spring hunt.
Back at the trailhead, I counted five cars, including my own. But they were different than the ones I had left behind when I first set out on the trail. When I first arrived around 8:20AM, a woman was already leaving with her dog, and another woman just arrived. It seemed that while Watatic wasn’t destined to get overcrowded, it could expect a steady stream of customers. Not too shabby for a little mountain in Massachusetts on an early spring Wednesday. I would love to know how busy the trailhead is throughout the course of the year. It strikes me as a good one to climb all year long and I have a hunch that five cars in the lot could be seen on a random Wednesday in January just as much as it could today.
I suppose I’ll have to go back and find out.
Walking southbound on the final steps of the Wapack Trail
Ascent Details: Mount Watatic, East Watatic & Nutting Hill Loop
Route: Wapack Trail (Overlap with Midstate Trail) > State Line Trail
Distance: Approximately 3 miles
Elevation Gain: Approximately 725 feet
Trailhead: Watatic Mountain Trailhead, Route 119 parking area, Ashburnham, MA
Description: From the Route 119 trailhead, follow the Wapack/Midstate Trail north to the summit of Mount Watatic, then take the short spur southeast to East Watatic. Return to the main summit and continue north on the Wapack Trail to Nutting Hill. Descend south on the State Line Trail back to the trailhead.
Total Time: 1 hour 45 mins, moderate pace
For more trailmaps of Watatic, this site has a good description of your options: Mount Watatic
Ice snake shedding its winter skin