November 27th 2015: Hiking in Central Western Massachusetts

I started out this morning with a quick bite at Mike's Donut Shoppe in Leicester. This place serves breakfast as well, but I decided to just go with a Honey Dipped Donut, which was just alright.

I was still hungry, so I stopped next at the Rise N Shine Diner, a small town diner in East Brookfield, getting the Meat Lovers Omelette (full of bacon, sausage, ham and cheddar cheese).

 Glad that hit the spot.

After these meals, it was on to my first hike at Quabbin Park, where the paths I took are shown below in pink.

I first went to get a glimpse of Pepper 's Mill Pond,

Then went on the Dike Trail to get to a view of the Goodnough Dike.

My next hike was at the Holland Glen area in Belchertown. I have been here in the past to find the Holland Glen Falls.

This time I went past it to try to find the Holland Glen Lookoff,  but could only get partial views at the top,  which was in private property as well.

My next hike was up Metacomet Hill nearby at 10 Orchard Road, the path I took shown below in pink,

but there were no views to be found here either.

At this point,  I decided it was time to to get Lunch,  which would be at Bread and Butter, a modern looking breakfast place in Amherst.

I went with the Pork Belly Benny (Poached eggs,  Maple sriracha Pork Belly, English muffin, hollandaise).

Really delicious stuff, a definite recommend from me.

From here,

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,

23 Brigham Lane

it was on to my next hike at the Podick Conservation Area, where the path I took from the junction of Sunderland Road and Route 116 is shown below in  pink.

The path to the pond Here was pretty overgrown, and I had a little trouble finding it, but it wasn't worth the effort in the end.

Next, I went up Pulpit Hill nearby, where the path I took from Pulpit Hill Road is shown below in pink.

Once again, nothing to see here.

My final short trek for the day was at the Upper Mill River area, located at 127 Bridge Street, where there were nice views of the rapids here

and from the power lines.

At least not all my hikes today were a waste of my time.