I suspect driving in the Jeep helps -- seat is at a good angle to support it, working the gas pedal is enough movement to exercise it without having weight on it.
(As I type this up the following Saturday, knees are doing really well and back to at least my recent baseline)
Monroe State Forest...I have some awesome pics from a scenic lookout on my good camera to download still:
Well shit...the knob was feeling loose the ride up and all of sudden it isn't attached while I was shifting going uphill :D. Threw it on the seat, worked my way to the side of the road to put it back on.
Central Shaft -- the 5 mile long Hoosac Tunnel is 1,000' beneath me at this point. While it took many decades of starts and stops to complete, they conceived of the tunnel in 1848 o_O :
Nice, freshly paved road (and a brand new bridge later on) that is the way to Route 2...and closed :/ (Road was in great shape the whole length)
Back in Savoy State Forest, let's poke down this road...
*sigh*...that doesn't look that difficult at all, but there is a little risk and without a winch I best back up till I find a place to turn around.
Tannery Falls area of Savoy:
Next set of shots, was following the DeLorme and found an awesome gem of an area of a state forest on the Savoy/Hawley line...could've taken a Subura through it (with only one section that would've challenged it)...but pretty much nothing to mark it, it's not even on the official maps for the state forests near it. Just a lot of really good CCC construction...and four(!) bridges. I assume they're in good shape from simple lack of use over the years.
Hallockville Road, Dubuque State Forest
Hawley is very small town (pop. 350) with the state forest in the middle; my understanding is a few of the state forest roads the state provide the gravel and the town the grader to keep them open as backups in case town roads are closed.
Guess I should've taken the other fork...or get a battery chainsaw.
Hawley, MA nearing Ashfield.
Ashfield, MA
116 & 112, Ashfield...that is probably the most mixed up breed and age herd I've ever seen in New England!
Couple pics from DAR State Forest
Now back somewhere around Hawley, I looked at the DeLorme Atlas wanting to avoid Northampton, didn't want to go too far north either, picked out a route on the map that just looked like regular town roads. Oh, about 45 minutes later there was one section I shifted into 4-Lo for control crawling down the washed out road :D
Coming out on the other side...it was at least Northampton & Hatfield water supply lands, mixed in with who knows what else. Wasn't expecting a tobacco barn in this little hollow! Still had another ridge before I'd be in the Connecticut River Valley proper.
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