Catching up - through the Pioneer Valley

Day 11: Northampton: A 4 mile run takes me from Look Park across the northern part of Northampton to the bridge crossing the Connecticut River. A few things I've learned:

• Look Park was created thanks to the donation of Fannie Burr Look - a million dollars, it says, in her 1930's obituary. Her husband ran the Florence Manufacturing Company, which became the Pro-Phy-Lac-Tic Brush (toothbrush) company.
• Northampton was originally called Norwottuck, or Nonotuck -- meaning in the midst of the river. Wikipedia says that the current name was given by an English settler who had come from Northampton in England, but there is a lot more Native American history to explore there...
• Calvin Coolidge not only has a bridge named after him, but he was also the Mayor of Northampton

Day 12: Norwottuck: A 7 mile run today along the Norwottuck Rail Trail. This is perhaps the only part of this journey where my actual running route mirrored the virtual running route! This rail trail is a DCR State Park, used to be an actual railroad (the Boston and Maine RR), and is part of a long term plan to create a 104 mile rail trail from Boston to Northampton (in progress... https://www.masscentralrailtrail.org)

Day 13: More of Norwottuck: 4 more miles takes me through the Lawrence Swamp to the current end of the Norwottuck Rail Trail (until they can complete the trip to Boston) I knew that the Lawrence Swamp was a great habitat for birds and an important conservation resource. I didn't know that it's actually an important source of water for the town. According to a UMass blog, 60% of the town water comes from surface reservoirs such as Atkins and Pelham, but 40% comes from groundwater from the Lawrence aquifer, that feeds the town wells.

Day 14: Daniel Shays Highway - A short 3 mile run takes me to the intersection of Rte 9 and 202 (Daniel Shays Highway). Daniel Shays seems to me to be an interesting corner of American history - there are the stories about hiding out in the Holyoke Range horse caves when the Massachusetts militia were sent after him and his men. But it's also an interesting story about the common citizen and fighting back against government control and taxation. 

Day 15: The Quabbin - Another 4 mile run takes me to the entrance to the Quabbin Reservoir -- lots more history here about how Boston took over 4 towns in Western mass to create a drinking water reservoir for Boston. Way too much history to report here, but worth reading more about, and exploring, now that it's a protected watershed area.

Day 16: Ware - A long 9 mile run today goes all the way through Ware. Ware was another town that was part of this 'Equivalent Lands' compromise that gave Connecticut settlers land in Massachusetts to make up for mis-surveyed land. Ware also took in a lot of the displaced citizens from the towns that got washed out by the Quabbin. 

Day 17: A long 19 mile hike takes me out past Charlton.

Williamsburg to Look Park

Days 9 and 10 - 6 miles on Sunday and another 4 miles today takes me from Chesterfield through the town of Williamsburg (not to be confused with Williamstown!) as well as Haydenville, before ending up right at Look Park in Northampton.
A few notable things:

The Chesterfield Scout Reservation was on the way -- this reservation, owned by the Boy Scouts for 50 years, was sold in 2018 to the Tolgy Wood organization, who runs an annual Renaissance Faire there, and who were planning to run all sorts of events and Live Action Role Playing events. Covid seems to have hit them hard, though, cancelling all of their events. I hope they make it through.

Williamsburg is the next town to go through -- seems to be famous for it's great flood of 1874, when the town was nearly wiped out, and it's 'quaint' downtown. Tracy Kidder, the famous author, lives here. I do wonder who Williamsburg was named after - I don't think it was Ephraim Williams, who left his estate and money to found Williamstown and Williams College. It appears, however, that there were a lot of Williamses in Western Mass during that time, so maybe it was one of his cousins...

The landscape changes from the wooded hills of the west to more and more retail and restaurants -- the Williamsburg Snack Bar, Bread Euphoria, Scotti's, and, yes, a Dunkin Donuts. We've arrived in Northampton.

Chesterfield Gorge

Day 8 - 3.2 miles
The road winds into Chesterfield, past the Chesterfield Gorge. The Trustees of Reservations have maintained this site for a long time -- it's a beautiful place to hike. The British Redcoats apparently marched back to Boston over this gorge when the old post road ran over a bridge over the gorge. The roads open up here from the woods of Worthington into more open pasture land (used to be a lot of sheep grazing out here) and into colonial/federal buildings. It's an interesting contrast

Here's a link to the gorge from the road
https://goo.gl/maps/yc9aAM5kBzyFQhup6

Worthington Health Center

Day 7
4 more miles takes me down near the center of Worthington, past the Hilltown Community Health Center. I have a lot of respect for the people that work in rural community health centers. I didn't realize this is where it was. I don't know that I would have the medical skill to work out here in the countryside - it is isolated, and not a lot of support. I am glad they are out here - it'd be interesting to talk with them about their job and how they manage. If I were actually, and not virtually, running through town, I'd probably stop in.

S Curves through Worthington

Day 6 - A 3 mile run followed by 1.5 miles of walking and birding takes me down Rte 143, past the Worth the Wait chicken farm, past the custom dog leash and collar leather business, past the Glen Cove Wildlife Sanctuary, and past the Worthington State Forest. Lots of woods and winding roads. Lots of maple sugaring going on in these woods, I think.

https://goo.gl/maps/h7ZetTZhQCMPDvtw8

Here's the map so far:

https://goo.gl/maps/ogC4H1TGcD8votEy9

Who are the Schnopps?

Day 6
Long 6 mile run today, with an extra 2 miles of walking at the end of it, takes me to a total of 28 miles so far. Today's route took me along the wooded roads of Hinsdale and Peru, specifically Frank Schnopp Road, and George Schnopp Road. I saw those roads on the map and thought - there's a story, I'll just look those two names up! A lot harder to find anything out than you might think -- all of the links lead to real estate listings (if you're up for purchasing some property near some nice waterfront in Western Mass, there might be a place for you)
Still don't know who the Schnopps were, except for one Frank Schnopp who was a businessman in the area. Next time I meet anyone from Hinsdale I'll find out for you.

Here's a nice view of what the local roads look like
https://goo.gl/maps/ZSPbendBLMzW2FfT7

Dalton and Crane and Wahconah

Day 5
A four mile run takes me out of Pittsfield and down Rte 8 through Dalton, Mass. As I click through town I notice a big mill building on the south side of the road. "Crane's Government Mill' the googlemap says. I had forgotten that Crane & Co - that company that seems to make all of the good stationery cards - was based in Dalton, Mass. What I didn't know was that Crane is responsible for making ALL of the paper that US Currency is printed on. All of it. Since the 19th century.

The rest of the run heads out of Dalton past Wahconah Regional High School. Wahconah, incidentally, after which the local baseball stadium and waterfall are also named, refers to a young Native American woman who was being courted by two different men. The chief and medicine man decided that fate should decide who gets to marry her and came up with some contest involving Wahconah in a canoe without a paddle, and whichever bank of the river she went toward, that would be the man she would marry. Of course, Wahconah managed to rig the contest and marry the guy she wanted.

The things you learn when you run across Massachusetts...