A four mile scenic hike on historic trails, including a stretch on a 200 year old oxcart road. The name “Elder Trail” is in honor of the Native Elders who once lived in these hills. Elder Trail meets up with the Mahican/Mohawk Trail which has a very long, steep rise. We’re saving it for another day. At the start of the trail there are many glacial erratics (huge rocks deposited by glaciers) as well as many very old, very tall pines that are marked with small metal markers telling their height.These were marked ten years ago. That’s Joe looking up at one that was 168 feet tall. Because of Tony’s dehydration that happened last week, we are now making sure to take more group water breaks. The very wide Deerfield River was to our left for a good part of the hike and we found a sweet place on its banks for having lunch. A walk through very tall red pines that were planted in the 1930s for land conservation was strikingly pretty. I spied a “stinkhorn” fungus by the trailside and we had a lot of fun daring to take whiffs of it. The odor is …. not at all pleasant! As we neared the end of our hike we saw kayaks waiting in the river for the water release which would give the Deerfield River a lot of swift current and a lot of fun for the kayakers. We also saw big rafts being put in. These all go eventually behind my little red house down river in Charlemont! Back out to the Zoar Road where likeminded people, many with out of state license plates, come to park as they set out on wonderful hikes, rafting, kayaking and fishing. After the hike, three of us headed to Ashfield Lake for an afternoon swim. It was 3 o’clock by then. The water was cold, and the swim was really fun and very invigorating. See many of you soon at Matt and Theresa’s wedding! Love, Penny 
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