We headed back to our campsite, had lunch and looked through the information. We found a few things that we knew we'd enjoy. Not far away, in the town of North Adams, was a mini-golf course. And in the same town was Mount Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts. And of course I was able to find a couple of ice cream parlors on the little map I picked up in the office.
We ate lunch, jumped back in the Jeep and headed out to North Adams, about a 20 minute drive. Soon we were at The Range.
A few families were playing already, but it was a pretty quiet afternoon there. The course was pretty with lots of flowering plants and a couple water features. The holes looked relatively tame, too, so I figured we'd have a quick game on our hands.
We started and per usual, Dave beat me on the first hole. We tied the second. And then the unthinkable. On the third hole, pictured above, I did it. Hole in one! 
Dave was so defeated. I almost got another one on the fourth hole (it just missed). We tied the front 9, so Dave was starting to feel a little better about himself. And then I did again. On the 10th hole, I got another one! 
I was officially kicking Dave's butt, since both holes I got one, he got three. But not to be completely embarrassed by his wife, Dave got an ace on the 11th hole. 
I had the take this picture twice because the first time, Dave was holding the flag backwards. We were pretty close for the rest of the game, and I think Dave was trying to get into my head. The 18th hole was pretty cute, the only one with a little theme to it. A testament to our proximity to New York State, but still loyalty to Massachusetts.
Of course, we both went to the Fenway side. Ultimately, I beat Dave by three, which is good enough for me. We turned in our clubs and balls, I mildly celebrated and then we headed through town, up to Mount Greylock.
Mount Greylock State Reservation is part of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. With a summit of 3,491 feet, the Scenic Byway to access it was steep to say the least! We made the slow climb up the mountain (it was a paved road, but at least Dave had his Jeep in the woods and his low gears definitely helped on the way down!), eventually reaching the summit.
Hiking trails cross all through the area, as well as some ski trails. At the summit is the Veterans' War Memorial Tower (above) and the Bascom Lodge. We went into the Tower and climbed to the top. 
This is actually the view towards home! The haze and lower clouds limited the view, but on a clear day, supposedly you can see pretty far East. 
We live pretty close to Mount Wachusett. 
The lodge was closed for a private event, but we were still able to enjoy the area. Probably the most interesting thing about coming up to Mount Greylock was the activity going on behind the Tower. We had parked in the back of the lot, so the easier way to get to the actual grounds was to walk around the back of the Tower. As we came through the trees on the path, there was quite a crowd gathered. Turns out, when you're up this high, it's the perfect spot for para-gliding and hang-gliding.
We watched for about 20 minutes as this para-glider tried to take off, but the winds weren't constant or direct enough for her to actually lift into the air. There were at least three other para-gliders and two hang-gliders in line for it that also ended up packing their gear up, but we know that a few of them had gotten off earlier in the day. When Dave and I arrived at The Range (which also has batting cages and a driving range in addition to mini-golf), we saw a guy dressed in the same gear as this woman, pulling on some wires and wrapping up what we thought was a parachute. Turns out, the The Range is perfect landing spot from here. (When we drove back down through, we noticed the wind socks in around the driving range to help the gliders land.) It was pretty cool to watch these people try, and the patience they need to wait for the right gust. I supposed if I was going to jump off a perfectly good mountain, I too would want the perfect conditions. We'd never seen anything like it before.
After walking around some more, we made our decline back into the town of North Adams. Again, the road was steep, but we made it. We had told the GPS to take us to an ice cream shop in town, so after we came down the Scenic Bypass, it took us back into town a slightly different way. We were on this "country road" and suddenly saw a road sign, intended for trucks: "Use Low Gear, 17% Grade" I wish I would have taken a picture. After going through the Scenic Bypass, twisting and turning up the mountain, but still steep, we were literally being dropped into the town below. Dave came to the crest of the hill and suddenly it was like being on a roller coaster. I busted out laughing and Dave was totally flabbergasted that climbing a literal mountain was less intimidating than what was now a residential road in this town. The good news was, it took us a lot less time to get back into town than it did when we were going up.
We got to our little ice cream shop and enjoyed an late afternoon treat. Overall, considering our plans were completely altered after spending the entire morning on a defunct 4x4 trail, we had a great day. We got back to camp a little after 5:00 pm and while we were making dinner (yummy calzones!), Dave asked me if I thought the group was off the trail yet. I actually didn't; I had a feeling they didn't have nearly as good a day as we did.
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