The Bray Loop Metamorphosis Letterboxes (3)
Holyoke, Massachusetts

Location: Mt. Tom State Reservation, MA

Date placed: 7/28/02 by The L Troop
Time: About 45 minutes
Difficulty: Easy - good for children.

Directions to starting location:

Mt. Tom State Reservation charges a small fee on weekends
and holidays during the summer season.
The closest entrance is off US 5 in Holyoke, about 4
miles north of Easthampton Rd (MA 141). Lake Bray is
a short distance past the kiosk. The parking
area is immediately past the lake, on the left.

The other entrance to the Reservation is on MA 141
at the Holyoke/Easthampton boundary, across from the Log
Cabin and Harvest Valley restaurants proceed
uphill for about 1 mile until you reach the park headquarters/
ranger station on the left, and take a right turn. Lake Bray
is about 1 mile down the hill, on the right. Note on the
signs, after the kiosks, when the Reservation closes.


Clues:

(Note: Trail maps are usually available at park HQ)

You will be travelling around Lake Bray in a counter-clockwise
direction.

At the parking area look for an informational map at
the beginning of a gravel path, with a brown gate behind
it. Begin walking down this path. You will shortly pass
a concrete bench on your right. At this point, note a
row of boulders on the opposite side of the path. Stand
in front of the fifth boulder, facing the lake. Look for a tree with
some exposed roots, or walk 15 paces at a bearing of 80 degrees.
Metamorphosis #1 is in the roots somewhere. This area
can get crowded, please be discreet.

Continue along the gravel path, taking the first left onto
a trail with wooden curbs. Pass a picnic table on a deck
overlooking the lake, and then cross a small wooden bridge
over a damp area/vernal stream. Take a left onto a blue-blazed
trail. Bear left at the double blaze, following the arrow to
continue. Look on the right for a tree with 4 trunks, which is
cradling a fallen tree. Metamorphosis #2 is covered at the bottom
of this tree.

Continue along the blue-blazed trail. A trail comes in from the right,
continue to keep left. A bridge will appear on the left, cross
it and continue going left around the lake.* The trail is blazed
yellow now. At a point where the trail bears
right and uphill (double yellow blaze), look towards the lake
for an interesting tree which is growing at an angle of 45
degrees from the ground, and then straight up. Stand in front of this
tree and take a bearing of 185 degrees. Walk about 45 paces in this
direction. Look for a flat rock that is on the right side of the
cliff,
near the end of a log. Metamorphosis #3 is under this rock.

You can follow the trail along the lake to the main road. Take a left
at that junction to return to the parking lot.


*At the time of this writing, the bridge over the inlet stream to
Lake Bray was in disrepair, and roped off. If this is still the case,
here are alternate directions to Metamorphosis #3. Return to the
parking
lot by retracing your steps. Walk past the building with rest rooms,
and onto the main road. Walk along the road beside the lake, and take
a right into the woods on a yellow-blazed trail (right past the point
where the wooden guardrail ends). At all junctions, keep right so that
the lake is always close. When you see the interesting tree described
above, continue with those directions.