This hike, co-sponsored by Q-MoB, Mass Audubon, and Housatonic Valley Association, is for LGBTQ+ people & their families (but pets are NOT allowed in the wildlife refuge) will split into two groups to make the hike more accessible to people with various outdoor abilities:

1) HARE GROUP: a Naturalist Led group that will cover more ground and explore the plants, wildlife, streams, beaver wetlands, forest, and other habitats that make up the diverse parts of this amazing wildlife refuge. Yokun/Beaver Lodge Trails Loop: An easy one-hour walk (1.5 miles) offering views of the northern beaver ponds and the Lenox Mountain ridge. Naturalist will identify plants and trees if the group is curious.

2) TURTLE GROUP: A Naturalist-Led group for people with mobility challenges, families with children, or people who just want to go slower and take your time exploring the plants, wildlife, beaver pond/wetlands, & forest we encounter on this shorter and more accessible All Persons/Pike's Pond trail: a mostly flat and easy 20–30-minute walk (less than one mile) around Pike’s Pond. If you let us know when you register, this group will have access to a Wilderness Rolater (special heavy duty walker for uneven terrain), and a Freedom Chair (all-terrain & can be used pushed by someone else or by someone who want to push themselves). All children under 18 must be supervised by their parent/guardian and registered by their parent/guardian.

WHAT TO BRING:

• rain-gear,
• appropriate footwear (that can get muddy),
• snacks, water,
• consider bringing hiking poles and cleats/crampons if you may need them or to lend to someone who may need them.
• $5 admission for Mass Audobon

WEATHER: Please check the weather in Lenox from your home before you leave for the hike, so that you will be able bring the right clothes to deal with any last minute changes in the weather. Weather in the Berkshires can change quickly and it always good to be prepared for rain, wind, & unexpectedly cooler or hotter temps than were forecast the day before. We will only cancel the hike if there is a forecast of a thunderstorm, and we will text you should this happen the day of the hike.

REACHING US DAY OF HIKE: If you have trouble finding us, will be late, or can't make it, please call/text Mitch 413-717-7816 or Bart at 503-734-6508

Use your preferred mapping application to navigate to:

Mass Audubon's Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary

472 West Mountain Road Lenox, MA 01240