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Current group: rec.nude
The Arches, Massachusetts
| El Dorado Hot Springs | | BBp | | El Dorado Hot Springs | | BBp | | El Dorado Hot Springs | | swim_n_paddle at yahoo.com | | El Dorado Hot Springs |
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| | From: | El Dorado Hot Springs | | Subject: | The Arches, Massachusetts | | Date: | Sat, 22 Jan 2005 05:40:27 GMT |
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[For private and club use only. Not to be reprinted or rebroadcast in mass
media without express permission of the authors. Copyright 2004-2005 El
Dorado Hot Springs.]
The Arches
Directions:
From Rt. 20 in the center of Chester, Mass, take Middlefield
Street north out of town. Follow the paved road as it follows,
crosses to the east side, then follows again the river and
railroad. The road leaves the river and railroad and begins to
climb a long hill. Take the 1st and only left on this hill, a
very prominent, unmarked dirt road. At each of several
intersections, bear left. The first camping/swimming area is
down on the left, the most "public" of the several areas which,
during the week would probably be great for natural recreation.
For a more remote setting, continue to the tracks, go right
along them, west, following them until a woods roads bears
right. Follow that road, making a sharp left at the first turn,
and drive onto the first arch. Reverse direction, following the
abandoned railed west for 0.8 mi. to the second, most private
arch, also a good site for sunclad recreation and camping.
Should it be necessary, be sure to speak up for standards. This
area has extremely high potential.
Rating:
4 Moons, at least
Report:
The Arches in the Chester/Bancroft area of the Berkshires of
western Mass, is an area which has been used for sunclad
recreation since the 50's, at least, and probably for hundreds
of years before that by aboriginal people. The Arches is a set
of stone bridges along the West Branch of the Westfield River,
the longest river in Massachusetts by virtue of its 4 branches,
the East, Middle, Dead, and West. The arches were designed and
built over 150 years ago by Whistler's Father, we kid you not,
the father of artist James Abbott Whistler, 1834 to 1903, who is
known best for his famous painting, "Whistler's Mother". Called
keystone arches, these bridges, like the ancient pyramids of
Egypt, use no mortar or any other kind of binding material.
They're held together entirely by gravity and while they're
unsuitable for long spans, they are capable of spanning very
deep ravines, up to 100' in the case of Chester/Bancroft.
Primitive camping can be done at The Arches under the present
ownership, a developing company taking gravel out of a small
pit. If you see any of these people, stop and talk to them and
ask them if it's alright to go to "the swimming hole". They
could care less about nudity. Drive to a spot of your liking,
and camp right near or in your vehicle. A remote possibility
exists that if you arrive on a Friday, that the road may be
closed off until early Monday morning, though a 7 year veteran
told us that he has camped there for up to a week at a time, and
there's never been any problem with ingress and egress.
Clear, clean water, a trout angler's paradise. Very rural and
quiet. No gawkers. Peace and quiet, except for the plaintiff
sound of an occasional passing train high up the mountainside
above the nude area. Large sunning rocks, small sandy beaches,
total privacy in most spots. Waterfalls and large pools, some
12' feet deep, large enough to swim laps in. Good alignment to
the sun. Small, well balanced groups on weekends. A quiet place
of solitude, where, even on weekends, one is most likely to
experience the tranquility of rubbing shoulders with no one
other than Mother Nature.
The road in has a high center, but we had no trouble with a
conventional 1980 Toyota sedan with 160,000 mi. on it; the 7 yr.
vet. had a conventional Honda sedan. An extra treat is that the
road in leads through the ruins of the Gregory Art Mansion, once
inhabited by a locally famous, wealthy artist.
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| | From: | BBp | | Subject: | Re: The Arches, Massachusetts | | Date: | 23 Jan 2005 06:45:28 -0800 |
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| Ahh, Ok that's prolly where I read it, or maybe John sent it to me not
sure... I am a resident of W MA, and right now I think I'll stay out of
the skinny dipping areas as its a bit chilly, not to mention the newly
falling amount of deep snow cover...
BBp
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| | From: | El Dorado Hot Springs | | Subject: | Re: The Arches, Massachusetts | | Date: | Sun, 23 Jan 2005 16:39:16 GMT |
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Dear BBp,
"BBp" wrote in message
news:1106491528.240493.50720@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Ahh, Ok that's prolly where I read it, or maybe John sent it to me not
> sure... I am a resident of W MA, and right now I think I'll stay out of
> the skinny dipping areas as its a bit chilly, not to mention the newly
> falling amount of deep snow cover...
Right, NOT a good time of year.
May we ask what town you're from? We're both western Mass natives, from
Amherst and Russell, respectively.
C&B
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| | From: | BBp | | Subject: | Re: The Arches, Massachusetts | | Date: | 22 Jan 2005 07:28:33 -0800 |
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| Thanks for the directions, seems I've read this before in either
Vermont unveiled or Lee B's World Guild to Nude Beaches and Rec. but
anyway I saved it and will check it out again as the only time I looked
I didn't find any such place, then again I tried to do it from memory
as I was in the area did not have the book with me.
BBp
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| | From: | El Dorado Hot Springs | | Subject: | Re: The Arches, Massachusetts | | Date: | Sat, 22 Jan 2005 16:24:04 GMT |
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Dear BBp,
"BBp" wrote in message
news:1106407713.326309.282990@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Thanks for the directions
You're welcome. It's a really neat place; now that we spend most of our time
in the west, we rather miss places like The Arches.
> seems I've read this before in either
> Vermont unveiled or Lee B's World Guild to Nude Beaches and Rec. but
> anyway I saved it and will check it out again as the only time I looked
> I didn't find any such place, then again I tried to do it from memory
> as I was in the area did not have the book with me.
Actually, it's in neither book and wouldn't have been in Vermont Unveiled
since it's in Massachusetts. It was written up in NUDE & NATURAL, by John P.
(of Swim 'n Paddle); we believe we'd submitted it years earlier, but it
wasn't published. Then John P. (of Swim 'n Paddle) came along and stole a
whole other bunch of our areas and had them published too! SOB! But John P.
(of Swim 'n Paddle) is really a nice guy and we're friends. Actually we're
surprised he hasn't piped in on this one already. It's a rather unique
place.
Now if a few more people on this group would post something about nude
recreation...
Bill
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| | From: | swim_n_paddle at yahoo.com | | Subject: | Re: The Arches, Massachusetts | | Date: | 22 Jan 2005 09:18:59 -0800 |
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| Yeah, yeah.
The Arches is definitely a lovely spot, and part of my "Swimmin' Holes
of Western Massachusetts" tour, which a friend wrote up for N&N a few
years ago. He went on the "country girls" trip that year, but I
actually did it twice, the second one being the "city boys" version. I
owe most places on the tour to Bill and Camilla, either through
rec.nude postings or via the World Guide. But not Little River Gorge or
Pitcher Brook, I found them on my own.
Notes that I'd add would be that the dirt road is at the extreme limit
of usability for an ordinary passenger car. You will hear ominous bumps
and scrapes from underneath at some points! And the railroad track has
frequent fast trains in both directions. Stay clear of the rails and
don't do anything that would be likely to make a train crew radio for a
visit by the police.
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| | From: | El Dorado Hot Springs | | Subject: | Re: The Arches, Massachusetts | | Date: | Sat, 22 Jan 2005 18:05:51 GMT |
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Dear John,
wrote in message
news:1106414339.051447.49580@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Yeah, yeah.
>
> The Arches is definitely a lovely spot, and part of my "Swimmin' Holes
> of Western Massachusetts" tour, which a friend wrote up for N&N a few
> years ago. He went on the "country girls" trip that year, but I
> actually did it twice, the second one being the "city boys" version. I
> owe most places on the tour to Bill and Camilla, either through
> rec.nude postings or via the World Guide. But not Little River Gorge or
> Pitcher Brook, I found them on my own.
Hmm..... grumble, grumble... Didn't you go to Little River Gorge after
buying NUDISK and complaining that the precise directions were impossible to
follow because you weren't used to such accuracy?
> Notes that I'd add would be that the dirt road is at the extreme limit
> of usability for an ordinary passenger car. You will hear ominous bumps
> and scrapes from underneath at some points! And the railroad track has
> frequent fast trains in both directions. Stay clear of the rails and
> don't do anything that would be likely to make a train crew radio for a
> visit by the police.
Good advice.
Camilla V. & Bill P. (of Camilla Van Sickle & Bill Pennington, but don't
tell anyone, OK?)
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