In the mood for an outdoor adventure? Why not hike into purgatory? It's a chasm with a name that may make you think twice before going. In this week's great escape, 7's Chikage Windler takes us on a devilish hike in Sutton.
In the mood for an outdoor adventure? Why not hike into purgatory? It's a chasm with a name that may make you think twice before going. In this week's Great Escape, 7's Chikage Windler takes us on a devilish hike in Sutton.
It's one of the oldest state parks in the Massachusetts Park System. Since 1919, millions of park-goers have entered this quarter-mile granite gorge. It's steep rock faces tower 70 feet above.
"I mean you can tell where the name came from because of the chasm, and how you feel like you're deep and underground and all" Dragicevich says.
Inside the chasm, you can blaze your own trail, or for an easier route...
Follow the blue line... the blue line! That's the safest.
Just walk the well-marked path past tall trees and jumbles of giant-sized rocks.
11 year-old hiker Ian Stewardson says, "bunch of rocks...makes you want to climb a lot, climb all over, look at everything".
Along the way, you'll discover rock formations with intriguing names like "devil's pulpit" and "devil's corn crib." There's also a steep ledge called "lover's leap" and a narrow gap between 2 sheets of granite dubbed "fat man's misery."
Amy Warren, a hiker, says "looking at it from the top, I didn't even think I could fit through it, honestly, but it was neat! It was...not a lot of room down there."
And misery loves company, making this a challenge you just can't pass up.
Don't try this if you're claustrophobic. It's a tight squeeze that's every bit as daunting as it looks.
Once you make it out, you'll meet plenty of other obstacles proving a visit to purgatory can be punishing but rewarding as well.
Warren says, "it was nice, it was really nice. Pretty, lot of neat stuff to see, lot hidden things, caves and like little things under the rocks"
Boston to Sutton and back, just 98 miles. In my next great escape, Cape Ann, here we come. I'll take you to one of the most picturesque towns north of Boston.
(Copyright (c) 2005 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
