US-8423 Purgatory Chasm State Reservation

Near the end of the last ice age quite a bit of North America was covered in a thick layer of ice, in some place reaching a thickness of two miles. Around 12,500 years ago the planet began to warm rapidly, and the ice began to melt. Vast ice water lakes formed behind enormous dams, and when those dams broke, an unfathomable amount of water was released. The largest breach we know of in North America was in the Laurentide ice sheet in the northwestern portion of what is now the United States. Flooding from the breach of glacial Lake Missoula in the north violently rushed across southern Washington state and gouged out deep, deep channels known today as the Channeled Scablands. So much water was released during these events that cold water flooded into the Atlantic, halting the Gulf stream, with wide consequences across the planet.

Around the same time, an ice dam broke in the eastern portion of North America, releasing a smaller but no less destructive torrent. The main channel of water collided with a large outcropping of granite, tearing it apart, flinging house-sized boulders into the air and gouging out an 80- to 100-foot deep channel running roughly half a mile that we now call Purgatory Chasm.

Today this chaos, frozen in time, is preserved in Purgatory Chasm State Reserve in Sutton, Massachusetts. Purgatory is enclosed by, but not part of, Sutton State Forest, the latter being a later addition to the conserved area. It might look like a two-fer on the map, but they really are two separate parks and you'll need to hike a short distance between the two if you want to activate both.

Purgatory is a very popular recreation spot and in the summer you can expect crowded parking lots and a good number of people. Only a small number of those folks will wander beyond the chasm into the state forest, and my advice for summertime activators would be to park in the lot just to the north of the main chasm lot. It'll be less crowded there, and you can easily loop across Sutton State Forest to walk through the chasm itself. To the south of the main parking lot is a visitor's center where you can find information about the chasm and participate in lectures and guided walks in season.

It was a warm January day when I visited, sunny and in the 30s, and there were just a few visitors, mainly dog-walkers and a group of kids pretending they were rock climbers. The trail through the chasm was closed due to icy conditions, standard for the winter months, but I walked west along Charley's Loop at the top of the chasm and picked a spot on a ledge to operate from.

I started out using a 20m vertical suspended from a nearby branch, but it was slow going – we'd just seen a minor solar flare – and after several long unfruitful CQ POTAs I decided to swap it out for my EFHW wire, which gives me the freedom to hop bands. This worked much better and I settled down for half an hour or so and a solid 20 CW QSOs. I love saying hello to friends who I run into regularly on activations. Yesterday I was doing just that with Andre KL7AC in North Pole, Alaska, and I was just blown away that with not even enough power to read by and a tiny piece of wire I was able to communicate with Alaska while sitting out in the woods.

Purgatory was just my first stop on the way to US-4708 Sutton State Forest, but I was in no hurry and spent some time wandering. Since the chasm is surrounded by the forest, literally a ten-minute walk in any direction will put you inside the state forest. I hiked to the north along Forest Road Trail and picked a nice spot up on a ridge to operate from, but that's a tale for a different review!

Walking out of Sutton I veered west to take a look at Little Purgatory, a series of cascading falls in an area similar to but much smaller than the main chasm. It's back in here that you'll find what some believe are tombs – a short standing wall with a megalithic slab at an angle as a roof. It's tempting to think that these are natural formations, but they are nearly identical to tombs found in Ireland, where the sort of cataclysm that formed the chasm didn't happen. There are caves, here, too, some large enough to stand in, and one in particular that has a small exit, require park rangers to grease someone up every once in while to get them tugged out. Note that despite the name, Little Purgatory is located in Sutton State Forest, not in the Purgatory Chasm reference.

Out of Little Purgatory I picked up the Chasm Loop Trail, which runs atop and along the south edge of the chasm. The trail here is quite a bit steeper than the one on the north side, and several natural features along the way are marked, such as Fat Man's Misery, a narrow, six-foot fissure running across an otherwise flat area, and Devil's Pulpit, a large overhanging slab. There's a Lover's Leap, too, and indeed the chasm is a popular suicide spot for star-crossed lovers.

It's steep but not too steep, and as you work your way back toward the parking area you'll be given several beautiful looks at the chasm from different angles.

In terms of amenities, this is a very popular park and it is outfitted with a large number of picnic tables, restrooms, pavilions, and other services. A Visitor's Center offers guided interpretive tours, maps, and other necessities. There are stone fireplaces as well as metal grills, and if you prefer to operate from your vehicle you'll find plenty of spots.

Purgatory Chasm is one of the more interesting spots I've visited lately. To look at a geological catastrophe frozen in time is just fascinating, and the surrounding area has been occupied by humans for thousands of years, leaving traces everywhere. Some of the oldest stone structures I've run across – walls and devotional stones – are in and near the chasm. The end of the last ice age was only 12,000 to 15,000 years ago, well with the modern human timeframe, and indeed the worldwide release of water, often violent, during the meltdown was the source of flood and creation myths all over the world.

Purgatory is one of the parks that I will return to often for non-POTA hiking and exploration. Of course, it never hurts to have a radio in your pack...