Most brutal Appalachian Trail section in Massachusetts? Jug End to Black Rock (And a Gnarly Detour!)

🧗‍♂️ Expectation: A smooth, glorious climb up the Black Rock scramble. 🌲 Reality: Falling face-first into a "gnarly bushwhack" and getting blocked by a sign. We started off strong at the Jug End Trailhead on the Appalachian Trail, feeling like absolute mountain goats. We conquered both the north and south peaks of Mount Bushnell, thinking we were unstoppable. Then, the trail decided to test our sanity with a bushwhack that felt less like hiking and more like wrestling a pine tree. 🌲🥊 Check out the video to see the exact moment we still had service and high hopes on the ridge line! 👇🎥 We finally made it to the foot of Black Rock, ready to crush the scramble and claim our spectacular summit views, only to find out… it was closed. 🛑 Shoutout to The Nature Conservancy for doing amazing work restoring the local habitats, but our legs definitely had a brief team meeting to cry about the missing views. Honestly, we couldn't even be mad. The Earth needs its beauty sleep. Even with the detour and the impromptu forestry wrestling match, the AT still delivered some seriously epic views along the way. 10/10 would get lost in the bushes again. Has a trail closure ever completely ruined your perfectly planned hike? Tell me your best "detour" stories in the comments! 👇