North Main Street no. 1 -North Dana
North Main Street no. 2 -North Dana
North Main Street no. 3 -North Dana
Our hike into North Dana began at Gate 35. The gate is located on Old North Dana Road, which is off of Route 122 in New Salem. I might have mentioned parking at numbered gates before, but I might take a minute to explain. The Quabbin is surrounded by a series of numbered gates that block the roads that enter the wilderness. Visitors can park at these gates and walk in to explore the area (unless you are on the Prescott Peninsula). I like the numbering system because it gives you a point of reference. There are numerous roads that traverse the Quabbin, so it helps to identify the various points of entry.
From Gate 35, we walked south on a derelict road called North Main Street. It is closed to vehicles, which makes it a great walking path. The road runs along the north east side of the Quabbin toward the area formally known as North Dana. The village center of North Dana is submerged but you can explore other parts of it from North Main Street or Gates 36 or 37. If you follow North Main Street far enough, you can see where it runs into the reservoir. On the day these photographs were taken, the water level was very high. As you can see in the photograph, North Main Street no. 3, the water is creeping up the ruts in the old road. I have been to this spot in the middle of the summer when the water is much lower. There is a small point covered in bricks that you can walk on, however on this day it was under water. I find this scene very surreal. It was once a functioning road, but now it just nowhere. I would expect to see something like this in a dream, like a metaphor for a path in life being obstructed by some all powerful force. To be walking along and see it in real life makes me want to pinch myself sometimes to see if I wake up.