Each September when I receive the Walktober brochure from The Last Green Valley, I carefully peruse the pages and circle each hike or presentation that intrigues me.  This year my October weekends were mostly booked, and I knew I would only be able to attend one Walktober activity.  So it happened, but I lucked out on my choice for today, the last Sunday of the month.  At 10 am, I parked on Plimpton Street in Southbridge near where it dead-ends at a state Wildlife Management Area.  In the early 90s, the land here was sold to the Mass Department of Fish and Game; since then the DFW has managed it as the McKinstry Brook WMA and WCE (Wildlife Conservation Easement).

This walk was described as including a “discussion about the devastation the June 1, 2011 tornado caused here.”  Although I was not affected in any way, I remember the event clearly: this EF3 tornado began at 4:17 pm in Westfield, tracked east through West Springfield, Springfield, Wilbraham, Monson, Brimfield, Sturbridge, and Southbridge, before dissipating in Charlton, 39 miles from its start, at 5:27 pm.  The storm killed three people and caused an estimated $140 million in damages, mostly due to the destruction of homes and businesses.  The National Weather Service in Boston calculated that the tornado attained maximum sustained winds of 160 mph.  Even today, more than two years later, the destruction along the tornado’s path is still visible.

About 15 of us hiked along a yellow-blazed trail with our two guides, Paul and Scott, up to this vantage point, where we could see planes taking off from the nearby Southbridge Municipal Airport (also hard-hit by the storm).  Here we sat in the sun and listened to our guides regale us with tornado facts and lore.

I hope I got these right:

• Tornadoes are not named (unlike hurricanes, for example)
• Tornadoes occur in every state in the United States
• The US state experiencing the most tornadoes per year is Texas
• Tornadoes occur on every continent except Antarctica
• The United States experiences between 800-1200 tornadoes per year
• This number of US tornadoes per year is more than in any other country in the world
• A tornado can sound like an oncoming freight train or can be almost silent
• Tornadoes become visible due to the dust and debris picked up by their winds
• Lightning kills more people per year than tornadoes

Our guides brought newspaper clippings from the local papers for us to look at, as well as two books about the twister.  The book titled Path of Fury, published by the Springfield Republican newspaper, contained some particularly striking photographs of the funnel cloud and the devastation wrought by it.

From here we continued to where the trail becomes impassable, due to tornado damage:

Previously, one could hike north along this trail through to the parking area across from the Airport.  Now, one can begin at the Pleasant Street trailhead and head south on the trail until it becomes completely blocked, just a short distance from where we’re now standing.

The Town of Southbridge maintains a number of hiking trails, all of them worth visiting.  Here’s an image of tranquil fall beauty that I can also associate with this trail, along with images of dead trees: