Day: 82

Day mileage: 24.5

AT total mileage: 1,602.8

Time: 9 hours 

--

Leaving the shelter at 7:30, I began the remaining 3 mile climb towards the summit of Massachusetts' Mt. Greylock.  Over the course of those 3 miles there would be another thousand feet in elevation gain, which was both challenging and fun for first thing in the morning. I had left before everyone else, and would end up being on the summit for 45 minutes or so before the rest of the group arrived. The initial part of the ascent, shortly after leaving the shelter, was much alike every other bit of trail for the past 1,300 miles. It was when the elevation crossed over 3,000' that things took an amazing turn.  It was as if the red carpet was being rolled out to welcome me to New England. Climbing Greylock was picturesque, the vegetation changing rapidly to more robust plants and much shorter pine trees, all capable of surviving harsh winds and snowy, frigid winters. With a strong breeze blowing and the scent of pine needles filling the air, this was exactly what I wanted and expected from my first +3,000 foot summit in the northeast. 

The last mile of climbing was typical of New England, with rocky surfaces jutting out from the ground and pine tree roots protruding and grabbing at anything they can hold on to. As I got closer to the summit the wind picked up exponentially, leaving me even more motivated to push on to the top. To give some background story on the importance of Greylock in my life, my maternal grandmother lived nearby in the town of Williamstown for my entire life. She was a huge proponent of wind power as an energy source, and as such I always think of her when I see them. In 2007 during my cross country cycling ride, she got very ill and passed away mid-July. A mountain that has always been visible from her home, it was a tad bit emotional for me to have the wind pick up near the end of my climb, exit the woods and see panoramic views of the Berkshires, with ridgelines in every direction speckled with windmills. Luckily at this point I was there alone, so I took a few minutes to myself and had a quick conversation with said grandmother. She'd have been thrilled to know I was hiking the Trail that ran right through her figurative backyard. I sat in the wind, having put my North Face jacket on, for quite a while before the rest of the group arrived. We hung out listening to music, talking, and kicking around a soccer ball, taking refuge from the wind and soaking up the brilliant sunlight before continuing on and beginning the descent down into Adams, MA. 

Climbing down Greylock was a 6 mile hike, at some points very steep and slippery. Legs ended up on her butt more than once trying to navigate pine needle covered rocks down severe inclines. Around noon we reached the bottom of the mountain, having sung our way down with a chorus of songs from Grease, Beauty & the Beast, and Frozen. We crossed out of the woods and after a mile of back roads ended up at the intersection of Massachusetts Rt. 2 that runs horizontally across the state. This was also a road I cycled on during my cross country trip 7 years ago. Stormy clouds looming over the valley, the plan was to hike a quick mile off the trail to find a Friendly's restaurant for lunch. Much alike a Perkins or Denny's mixed with an ice cream shoppe, it's a small New England chain that I grew up enjoying and still have fun occasionally eating at. Myself, Blue, Rocket, Legs, and Santa, of course followed by the four-legged Naila, made our way to the restaurant and got a booth. We ordered quite a bit of food, and would spend nearly two hours sitting around the table laughing and joking, being stared at by other customers as we went along. I think our wardrobe, general appearances, and arriving with large backpacks that were nearly lined up on a bench outside were the catalysts behind the staring, but we had fun regardless and didn't think twice of it. I personally ordered a croc of clam chowder, boneless buffalo wings, a bacon cheeseburger, and an ice cream... I've got to get protein in somewhere! Lunch was delicious, and after splitting the bill up for everyone in the group, we went outside and laid down on their grassy front lawn. Afraid of falling asleep, and knowing full well that we had nearly 2,500 more feet of elevation gain before reaching the shelter we were aiming for, I got up and put my pack on, ready to begin the walk back to the trail. Luckily Legs was able to get a hitch for us, and we were quickly delivered back to the trail by a local guy. 

The terrain from town literally just went up. Crossing over a set of railroad tracks and walking through a home's back yard where the Appalachian Trail has an easement of sorts up the driveway, we disappeared again into the forest. The first climb was 1,400 feet in elevation gain, done at a relatively slow speed. Rocket, despite being an exceptionally strong hiker, believes she's slower than the rest, so we put her in front to set the pace for the group to be one she was comfortable with. Eventually reaching the top of the first climb and crossing over a rock garden, the trail leveled off for a few miles before beginning to climb again. During the stretch of more level ground we officially crossed over the MA/VT state line, having completed the 11th state of the Appalachian Trail and entering into the 12th. What a feeling that is, and what a long way I've walked. We snapped some photos before carrying on, debating out loud between hiking 3 miles further to the next shelter or 10 miles further (with another 1,800 someodd feet in elevation gain) before deciding to stick to the original plan and go the longer distance. Our caravan moved on at a good pace, conversing about everything under the sun. We came up with a rotational game where one of us picked a conversation subject and each person had to tell a story that fell under the genre. We talked about previous relationships, work, and medical issues/broken bones as we went along. The beauty of hiking in a group like this with conversation is that you find yourself distracted from the large climbs. Before you know it you're at the summit of whatever peak was necessary to trudge over, and you're descending again.  It was at some point in here that we hiked over the 1,600 mile mark on the northbound hike of the Appalachian Trail. Time passed quickly by, and around 2000hrs we stopped for a break with a mere 2 miles left to go. Legs and I kept our break short and hiked on, as Naila had hiked faster than the group and was likely at the shelter already, having followed the scent of another hiker that has been in the same large group of people we've been with for the past week. Conversing about life, family, and 'the real world', the remaining mileage flew by. Despite the sun setting and the darkness in the woods due to tree cover, I followed her steps and didn't bother stopping to put my headlamp on.  We pulled into the Congdon shelter at shortly before 2100hrs, finding the shelter half full with section hikers who had been fast asleep for nearly 2 hours. Bear Bait, a guy who has hiked in and out of our group for a while, was also here with a fire blazing and Naila napping next to him. We quietly figured out sleeping arrangements, everyone wanting to be in the shelter due to the threat of rain. I skipped on dinner due to a full stomach left over from lunch, but sat around and talked with everyone as we each unpacked for the night. 

In what's becoming a bit of a comedic habit, everyone retired to their sleeping bags, each then pulling out headlamps and reading their respective books. I didn't get more than 10 pages further into mine before deciding I was tired and ready to sleep. Tomorrow we'll hike into Bennington, VT so that a few can get some resupply food, then hike on out of town, likely ending up with a 19 or so mile day. 

The 1,600th mile and the 12th state up the eastern seaboard on my 82nd day. Not bad for a long walk in the forest. 

Onward, upward, etc. 

Texaco

Day: 81

Day mileage: 17

AT total mileage: 1,579.1

Time: 6 hours 

--

There's something disorienting about being woken up in the middle of the night by a dog wildly barking somewhere nearby at an unknown potential threat. That's pretty much how I woke up this morning, with Naila protecting us from what was undoubtedly a pack of mammoth black bears coming to eat my jar of cake frosting. I fell back asleep for a while, ultimately waking up at 4:30 to write the blog posts for both Saturday and Sunday. I felt bad leaving you all without something to read over the weekend, but time wasn't on my side to write everything and still get a good amount of sleep. I hope you'll forgive me. Once both blog entries were written and posted, I got up and started breaking down my gear. Rocket's alarm went off at 6:00 per usual, and the rest of the shelter slowly came to life. I played some Billie Holiday on the portable speaker as everyone woke up, and ate two packages of Pop-Tarts for breakfast. Rocket left the shelter first, followed by Legs, while Santa and I lingered a bit before taking off. There would be a 3 mile downhill hike with a short and steep climb in the middle of it, dropping us on Main Street of Dalton, MA. We planned to meet up at a local Trail Angel's house, a guy named Tom who hosts hikers tenting in his back yard free of charge. A retired man, he will offer to drive hikers to the local grocery store, Wal-mart, or anywhere else they might need to resupply. 

Santa and I cruised down the mountain, easily catching up to Legs and Rocket, and we all made our way to Tom's house together where we found Finn and Dorothy sitting on the front porch. They told us about the places in town worth visiting, and the free showers available at the community center. We dropped our backpacks, handed Naila off to Dorothy for puppy babysitting, and meandered down the slow streets of Dalton to a few local businesses. Stop #1 was a breakfast cafe where we got fruit smoothies before heading on to the community center. Free of charge for hikers we were handed towels and given directions to the locker rooms where hot showers and saunas were waiting for us. Santa and I sat in the sauna for a few minutes each before heading into the shower room. Despite having showered the day before, the heavenly feeling of hot water was a perfect addition to my morning. After redressing he and I made our way upstairs where we browsed the take-a-book library. Although I've never really had time to read a book, I did pick one up a thousand or so miles ago with the intention of reading it.  With the length of my days and mileage I was doing, I never had time to read so I mailed it home.  Pneumo would kill me if he knew I was carrying the weight of a book, but I thought it was appropriate to grab a donated copy of the Everest disaster written in Into Thin Air. I actually have already begun reading it, so perhaps with my newfound time I'll actually finish it. 

After meeting back up with the girls, the four of us headed across the street to the Dalton Restaurant where we stopped for a splendid breakfast. As I've written before, I've craved eggs Benedict for a long while now, which is exactly what I ordered for breakfast. For the sake of full disclosure the eggs were also accompanied by a Belgian waffle and large orange juice. We sat and talked, with our food eventually being served, enjoying the scenery of the small town restaurant. Upon finishing we walked back towards Tom's house, stopping by the post office so Legs could pick up a mail-drop she had been sent. We met up there with Deep Blue who had spent the day before with his uncle on their boat, and then hiked as a group back to Tom's were we ended up spending a few more hours relaxing on the porch. We knew going into today that it would be relatively low mileage, so after the three miles we put in downhill to begin, there wasn't a huge issue with taking our time in town. It wasn't until 1330 or so that we actually departed, heading up for a long climb of 1,200 feet or so up into a ridgeline that would then drop us down in the next town of Cheshire. We of course had music playing, and despite the sweat negating my morning shower, we crested the peak of the climb easily after an hour or so, and began a steep descent into the next town. Our walk through Cheshire would bring us by both a small ice cream shop and a gas station, of which we would stop at both. Procrastinating what was to come - a 1,800' climb halfway up Mt. Greylock, we sat in the parking lot of the gas station for a good bit of time before heading up the trail. 

With 5 miles and 1,800 feet of climbing to be done, notably the steepest and longest climb since Virginia, our group of four separated a bit with different paces. I buckled down and pressed forward with my 'zero desire to hike in the dark' motivation, ascending at a steady 3.5 mph despite the grade of the mountain. It took him a bit of running to do so, but Santa caught up and we kept pace together for the last two miles to the shelter. Upon our arrival we met a good number of people already there, with Legs and Deep Blue arriving shortly after. The shelter would end up being home to 9 people for the night, with a few more camping close by. Arriving at 2010hrs, the sun was descending on the horizon, and dinner was soon being cooked. I put some Allman Brothers through the speaker, and we sat around enjoying each other's company for an hour and a half before people began retiring to sleeping bags. 

Tomorrow morning we'll climb another 3 miles to the summit of Greylock, the tallest peak in the state of Massachusetts at 3,491 feet. This also marks the first time since Virginia, some 700 miles ago, that the trail's elevation crossed the 3,000' mark. For now, I'll read some more of my book and then close my eyes for the night. We'll hike into state #12 tomorrow- an incredible thought to realize. 

Onward, and most certainly upward. 

Tex

Day: 80

Day mileage: 16.4

AT total mileage: 1,562.5

Time: 6.2 hours 

--

Regardless of being off the trail, my eyes still opened at 5 AM. Habitually checking my phone, I read a text from Dorothy saying they may be hanging around the cabin for a while to meet up with one of Deep Blue's family members who has a boat on the lake nearby. This was reassuring, meaning I could have a more leisurely morning without racing to catch up to them on the trail all day. I fell back asleep, waking up an hour later to shower again and spend some time on my laptop putting new music on my iPod. I had never intended to be the DJ for a group of hikers, so my music variety was solely what I'd want to listen to. I figured it wouldn't hurt any to add in some new music since it's constantly being played through the speaker Rocket carries. I did a load of laundry the night before, washing a bunch of new clothes that my friend Kim at New Balance had sent. Lightweight shirts and a tank top for the hot summer days, as well as some new shorts and socks. I'm excited to have new clothes, and change up the monotony in my wardrobe and thru-hike photographs. Packing up my gear, my great aunt awoke and insisted we stay for breakfast instead of beginning our drive back to the trail in search of food. We ate in the dining room of her retirement facility, and I loaded up on a bacon omelette, fresh fruit, pancakes, an English muffin, a cup of ruby grapefruit, and a pitcher of orange juice, provided when I asked the waitress for a 'bottomless glass of OJ'. After eating we took a photo of my dad, Joy, and myself nearly identical to a photo that was taken 7 years ago when dad and I cycled across the country and stopped by Williamstown. Loaded into the car, we drove through town, stopping shortly at my grandmother's old house and for a moment at the church where my parents got married, then turned south and headed back for the trail. 

An hour later and back in the same parking lot Jesse had picked us up from the day before, I unboxed my newly purchased food and repacked my backpack. After putting some thought into his schedule and to-do list, my dad ended up not hiking with me today, instead heading back for home just north of Boston. Either way, it was great to have him hike with me this weekend and to spend the time together. I only wish he could have met Rocket Girl and Legs before heading home. After I hugged him goodbye I hiked up to the trailhead where it crossed Rt. 20, ironically arriving at the same time that Rocket and Finn emerged from the woods, having left the cabin an hour earlier and on their way north. This was perfect timing, and we hiked on together as a group. The pace was set by Rocket, and we made good time up the 1,000' climb into the mountain ridge. Today's terrain would be pretty simple, comprised of one large climb and a fair bit of relatively level traversing. Over the next few hours we hiked along, running into Kamikaze and Driveway before Finn took off at a faster pace and Rocket and I hiked alone together. We talked about home life, relationships, marriages, and the demise of modern culture due to the influence of social media. I really do enjoy talking to her as she's incredibly intelligent and the conversation is never dry. Around 1400hrs we arrived at the October Mountain shelter where the rest of the group was eating lunch. Deep Blue stayed back at the cabin to spend the day with his family, but everyone else had hiked on and was present for lunch. We must have hung out at the shelter for an hour before heading on. Today was to be a very short day, and with just under 9 miles left to hike there was no reason to rush on. When we eventually got around to heading north again we did so as a large group, music playing, hiking along at a great pace. This lasted for an hour or so before we broke into smaller groups for one reason or another until eventually it was Rocket, Dorothy, Santa, and myself hiking until we reached the Kay Wood shelter where we intended to spend the night. 

There had been some conversation about heading the 3 miles further into the town of Dalton, MA (the trail hikes down Main Street) or staying at the shelter. I had pretty much decided I'd be staying at the shelter regardless, as it was better than getting into town and potentially needing to stealth camp (camp where you're not seen in hopes of not getting in trouble). The shelter would be a dry place to stay that wouldn't cost any money, and wouldn't put me in range of a town tavern with a group of friends. No need to spend money if I can avoid it. We arrived at the shelter around 1830hrs to find only Legs and the puppy Naila here. Sitting down began a comical debate amongst Santa, Rocket, and Dorothy as to whether or not they were staying or hiking on to town. I did my best to convince them to stay, and won over everyone except Dorothy who ended up eventually heading on to meet with Finn and a few others in town. The remaining four cooked our dinner, having this gigantic loft/bunk shelter to ourselves. We talked for a few hours while continuing to listen to some music, which I eventually turned over to the CD of the 9/11 Concert for New York, vividly describing the opening sequence of David Bowie on an empty stage in a single spotlight playing his Playschool children's piano and singing 'America'. Santa, the soon-to-be audiologist and I talked at length about sound, in enough detail that I was drawing diagrams in the shelter log, and we all eventually settled into our bunks for the night right around dark. 

In the morning we'll head down into town, these three will get some supplies, and we'll try and find somewhere for a nice breakfast. Tomorrow night will put us just shy of the summit of Mount Greylock, the tallest peak in Massachusetts, just miles shy of the Vermont border, which we'll cross on Tuesday morning. It's hard to believe how quickly these states are flying by, but Vermont should last a bit longer than these recent ones.  With only 620 something miles left to hike, there's still so far to go, yet it seems like it could be over tomorrow. I'm glad I'm taking my time.

Onwards and upwards with the chill of the New England morning. 

Texaco

Day: 79

Day mileage: 22.4

AT total mileage: 1,546.1

Time: 7.5 hours 

--

Deep Blue shattered the silence of the morning with an extraordinarily poignant question: 'So... are we hiking staggered or as a group?' At this point, I was sitting on the picnic bench eating breakfast while the other guys were still in their sleeping bags. The girls had attempted to wake up at 4 to begin hiking early enough to not been seen by any of us, although they didn't end up leaving until quarter till 6. I laughed so hard at Blue's question that I nearly had tears running down my face. Somewhat of a hiker tradition, Naked Hiking Day is celebrated on the summer solstice. It is by no means required, and I have absolutely no idea how many people actually participate. To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure if I'd be participating or not, but my adventurous side took over and after leaving the shelter at 8 AM, I stopped and undressed. There would be two miles of hiking downhill to meet my dad at the parking lot where he would leave the car for the day, and I ended up doing those two miles fully undressed.  Cautiously waiting for the right moment to walk across two busy state roads, I redressed and met up with my dad just shy of the parking lot. 

The plan for the day would be to hike 20 miles together, at which point my friend Jesse would save the day by picking us up and driving us back to where my dad's car was parked. From there we would drive up to Williamstown, MA where my great aunt lives, and we would spend the night there. Our hike together began with a few somewhat steep climbs gaining us 1,000 or so feet in elevation and putting us atop a ridge that we would spend a bit of time on. The great part about hiking with my dad is that he's what I'd call a 'professional hiker' (this is actually how I describe him to other thru-hikers) so I had no worries whatsoever about doing a 20+ mile day at a good pace with him. In fact, I was somewhat nervous that I'd be slower than the pace he is used to hiking at. It was a great relief that we kept a solid 2.5-3 mph throughout the day with each other without issue. Passing by a gorgeous lake, we hiked alone for the first four hours of our day. Truthfully I was happier with this, as I wasn't sure how the whole naked hiking brigade comprised of my friends marching past us would go over. Needless to say it was an inevitable occurrence, and sure enough as we stopped to have a quick lunch around noon, a shameless line of four hikers with Santa in the lead hiked on by. Each saying hello to my dad, they kept their pace and hiked off. We ended up running into them again at the next road crossing, at which they had redressed in order to hitchhike into a town for some supplies. Upon my arrival, Blue asked if I'd take an Abbey Road style photo of the four of them hiking naked across the county road. Not one to pass up an artistic opportunity, I agreed to photographing this comical moment. The guys stripped down to bare skin and suited up with their backpacks, ready to be orchestrated across the width of the street. There's a photo you'll see, keeping in mind it's an iPhone photo, that I edited to give it an Abbey Road style feel. 

As they began their (clothed) walk into town, my dad and I hiked on through a cow pasture and back into the woods. With two more big climbs ahead of us we continued talking and moving along.  It's really fun to be able to talk to him about the trail without it being through the phone or what he reads on the blog. Upon reaching the summit of our second climb we ran into a hiker named Driveway. A few years younger than me, Driveway is a bio-tech engineer student at Virginia Tech. We spoke for a while as the three of us hiked along, and split ways when he stopped at the next shelter. The Upper Goose Pond Cabin is where everyone in my group would be spending the night, and the road crossing where Jesse would pick us up was 2 more miles down the mountain. At the lowest point of our descent we crossed over I-90, a commonly used highway for travel in MA, which subsequently runs all the way out to Seattle. It was quite fun to hike the access bridge over a highway that I frequently travel on, all while in my home state. As we crossed over, I was shocked to see Finn, Santa, Blue, and Dorothy all hiking southbound towards me, ultimately headed for the Cabin, bare assed naked. As it turns out the town they went into initially had nowhere to resupply so they got a hitchhike forward to the next town and A.T. road crossing. We said hello, and as my dad and I doubled around to cross under the bridge, I watched these four guys place their naked butts against the fence on the bridge, putting their show on display for the dozens of cars traveling eastbound down the highway. I smiled at this, and had a reassuring and immature thought that 'these are my friends'. 

Two tenths of a mile later my dad and I exited the woods at a road crossing. Walking a thousand feet west we ran across my friend Jesse who had just arrived to pick us up. Jesse is a freelance video editor I've worked with who lives out in western MA and had told me a while back that he'd be happy to help in whatever way possible as I passed through. He's a miracle worker for venturing out here and driving us back to my dad's car, as otherwise I'm not sure we would have been able to hike together. Jesse dropped us off half an hour later where the car was parked, and after many thanks from me was back on his way home. My dad and I piled our gear into his Prius and began the 1-hour drive north to my great aunt's where we would spend the night.  Arriving at 1830 or so, we met with Joy (great aunt) and took quick showers with the intention of heading out to dinner quickly afterwords. I dressed in cotton (ahhh... That feeling of cotton) and wore my normal-life New Balance 940s instead of my trail runners. Half a size smaller than my hike shoes, my feet actually felt cramped inside which I was surprised about. We drove into Williamstown and ate at the Williams Inn, having a lovely dinner while discussing my trip and how Joy was doing. Afterwords we headed back to her house and I crashed on the couch in my sleeping bag as I texted a few people in the group to find out what their plans for hiking the next day would be. 

I'll likely meet up with them towards the end of the day, as my dad will hike a bit more in the morning with me. I'm really glad he was able to make it out to hike with me. Being done a lot sooner than originally intended means he won't be able to hike the 100 Mile Wilderness in Maine as we had originally planned, but he should still be able to summit Katahdin at the end with me. After a good night's sleep and likely one more shower, I'll resupply on our way back to the trailhead, and should be back hiking by 10 AM or so tomorrow. 

That's that. 

Texaco

Day: 78

Day mileage: 23.4

AT total mileage: 1,523.7

Time: 9 hours 

--

I got an exceptionally short night of sleep. By the time the shelter was quiet and conversation had ceased it was after 12:30 AM, leaving me with only four and a half hours until my eyes would undoubtedly open. Sleeping quickly, I woke to a rather chilly morning in the Northeast. It actually was cold enough that I put my North Face jacket on and sent a text home asking my folks to send out the pair of tights I had returned to them after getting through the Smokies back in April. The further north I get the colder the mornings will be, so I figure now is a good time to get that gear back with me. People in our group were slow to get moving, a result of the amount of beer consumed the night before, but the majority of us were on the trail by 07:30. The climb from the shelter would take us up Bear Mountain (the second Bear Mtn - not to be confused with New York's) before sending us on a bit of a roller coaster through the ridgeline. A few miles into the day, we would also cross from Connecticut into Massachusetts - not only my home state, but also the 11th state of the 14 that the Appalachian Trail passes through. 

The climb up and over Bear was relatively easy, and a few of us reconvened atop the stone 'tower' at the summit. The so called tower was actually just a very tall pile of rocks which, according to a plaque placed at the base, had been assembled in the late 1800s by a guy with too much time on his hands...  at least that was how I read it. Descending Bear Mountain I hiked with Deep Blue, talking about our planned summits of Katahdin and what that will be like. We dropped down into a gap between peaks that was home to a dark forest floor and a massive river running through boulders carved out by the rushing water. Crossing over a footbridge made of fallen tree, we came across the 'Welcome to Massachusetts' sign I'd been waiting to see. It's exceptionally cool to think that I've practically walked home. From the state line gap we had a few steep, rocky, and challenging climbs, made worth it only by the views attained at the end of each, which we would stop at to admire the view.  The last severe climb was a rock face mountain that required 700' of elevation gain over half a mile. For this part I hiked with Finn, a guy who keeps an exceptionally good pace, and we simply focused ob the terrain, doing very little talking. From the summit we descended down to a grassy park area with picnic tables alongside a lake. Despite having only done 8 miles at this point, mainly due to the terrain it covered, we stopped for lunch. Setting up shop next to the tables which were home to gallons of ice cold water labeled clearly for thru-hikers, we ended up staying here for an hour or so. After eating everyone laid out under the sun, talking about movies and all other sorts of things. I'm pretty sure that with my Sox hat over my eyes and the warm sun shining down on me, I nodded off once or twice during the time there. Just before 1300hrs we packed up and moved on, still with 15 or so miles to hike before we would be done for the day. In this moment I felt an twinge of dissatisfaction, likely due to the fact that 8 miles before noon is not my style. If it's lunch and I have 15 miles to go, I'd usually have already hiked 12-16 miles. Regardless, new adventure, new things to become accustomed to. 

From the lake picnic area we would hike for 5 or 6 miles across relatively calm terrain, then drop down into the valley where MA Route 7 drives through. I kept pace with Deep Blue, Finn, and Santa for a while before stopping to make some phone calls. My timing and location is about 60 miles off where I expected to be in light of recent events, so my dad's visit this weekend needed to be shuffled a little bit. Originally I was going to be on the VT border tomorrow, so my aunt Joy in Williamstown, MA was going to be able to assist with shuttling me and my dad around. Due to being so much further south, I've asked for help from a friend to transport us after we hike together tomorrow. Orchestrating this from the trail meant stopping for a bit, and after things got settled and I was packing up my maps, Legs came upon me with Dorothy and Rocket Girl. We ended up hiking together for a while before Legs and I got ahead, talking about family and home for a long while before stumbling upon the rest of the group who had stopped for trail magic. Enjoying a soda, orange, and a Dum-Dum lollipop, we hiked on, the entire group shuffled up again. It's quite fun to always end up hiking with the same people but in completely different configurations. We hiked into the valley, where a half dozen miles would be spent traipsing across more level terrain, through pine forests and across farm fields. We crossed more roads than I can remember crossing in recent times, eventually coming to a footbridge that marked the beginning of a long ascent up to the next mountains where the shelter would be. There would be a 1,200 foot climb up before a few roller coaster elevation changes spread over the remaining 5 miles. The climb seemed to take forever, and finding the shelter took even longer. My bag was weighted down more than usual, as Naila the pup had a cut on her foot that was making her walk uncomfortably. To alleviate any additional pain, I offered to carry her dog-backpack, which added a good twelve pounds to my bag. Not uncomfortable, just a lot more weight than I'm used to, likely jumping my bag up over the 40 pound mark. Regardless I hiked on, and with Santa catching up we chatted for a while about his schooling and my work. He's going to be an audiologist so you can see we'd have a lot to talk about. We eventually found the shelter, marked only by two blue blazes painted on a tree, with no sign to be seen. Had he not caught the tin roof in the distance, we'd have likely walked right past it. 

Eating dinner at this gorgeous shelter, I set my sleeping back up in the loft over the picnic table. You could easily fit 30 people in this shelter if you needed to in a pinch. Post and beam style construction, it's a beautiful building with a large stone fire pit where a Ridgerunner who is spending the night here had a blazing fire going. We hung out as a group, and as the sky became dark I put on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album through the wireless speaker. Many fell asleep with the music playing before I shut it off for the night. 

My dad will meet me in the morning, and we'll get to spend the day together hiking. With the date tomorrow being the 21st of June, summer solstice, it's also a famed day on the Appalachian Trail known as Naked Hiking Day. Hikers of all ages, sizes, etc. will undress for a mile, or their entire day's hike. I warned my dad of this beforehand, and personally intend on wearing clothing throughout the day. I also explained to the group that they might just need to meet my dad tomorrow when they've got some fabric on their bodies. Another adventure on the Appalachian Trail. 

Off to bed. Hopefully to get more sleep than the night prior. Hope you all had a good week, and also a huge welcome to the international readers of the blog. There's been a big surge in overseas readers from around the globe, which I think is pretty cool. Oh, and one cool thing for fans of Red Sox Nation... Deep Blue and I had this great idea of buying a 'Fear The Beard' Red Sox flag, and writing 'Don't' in spray paint atop it to hold up while trying to hitchhike throughout New England. I think it'd increase our likelihood of getting picked up. 

Onward & upward, four states left to go. 

Tex