Date: 2017-05-05
From: Campsite Near Mile Marker 1548.8

To: Kay Wood Shelter
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: heavy intensity rain

Ishould probably start by summarizing events that occurred after I stoppedrecording journal notes last night. I had the encounter with the bearfamily sometime after 6 p.m. and had intended to make camp at the Shakerscampsite, but that was less than 1.5 miles from where I had seen thebears and I wanted more distance between them and me! When I got to the Shakerscampsite, I signed the log book and noted that another hiker had recordedseeing a black bear and two cubs near that campsite and had decided to campsomewhere else. That seemed like a smart move! I made a note in the log book about myobservation indicating the mile marker of the bears sighting and notedthat I, too was going to hikeon and camp somewhere further up the trail. It would begetting dark soon, and there were no more shelters for another 18 miles and the only other designated campsite was almostanother ten miles away (Turk had told me he thought that's where Snickers had intended to stop). So I set out hiking in the dark with an open mind and that it may be hard to find a campsite. I ended up hiking on until 2 a.m., over several terrain features and passing what were probablyseveral nice views, only Icouldn't see them for the dark.I saw another porcupine and just like the last time I'd hiked in the dark, when the porcupine heard me coming itscampered up a tree (photo). Earlier, around 9 p.m., I'dstopped at a stream to change my socks and I took advantage of the opportunityto bathe my feet in the frigid water. It felt good - like an icepack, and continuing on hiking with clean, dry feet/socks was atreat.  Next were fields and wetlands and two smallmountains before the place where the natural area for the UpperGoose Pond ended. I'd passed up the opportunity to hike a half-mile off the trail to thecampsite by The Goose Pond cabin because that half-mile was in the wrongdirection and I could see that the natural area would be ending in 7 tenths ofa mile in the right direction, so that's the course I chose. There was a trail register logbook in a box mounted on a tree there, so I signed it before hikinganother ten meters northbound where I set up camp.I suspended my tarp between two trees rather than using my trekking poles, justto make things quicker and simpler. No sooner then I had my tarp up, itstarted raining. I set up my stuff under my tarp as usual and hung my food bag from a tree branch about 10 meters away. I've beensending Teresa texts lettingher know where I was and I sent her a picture of the porcupine and a couple ofother shots I had taken in the evening. I hope she gets a chance to post thoseto this trail journal as well.Imust have fallen asleep pretty quickly and I slept really well for a shortperiod of time.  Up at around 5 a.m., I broke campand was ready to go in 30 minutes. I wanted to move on before any early morninghikers might pass by.SoI hiked down the hill and was surprised how quickly I came to the Appalachiantrails bridge over Interstate 90. I took a picture and mentally added I-90 to my runninglist of Interstate crossings. On the far side of I-90 was the Jacob'sLadder Road and turnoff for Berkshire Lakeside Lodge. I was a littledisappointed that there hadn't been some kind of Visitor Center at I-90. A cupof coffee would have been really nice! It was fairly challengingconditions this morning with rain and temperaturearound 45. Ground was wet and rocks slippery.Sometimearound 6:30 am, while crossing what might be a trail for all terrain vehicles, I saw an orange tent set up on thefar side of the trail that I think may have been where Snickers chose to camp last night. I didn't see anysigns of movement, so I hiked abit more and stopped at a stream to filter and treat a liter of water to carrywith me.When it was time to put the aquamira into the water bottle, I accidentally tipped the cap too soon and spilled the treatment solution, so I had to start over. I mixed the part A and Part B again and started to wait my five minutes. That¢s when I heard a sound behind me and looked up to see a hiker was crossing the river. When she looked up, I recognized that it was Snickers and I thought, man she broke Camp quickly!  And when she saw me she asked how I got in front of her? So I told her that I had seen her tent and I told her the story of seeing the bears and how that motivated me to avoid staying at the Shakers campsite so instead looked for the first possible camping location outside the natural area just to the side of I-90. I told her I had thought about staying at the campsite by the cabin at Upper Goose Pond, but that it had been a half-mile off the trail in the wrong direction and she said that is exactly what went through her mind and why she stayed where she did. Snickers said she's getting off the trail today for the weekend and her boyfriend is meeting her at a road crossing ahead where the guidebook says The Cookie Lady lives. I told her I'd also be getting off the trail next week when I get to Vermont and that I would be off the trail for several days so that I could go to my daughter's graduation and visit my parents in northern New York. We took a picture and she headed up the trail. I finished treating my fresh liter of water and then paused to update my notes for today's Trail Journal entry.At about 7:30, as I was approaching the top of Becket Mountain and feeling hot and like I was running out of gas, I decided to stop. I removed my Patagonia thermal insulation layer and stored it inside the waterproof heavy trash compactor bag lining my backpack. Breakfast time. The dehydrated strawberries were fabulous.  I emptied a packet of instant coffee into my mouth and took a swig of water to rehydrate it, swirled it around in my mouth, swallowed and repeated. A package of spam on a tortilla wrap which was terrific. With a baggie of gorp, a Clif Bar and two candy bars in the exterior pockets of my backpack and my Gore-Tex jacket I was set for snacks later in the day. The spam wrap tasted like more, so I got out a second tortilla and made a peanut butter wrap with some Jif to go. Now I'm fuelled and ready to go!I finished my breakfast sometime between 8:15 and 8:30 and headed up the trail. I¢ve lost one of my two lightweight waterproof mittens and my hands were cold, so I alternated wearing the mitten on one hand at a time. When I got to the top of Becket Mountain I found an AT register log book box on a tree and I signed it with a comment like, ¢Absolutely miserable weather today and I love it! It doesn't get any better than this!" Sometime prior to 9:30 I came to Finerty Pond. There was an eerie mist floating in a layer about 10 feet above the surface of the water blowing from right to left slowly. (photo)Around noon I reached the October Mountain shelter, so I stopped and took a break to cook lunch: a bowl of hot oatmeal and some bullion soup along with some more dried strawberries and another packet of instant coffee. This made me feel warm, full and energized. I treated another liter of water from the nearby stream and then continued northbound. Eventually, I came to a gravel road onto which the trail turned and shortly thereafter intercepted with and crossed a paved highway. According to my guide book somewhere around there is where The Cookie Lady lives. I just continued northbound over a hill and noted that the road crossing was approximately my 10 mile point for the day. The trail here became very wet due to both the rain and because of what appears to be naturally wet conditions. In some areas there were raised walkways, but in other areas the trail itself had become a small river. (photo)  I also saw the dung of an animal I couldn't identify (photo). I kept hiking all afternoon, over a big hill or two, and through a lot of water. It kept raining, and the wind picked up, and it got colder. By 4:30, I was basically running out of steam. Fortunately, the planed stop for the day was close at this point, and I reached the Kay Wood shelter about 4:45. My priorities were: dry clothes, warm food, and protection from the elements. I changed out of the wet rain gear, put on a dry t-shirt and Patagonia insulation layer, and was happy for dry smart wool socks and crocs. I laid out my mat and sleeping bag so I could get in it quickly if not warming up otherwise. Then I boiled some water to make beans and rice and bouillon. After I was feeling dryer and warmer inside, I went to a nearby steam and got two liters of water. Then I made some hot potatoes with vegetables and olives (another yummy Teresa meal).  At this shelter I met a new hiker, John. He is just starting out hiking from MA to Asheville, NC. He was wearing jeans and a Boston Bruins jacket. John was using only a fleece blanket and space blanket - no sleeping bag. He had wrapped his tarp around one of the bunks in the shelter to act as a wind screen. Using rocks as anchors, I managed to do something similar with mine (photo). This served the dual purpose of drying it out after it had gotten wet last night.John made a small cook fire and boiled some water for coffee. As it got dark, I got into my sleeping bag behind my tarp wall (photo). I texted with Teresa for a while before going to sleep. Goodnight!