Date: 2022-06-26
From: Father Tom Campsite - Cheshire MA

To: WilburÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Clearing Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Last Night:I finished my journal entry with the music still blaring. The mumble rap started at 10 and I decided I couldn¢t listen any longer. I got out of the tent and walked up the street. A dozen guys around a bonfire 20 yards from the speaker greeted me. ¢It¢s ten-o-clock already!? We¢d have turned it down earlier had we known.¢WhateverWe rolled out of camp around 8:00. It was to be a hot day - high eighties - and the climb ahead was the longest since we started. Mount Greylock is the highest point in Massachusetts. We had first spotted it on Mt Race 6 or 7 days ago. We got a good look at it from The Cobbles and could make a good guess at the line we would take tot the summit. It was a high peak but the boys didn¢t seem to give it much count. We¢ve climbed worse. Joni had a light pack and we rolled slowly. We had three options for stopping today: Mark Nopel shelter south of the summit, Bascom Lodge at the summit, and Wilbur¢s Clearing shelter afterwards. We had decided to take a break at each spot, evaluate, and make a call about hiking on. The first part of the climb went well. We arrived a Mark Nopel in high spirits and feeling strong. Filled water bottles and continued up after about 15 minutes of break. Several times today (three?) we were stopped by the sound ¢cheeping¢. The first time I heard it I knew it was birds. I stopped to see if I could spy the cheaper. A sapsucker flew to its hole in the tree and stuck it¢s head in. The volume doubled. She flew off again and the noise subsided. I watched for many cycles of this. She was spending a lot of energy and giving it away. How many calories are in a bug?At the second nest I stopped Joni to show her. As she was filming a male flew onto a nearby branch and loudly protested our presence. He resorted to dive bombing when his call went unheeded. We moved along. The summit push was steep but we knew we were close by the appearance of fresh-looking day hikers. We made it to the Bascom Lodge and threw down packs in the sunny grass. It was about 1:00. We had come 7 miles. We decided to take a long rest until 4:00. Inside was a lunch counter with light snacks and cold drinks. We put our squeeze peanut butter and ritz together with some beef jerky, blueberry torte, and cold cokes and had a great lunch inside sitting by a window with views of our gear. The summit was a meeting pit of day hikers, second-home-owner weekenders, and fellow thru hikers. We are an object of curiosity to all types and Baxter is our de facto PR man. He¢ll strike up a conversation with anyone. We met several new thru hikers and a family (mom, dad, 2 sons, grandfather, aunt) fascinated with the thought that we were doing this for 6 months. They had so many questions. Their boys weren¢t having any of it.We sat with Sandals inside who we had met on Tom Lavardi¢s porch two nights ago. I nearly followed him into town on his way to the pub then (it was 8:00, too close to bedtime). He was an interesting guy with a neat story, interested in ours. I hope we meet again. Joni was able to ice her leg. The boys climbed the war memorial on top for some great views of the surrounding states. The day was hit a so the horizon was hazy about 50 miles out. We could see dimly to perhaps 80. We were able to trace our path back to The Cobbles, Dalton, Great Barrington area, and Mounts Everett and Race. Solitary Mount Monadnock was far to the east - close to 60 miles. It is not on the AT but is a huge hill standing alone, not unlike Katahdin or Moosilauke. We prepared to leave the summit and hike the 4 miles to Wilbur¢s Clearing. The downhill to that point would be steep and then become fairly extreme afterwards for the three miles into Williamstown & North Adams. Downhills are the worst for Joni¢s leg. We set off slowly with plenty of time to make the shelter before night.It was a tough 4 miles for her. We did get to the shelter and it was empty. We were a little uneasy hiking in so late to a shelter in an evening with rain in the forecast. Shelters can fill quickly in those circumstances. We spread our ground cloths inside to claim our spots. And prepared to bed down for the night. Mountain House for dinner. Tyler (thru hiker) showed up and climbed in with us. I had no service at the shelter so Grayson and I hiked about half-a-mile up the hill to get a signal. I arranged a shuttle to the nearby road crossing for the morning so Joni could avoid the steepest downhill. We got a room at The Willows Motel for tomorrow night. I think we¢ll stay in Williamston for several days and give Joni¢s leg a fair chance to heal. Grayson and I discovered new trail in the way back to the shelter. It looks like a short reroute to descend the hill (Mt Prospect) on a switchback. It was neat walking this flagged and benched rough draft of trail. It dumped us back out on the AT proper.The wind is picking up. We¢re tucked into the shelter along with a Winter Wren who¢s made her nest in the beams. I learned this bird¢s evening song today soon after spotting it. It is fantastically complex and beautiful. Maybe we¢ll get a morning serenade (though she looks as if she¢d rather we left now).