Date: 2007-05-19
From: Salisbury, CT

To: Mountain View Motel, Great Barrington, MA
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: light rain

Miles in the Bank = 22.61506 miles completed!!   668 to go!!!awoke 0600 and hit the Roast for breakfast, bonus, they have internet, so updated my journal. Hit the trail @0830; 50's drizzling overcast; Excited to hit Lion's Head & Bear Mtn (CT); The start of the hike is a memory for me as last time I was here I'd worked 4-12midnite at AMR Hartford, drove here and entered the trail @ "O-dark 30"; It was 130am! Pitch Black Dark in trailhead parking lot! It was a practice nite hike into the shelter by headlamp then a weekend hike. Very interesting experience hiking by headlamp when it's that dark. Creepy. AND my low battery lite started flashing 15 minutes into the hike-which I thought would take about an hour to reach the shelter. I switched to medium power, enough to hike by, but with slick spots (it had rained earlier that nite) it took much longer than expected. I thought thru options of what I might do if my lite quit. Pitch my tent in the trail; sleep cowboy style on the trail; hike by small backup keychain flashlight. Now, a year later, on the AT I had actually faced this scenario again [a few weeks ago hikin starting at 4am doing a 30 miler into Pearisburg when BOTH lites eventually crapped out just as daylight broke.] Anyway, I had finally reached the shelter at 0330am!! Woke up two thru hikers who said, "WOW, you're gettin in kinda late, aye?" But I got up when they headed out at 0600. Turned out to be very good experience for hiking by headlamp. [see previous Pearisburg entry]Today it was daytime, so no issues. Hiked up to Lion's head, snapped a pic of the valley and stopped in at Riga Lean-To, the aforementioned shelter.Hiked up over Bear Mtn, CT's highest peak 2316ft,but by now it was a haze, no view. bummer.Crossed the CT-MA border. Nastoligic momement here. Kinda cool. Bummin things didn't work out for several friends who'd hoped to hike with me.Oh well. Timing is everything I guess.Ran into Quinn again just north of Sages Ravine,a beautiful ravine of coniferus trees along cascading waterfalls. She camped here last nite.Hiked with Quinn to Mt Everett, 2nd highest Peak on the AT in MA 2602ft [Mt Greylock is highest]; I paused for break she kept hiking, typical thru hiker independence. Never saw her again that day. Hiked all day in lite drizzle with shoes staying pretty dry by heat generated by hiking, drying them as I walk. But hikin thru a wet grassy area in just 5 minutes they & my socks were completely soaked as though I'd stepped into a bathtub of water! Damn. Without the goretex liner [like my first pair of trailrunners] they are much more vulnerable to getting wet. The trade off supposedly is they dry quicker & vent heat better. Seemed similar to me. The theory is eventually all shoes will wet through, which is true. I miss my goretex liner. Might be an issue later in the muddy trails up north. Guthook swears by his pair. But I'm not convinced.Jumped off in Great Barrington for Sun church services in the morning; stayed at cheaped motel Mountain View Motel $55 with continental breakfast (got my $$ worth!); ate Chinese at Koi restaurant next door. Good, not great. Professional made illuminated sign at motel boasts: "Cable TV, phones, REFRIGORATOR, continental breakfast"; Don't know who is worse-the guy who made the sign or the owner of motel!!!caught a ride back to the trail by 0900.