Date: 2008-07-31
From: Jewels' home - Adams, MA

To: Somewhere near N Adams, MA
Miles today: 13.2

I woke up about 6am and put a pot of coffee on. Jewels was up already and we talked a short while before I decided to write my journal entry and get it sent in. I worked on that and got it done just as breakfast was ready. :-) Jewels had made some eggs, bacon and pancakes and had blueberries and strawberries to top it off with. My pot of coffee sure vanished in a hurry. I made sure I rounded up all my stuff and loaded it in Jewels van, and then she drove Mrs. Gorp and me to the trailhead at Outlook Dr. It sure has been fun staying the night at Jewel's home and talking mostly about cross-country bicycling.... Thanks for everything Jewels! Hopefully we can all get together for a bike ride in the future. It would be fun learning your "techniques" for finding places to stay and having Draggin along to help find the good places to eat! :-) Mrs. Gorp and I started walking North on the Appalachian Trail at 8:45am. It felt good out, but with the big climb in front of us up to the summit of Greylock, it didn't take long before I was wet from sweating. We climbed about 1,500 feet and passed by the side trail to Mark Noepel Lean-to without stopping. I wanted to stop and let my clothes dry out a little, but there wasn't a good spot to do that, so we walked all the way up to the summit of Greylock. The first moose poop I've seen on the Trail this year .The wind was blowing about 10mph and it was overcast. We sat down next to the memorial for fallen soldiers from Massachusetts and ate lunch. I felt cool sitting there with wet clothes and that wind blowing...I liked that! :-) Left Field had just climbed Greylock in MA . I was eating and saw Zack walk up. I hadn't seen him in a long time.... I think since VA. He was staying at Tom Lavardi's and slacking from N Adams back to Dalton. Pretty soon another hiker came up. It was Left Field. We talked a while, and then Piddler walked by. It was good seeing some hikers. There haven't seemed to be too many around lately.We were done eating and had just started descending Greylock when we saw Circumstance and then Snow Plow walking up the mountain. They were also slacking back to Dalton. We stopped briefly at Mt Williams and I took a picture of all the humidity in the air. We walked by Wilbur Clearing Lean-to without stopping. It started looking more like rain and it got real dark for a while, and then started raining lightly. just enough to make us cover our gear. The steep descent got even more slippery after that. I'd hear Mrs. Gorp let out little high-pitched screams from behind me every time she started sliding, but never did hear the kerplunk of her body hitting the ground. :-) We got to Pattison Rd and walked out of the woods. I really liked walking up and over Greylock. That's the highest elevation I've been at since back in VA...and it was very nice smelling the evergreens that grow at the higher elevations! It was also great to see the first moose poop on the Trail this year. :-) The rain only lasted for about 40 minutes, but it was enough to make an already soggy trail even soggier...at least it kept it cooler out today. We did a resupply to get us to Bennington, VT. I really have to thank all the great friends in this area of the AT for helping make this walk one of my most memorable ones. THANKS! :-) Another great day on the Appalachian Trail.