Date: 2017-08-19
From: Laurel Ridge Campsite 

To: Great Barrington - Mountainview Motel
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Took my time getting ready this morning. Didn't really mean to, but time just kept moving on ahead. Filtered some water. Made some oatmeal and tea. My knees were already not super happy even before I added my pack today. Thankfully, I'm travelling pretty light coming into Great Barrington. Mount Race and Mount Everett were on the schedule for today and the elevation map especially for Everett does not look fun.Hit the trail around 9:30 and was playing my usual game of take my time up, roll harder thru flats. However, on Mt Race, at a certain point you hit a ridgeline and get to ride that for 0.6miles. On this clear morning, the view was spectacular. Green as far as the eye can see, houses and ponds below, and mountains contouring the skyline directly across. I almost wish that I'd started further south so that I could have had lunch up there. However, other things on the agenda for the day.Dropping back down between the mountains, I found a group of weekend campers leaving on a hike for the day. They ended up going the same direction as me, so about 15 minutes in, I let them pass me by. It's amazing sometimes how much quicker people can move when they're not carrying 30 extra pounds on their back... especially on this particular climb. Thankfully the Massachusetts trail workers have been able to bolt some treads into the long sheer rock faces that greet you on the south side. Without those, it would have been a totally different kind of adventure. With them, it at least took the edge off.At the top, I was able to stop and chat withe the 4 girls and older gentleman. They offered a bottle of water which I gladly took - again, having packed as light as comfortable for the day. They were all at the camp site for a family reunion. In exhanging the usual "where are you from, how long are you out" pleasantries, I discovered that the man spent a significant amount of time in Bloomington, IL and one of the girls lives in Brooklyn - in my neighborhood. Tiny, tiny world. They went back down to their family, and I stayed a bit longer to chat with a couple thru hikers I'd seen all morning. After a quick lunch, it was time to head down. Ran into Lakes and stopped to chat for a bit. The north side of the mountain wasn't quite as bad as the south, but it just kept going .... about halfway down was a parkinglot for a park entrance. Jugs of water were chained to a picnic table and labeled "WATER FOR THRU HIKERS". Trail angels. Finished the water I had and refilled. Down more mountain. By the bottom, my knees had really had it. Stopped for a breather and to take some Ibuprofen. Lakes caught up just as I was getting going again. We were both feeling pretty good about the day. There had been a sign halfway down the last pitch giving me a distance of 4 more miles and her a distance of 9.5. Both totally doable. We started jamming thru some flat parts, got to the end of a particularly buggy swampy area and found another stash of hiker water. Western Massachusetts knows the way to my heart.At that point, we were starting to feel like we should be coming up on my goal of Route 7 to get into Great Barrington. We left the water station and found ourselves in another parking area. 2 people were getting out of their car "Hey! You guys want some tomatoes?" Lakes turned around with delight "YES." Very rarely out here are we going to say no to anything, especially food. The couple poured some cherry tomatoes into a couple brown paper sacks "We just came from the farmers market. Everyone loves these little ones - eat them like candy." We ask what road we're on. It's not what we were hoping for. But we start munching on cherry tomatoes and head on down the trail. (I still don't love tomatoes but, for the record, these were pretty spectacular). Onward thru more field until we finally stop to check our maps. That sign we'd seen - old. The mileage on it - off by 3-4 miles. Damn. Keep moving. More field, train tracks, busy road........Busy road! We hit Route 7 to find a girl waiting to pick up her thru hiking boyfriend. She have us ziplock bags with a ham sandwhich, a bag of store bought chicken salad, some string cheese, and a beer. And she gave me a ride into the shopping center. 1.5miles I don't have to walk. Errands: Laundry, small amount of groceries, find a motel. Walked too far to get to the motel and paid too much for one night...don't ask what either was. ...shower...oh man do I love a shower...Drank my beer, ate some pack weight, washed my dishes, and reevaluated my situation. During which I realized that I had walked past TWO pharmacies and did not stop. This left me without a knee brace and more importantly without new insoles for my shoes. Tomorrow just got annoying...Rite Aid opens at 8am. Setting alarms for 6:30 and 7 so I can get up and get my ass in gear. It's 1a.5 miles back to the Rite Aid and then another 3.5 to where I got off the trail...