Date: 2014-07-03
From: Dalton, MA

To: Bascom Lodge on Mt. Greylock Summit
Miles today: 17.2

Another smart decision by us - it is raining buckets outside! Staying at Bascom Lodge on top of Mt. Greylock - a good night to be indoors and close to our zero day in Williamstown.Wanted an earlier start to the day since we were going to add some miles so we got up early. Ate the continental breakfast at the Quality Inn - great Belgian waffle - and caught the BRTA bus over to Dalton at 7:22. Taking the bus worked out wonderfully and was much less expensive than a cab or shuttle!Starting from the post office we picked up the trail near Daly Street and started out the day walking through the rest of town - a nice town to walk through and good seeing people out and about. As we left town and returned to a more wooded environment we passed a sign saying the road was closed and to use it at our own risk - we took that risk since the trail went that way and it was fine! Nothing wrong with the road they just stopped paving it after a certain point.A good climb out from Dalton to the top and we ran into Ace and Mac on the way up the hill - they decided to stay at the church hostel in Cheshire because of the incoming weather and they wanted another shorter day. As we neared the top we ran into an older gentleman named D6 who was from Maine and was out doing this section of trail southbound. He was also a Purdue graduate in Civil Engineering and helped build two new privies in the 100 Mile Wilderness - very cool! A good guy to talk to about the trail ahead and hiking before moving on to Cheshire for lunch.Stopped at the Cobbles to view the valley and town below - an ok view and we might not have been in the exact right spot for the viewpoint. A quick rest and a fast walk into town since we were both hungry. Cheshire is also a nice little town that is well-kept and active when we went through - many people were out on the nearby bike path riding around.Ate lunch at Diane's Twist right along the trail by the bike path - great little place to get a sandwich and ice cream! There was only one person working in the place but that is all they needed since the building was pretty small. It was a great place to rest and eat lunch in the sunshine near the middle of town - the ice cream was spectacular too! We also met another thru-hiker at lunch named A-Train who was about my age from Pennsylvania doing a flip flop hike the Mason-Dixon Line. Now it was time to conquer the big climb from Cheshire to the shelter and ultimately to Mt. Greylock - luckily the weatherman was wrong and it was not pouring rain on us yet! It was a bright sunny day which made for hot humid walking but overall the climb up to the shelter was relatively nice with a few steep spots. We took our time and rested when needed on the steep parts and made good time on the gentle grade. Also passed a trail crew out making more of those log walk things in a section that was pretty muddy - since they hadn't finished yet we slogged through the mud to keep moving on.Time for water and rest at the shelter before moving on to the summit! Went down to the shelter and filtered water while meeting Haiku for the first time - a nice fellow who was enjoying a good book in the shelter when we arrived. A-Train also showed up while we were resting and we all chatted around the shelter until Big Dawg, Haiku and myself decided to move on - just in case the rain was still coming!A mostly uneventful climb up to the summit of Mt. Greylock with a steep rocky section near the summit and several road crossings - we even walked past a pond on the way to the summit with a little house near it that was kinda neat! The summit itself was also very nice - an observation tower right on the top overlooking the valley below from the highest point in MA - too bad the tower was closed due to "unsafe conditions" in the tower! Still were able to enjoy the views from an observation point below the tower. We could also see the storm coming in - definitely going to get hit by it!Checked into the lodge and settled into the bunkroom - nice setup! Mattresses on the bunks and sheets and everything - what a pleasant surprise! Shared the room with two other hikers - Haiku and another lady - and also three other people who I did not see. After a good shower we sat down in the main area enjoying happy hour and preparing for dinner at seven. What a setup dinner was! Two guys ran the whole operation and did the cooking ans serving and setup with just the two of them - pretty amazing that they did it so well! We shared dinner with a family from Quincy, Massachusetts - Joe, Janet, and their young son Jesse. Boy were they interested when they found out we were thru-hikers! They asked all sorts of questions and we had a great evening sharing stories and talking about all sorts of things. The dinner was spectacular and the family gave us some fresh picked strawberries they had picked today - you never know where you are going to find trail magic! A very nice family we wished them safe travels and farewell.Lots of rain and lightning outside - cool to watch from indoors and definitely not as enjoyable if we were out in it! Just luck on our part we made it today without getting rained out - time for the Fourth of July tomorrow!