Date: 2012-07-05
From: Mark Knoebel Shelter 1578.0

To: Seth Warner Shelter 1594.5
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: scattered clouds

We were on the trail early to arrive at the Bascom Lodge at the summit of Mount Greylock in time to get breakfast. Once there, we enjoyed breakfast with Skog and Nitrous Oxide, then checked out the War Memorial to the states war casualties. We climbed to the top of the monument, and enjoyed the views of the Catskill mountains of New York, the Green mountains of Vermont, and the Taconic mountains of Massachusetts, as well as the surrounding towns. The trail down the other side of Mount Greylock descended steeply. Nomad passed us, headed to Rt. 2 (Williamsburg) for free Mexican food. (Random note: since we were much slower, we decided we couldn't afford the time to hitch to the restaurant, locate it, eat, and hitch back to town.)When we got near Rt. 2 there was trail magic! There were even some gluten free cookies-a first. Thanks, Skog, for pointing them out. We continued through town, and ended up hiking through a family's yard. We sat down for lunch at a bench we saw, then P Squared and Princess Doah hiked by, then a family. Soon the homeowner came out and invited to eat our lunch with him and his kids. We walked to their picnic table with our food. They also shared their pizza with us. We enjoyed their company and ended up giving them a "business card" and Facebook information so they could follow our hike, and see pictures. Then we filled our Platys from their spigot and picked blackberries from their yard. Gary and the homeowner chatted about blackberry growing for a bit, and Gary was able to give him some blackberry growing tips. We continued hiking, and soon Tipsy and Fetch caught up, but stopped for lunch so we hiked ahead of them again. As we hiked, we saw the family we'd who had passed us as we were eating lunch, and stopped to chat. They had been talking about our thru hike to their children. We ended up giving them a card too. Soon we came to some rocks. We passed some section hikers on their first day. It made us think how much easier it was to hike up rocks now than during our early weeks. Before long, BearManPig passed us, and shortly we were at the Massachusetts/Vermont border, where the Long Trail began. (Random note: The Long Trail starts at the border of Massachusetts and Vermont, and runs north for over two hundred miles to the Vermont/Canada border. The Appalachian Trail joins the Long trail for 105.2 miles, to the "Maine Junction" where the two trails separate. The Appalachian Trail heads east at that point, and the Long Trail heads north. This junction is very well marked, but invariably a few people hiking the AT end up accidentally missing their turn.) BearManPig, Dude Man Bro, Princess Doah, and P Squared were there. We took some pictures and continued. I ended up hiking to the shelter with Princess Doah. She's finishing up the last 800 miles of her AT hike this year, starting at Delaware Water Gap with her six year old grand daughter for the first 60 miles. (Random note: She did, in fact, complete her hike, a few days before we did.) When we arrived at the shelter, there was room for us, so we put down sleeping pads and I got water. Lots of thru hikers were already there, including Wonder (who I finally got to meet and thank in person for finding Gary's Platypus,) and Buzzkill with his dog Gretel, who he had rescued near Pearisburg Virginia. (Random note: Gretel was really well behaved. She curled up a few feet away from the shelter while her owned stayed in the shelter. She never made a sound all night, even when people got up to use the privy, and stayed in her spot until Buzzkill motioned for her to get up!) Section hiker Chucky the Fish, and others were also there. Soon BearManPig and DudeManBro, Tipsy and Fetch came in and set up tents. Later on Snake Girl, Broad Sword, and their dog Diesel, and Nomad came in. Nomad cowboy camped right by the fire pit. (Random note: Nomad, the thru hiker who had passed us yesterday on the trail on a mission to get free food, had, in fact, gotten a free meal at a Mexican restaurant in Williamstown.) Life is good on the AT when there's a large, congenial group of hikers in a shelter, and when there is room in the shelter for anyone who wants a spot.