Date: 2006-06-28
From: October Mnt. Lean-to

To: Dalton, MA
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: moderate rain

June 28, Dalton, MAHave ya ever tried to be quiet and pack up when you're in a loft in a shelter with eight other folks? It can't be done when five of the other folks want to get up and get going early too. So, I got a head start on the other five section hikers; Marge, Mo, Linda, Susan and Caesar. Just as soon as I stepped out from under the porch, the rain started. Back up and put on the pack cover that now leaks and pull on the rain jacket. The rain turns out to be a cold brutal torrent. It is unrelenting as it beats down on me. I end up just slogging through the rush of water that course on the trail. I think the trail is sad to know I'm leaving today. It's slow going. It's dark. My gimmy hat brim gives the bugs a small world to hang out under. I keep my head down. Once in a while I look up and make sure I'm on the trail and not following a brook or some other trail.The stepping stones crossing the brooks and creeks are under water. The trail is a creek. Still I skirt the big puddles because you just don't know how deep the mud is. The dirt here must be high in clay, it's slippery. I slip and fall on my hip. I'm now covered with mud. The rain beats it off. Walking in the puddles puts it back on. The plan was to have lunch on the trail but there is no getting out of the rain. Even the spruce isn't dense enough to keep the rain at bay.Spring Beauties are beaten down. They are as unhappy with the torrent as I am. The forest is a dark and menacing place. The trudge up Warner Mtn seems forever. The walk across the bogs feels unending. The puncheons are old and rotted. Uneven footing. Marge tells me these logs are cut on site. In my heart, I know the maintainers did the best under the circumstances and I send a silent thank you, but they are of no use today. There is another shelter 3 miles outside of Dalton. Originally I was not planning to stop there. It' nearly a quarter mile off the trail. But I need to eat; it's been six hours of Hades. So I make the trip into KayWoodLean-to. And take my first break all day.One bright point. I find trash on the trail. Usually if I know I'll be headed for a trash can, I pick up trash on the trail this piece of trail begs to be picked up. It's a gold sequined head band with a feather. I put it on top of my cap. Eight point eight miles since I sat down last. I sit down under the porch and shake my head. I pull out my tuna pocket sandwich and start to eat when I get joined by three other hikers from OctoberMtn Lean-to. Apparently they wanted out also. Marge and Caesar. And the thru-hiker who put up her tent.I decide that I will go to the hotel today instead of the hostel. I figure other thru-hikers who may have tented last night will have stuff hanging from everywhere and I just want to clean up for the trip home. Let them have the hostel. Stopping isn't always a good idea when one is wet and cold. So Marge and I get going quick. There is one more climb and a down into town. All in three miles. As we head down to the start of DayMtn, there is a brook along side of the trail. Today it is a raging white water fall. It's amazing to see. Marge and I stop and watch in wonder. Then finish WarnerMtn and start DayMtn. It's a quick hill but steep and the rain has filled the trail. I find out why Marge's trail name is Tortoise. I thought I was slow going up a hill. She makes me look like a speed demon. But then I have ten years on her. I just hope I'm her age I'm still doing these hills. She catches up with me on the summit. Must be because she's almost six feet tall and her long legs gets her places on flat ground. Then the descent. No shortage of rocks here. But the rain is slacking. The hill is a verdant green. Lush with moss and ferns. It's like a wonderland of greens. Even the rocks we crawl over are green with moss and lichens. Which with the rain is doubly slippery. Finally the rocks are gone and we are headed down into Dalton. We can hear the traffic. It's below us and we know we have a ways down. There is no avoiding the mud. I slip again. This time on my butt. I keep in my mind the hot shower I will take when I get my room. Marge and I finally get to town. This is one of those towns where the trail actually goes through part of it. We see the blaze marks on telephone poles. Marge tells me about how she thinks about people who don't know about the trail going through their town, and how the mysterious marks show the way for those who know. We veer off to find the hotel. And there it is. We get our rooms. We go to the post office. My maildrop has my favorite wash cloth and my favorite body soap. HerKs is the food for the second half of their ten day hike. We decide we¢ve done enough walking today and will have supper at the restaurant next to the hotel. Then head off to our respective rooms for showers after a quick trip to the c-store for junk food. The shower is good. I realize I don't have to do laundry. I'm going home. I hang it all to at least dry before packing them. I go and check on the rest of the section hikers and verify supper. They are worried because Susan still has not made it in. Caesar is going back to the trail where it comes into town to see if he can see her. There is discussion among the other three to bail. Rain is in the forecast for the next four days. I don't blame them. So ends my trip for this year. Twenty days of walking, two hundred sixty five miles. I now officially belong to the 1500 mile club. Six hundred and twenty miles left. I have two new contacts for Vermont and New Hampshire. I have three new friends. Through the registers, I found out I missed the Friary Gang by one day into Dalton. Yet again, I find that consistent low mileage days will keep up with the fast young thru-hikers. And I took two zeros!Lessons I will keep in my heart as I plan for next year's hike. See you all next July, 2007. Or earlier when I start my Prep Journal.Namaste'