Date: 2014-06-30
From: Glen Brook Lean-To

To: Mt. Wilcox South Shelters
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: broken clouds

Rule #42 of the trail - never set your tent or hammock up by the bear box in camp! When we first set up we thought it was storage for trail maintainers but it turned out to be a bear box. We were woken up earlier than normal by people coming to the box to get their food.With the commotion and the long day ahead we got up early and rolled out of camp after saying goodbye to Joe and Cadence. The trail led us up and down to Jugs End overlooking a Massachusetts valley - it was a little rough going first thing in the morning but we had a great view while we took our first break.A steep climb down to MA 41 but then the trail took us through a nice wooded section - unfortunately we did not enjoy it as much since we were getting attacked by mosquitoes the entire way through. We had run out of bug spray the night before so we had nothing to keep them away...After hurrying through that section we reached US 7 for another break and decided to look for some soda. The book said there was soda 0.2 mile trail right but that did not look too promising so I walked to the left while Big Dawg rested. I stumbled across a soda sign near the road at an antique store called Great Finds. The sign was correct and they sold cold sodas and some candy - turned out to be a "great find".Walking towards the next big climb we accidentally disturbed a family of turkeys (two parents and several babies) and they flew away before I got a picture - kinda neat to see! We also met Cowboy and Cornwall before tackling the hill - they had stopped at Mom's trail magic! Both guys were nice and we let them go first up the hill.Poor water management this morning - we ran out of water before the start of the climb and could not find any water until mostly up the hill. It was a hot day as well and it made the hill climb much tougher on Big Dawg. A quick rest at the first plateau but I led the way to water so we could rehydrate. Along the way up the hill we ran into a guy hiking southbound. I said hello and the first thing he said to me was "Got any weed?". I was so surprised all I could say was "No, sorry" and keep walking on. I did not know what else to do!Rested at the view from East Mountain and enjoyed a good lunch. Only 7ish miles left to the shelter! Shouldn't be too bad right? Not a terrible walk but we did have a rough up and down section before Tom Leonard Shelter and up to the Mt. Wilcox South Shelters combined with mosquitoes and heat that made us walk a little slower and take some more breaks. Also had a long walk for water at the Tom Leonard Shelter - long way down the hill to the right!At the Mt. Wilcox South Shelters stay at the second shelter - much nicer and newer and a double decker! We set up hammocks nearby and ate dinner quickly. Started a much needed fire to scare away the pesky mosquitoes and make the evening a little more enjoyable. Met Coach who started her thru-hike last year but had to get off in this area for injury. She was finishing up her hike to Katahdin. We also ran into Ace and Mac - the young couple we ran into at the Tri-Corner Knob Shelter in the Smokies! Caught up with Ace for a little bit then spent the rest of the evening resting.