Date: 2004-07-24
From: Rt. 8, Cheshire, MA

To: Rt. 2, North Adams
Miles today: 14.0

Weather: Cool, cloudy, windy, clearingMajor Landmarks: Mt. GreylockThe morning dawned cool and cloudy, a perfect day for hiking. My muscles were aching from yesterday¢s 18-mile hike, but today would only be 14 miles, although the first half was up Mt. Greylock, Massachusetts¢ highest peak. I got to the trailhead about 7:00 am, and immediately started climbing. The map profile showed pretty much a continuous 7-mile climb to the summit of Mt. Greylock. Soon after I passed Mark Noepel shelter, mist appeared in the woods as I entered the clouds. The wind was blowing pretty hard in the tree tops, clearing the water from yesterday¢s rainfall. The other thing it was doing was clearing out the clouds, as the sun periodically tried to shine through. The climb wasn¢t as bad as the profile showed (profiles always make the climbs look more ominous), and soon I reached the first crossing of one of the roads up the mountain. Shortly after that I met the first hiker, who said it was windy and about 20 degrees colder on top. Another road crossing and I came across a small pond with a cabin on the other side. No idea what that was. At another road crossing, I met two older ladies heading south and inquiring if this was the AT. ¢Yes, it is!¢ Finally I crossed the parking lot for a service area and was near the summit with the war memorial in view. I went over to Bascom Lodge where a SoBo and his dog were organizing their stuff. He was talking with a ranger and wondering about shelters south of here.I enjoyed my lunch on one of the benches outside the lodge, soaking up some sun. Then a visit to the war memorial and I was on my way down the other side. There were a number of people headed up to the summit from this direction, a couple with their dog, another couple with Adirondak Forty-Sixer T-shirts, and then a family with husband leading, three daughters and the wife bringing up the rear in her brand new white sneakers which were all covered in mud. He asked how far to the lookout on Fitch Mt. and I wasn¢t sure what he was talking about. After meeting a few more day hikers I came to a lookout just three miles from Rt. 2. It gave a beautiful view of the valley and an indication of the descent ahead. The next two miles went pretty much straight down the mountain, and very steeply. I took a couple of falls, one landing on a pointed rock on my butt. You would think they could throw in at least a couple of switchbacks. On the way down I could hear rifle shots from someone doing target practice. The trail kept turning in the direction of the shots and soon it sounded like I was right next to the shooter. I was hoping he was shooting in another direction.Just before I came to Phelps Avenue, I caught up with another thru hiker, Gray Squirrel. He was an older gentleman with long white hair and a large white beard. I asked him if he was headed for Katahdin and he said ¢Maybe.¢ I asked him where he started and he said ¢Springer Mt..¢ ¢When did you start?¢ ¢May 15th.¢ Wow! Just over two months and he¢s almost to VT. Then he let on how he is slowing down because of his age. I guess he must be hiking his own hike like all of us and probably skipped a few sections. In fact he said he was thinking of heading back to Harpers Ferry and heading south. So maybe he plans to pick up some sections he skipped, just like I was doing.There was one interesting observation today that I hadn¢t seen before. As I was hiking up Greylock, I happened to look down and saw a slug crawling on my forearm. I brushed it off and noticed a lot of slime on my arm. Oh, no! I¢ve been slimed! Anyway, a little further on I saw what I thought was a caterpillar hanging from its string, only it turned out to be a slug hanging from its slime. I¢d never seen that before. A little while later I noticed something on the brim of my hat, so I took it off to look, and sure enough, it was another slug. Then I began to notice a number of slugs hanging from their slime from tree branches. I guess this must be a wet weather phenomenon, because I truly have not noticed it before. It¢s amazing the things you discover on this journey.I must have seen about 30 people on the trail these past two days. That¢s probably more than I saw the entire time I was on the trail during the month of May. This is no doubt prime time for hiking. As I think about heading back out again at the end of August to finish my AT hike, I¢m hoping that there will still be a lot of people out hiking to add pleasure to my days. Not enough to fill up the shelters each night, but enough to provide some company along the way.