Date: 2015-06-19
From: Guilder Pond

To: Salisbury
Miles today: 13.4

Today turned out to be a great hike. It was overcast when we woke and stayed that way much of the morning. Overnight rain was forecast, but apparently it wasn't much and about all we felt was tree rain (and wet bushes). Everyone was up early at Bearded Woods. Coffee was ready at 6:00 and Big Lu put out a delicious egg casserole with fresh fruit at 6:30. I had seconds and plenty of coffee and we were ready to roll at 7:00. Today we hiked with Spartacus, a new convert to slack-packing. He's been hiking all the way from Springer with a heavy backpack and two knee replacements and he's been pounding out some big miles with a group of young Turks. He says he probably would have continued until he made it, or was completely worn out. But he says the enjoyment has been waning. And then he met us at a water break on the trail and we talked about slack-packing and he got hooked. When he came across us again here at Bearded Woods, he was ready to give it a try. So today the three of us set out SoBo from Guilder Pond to tackle Mt. Everett, Mt. Race, and Bear Mountain, all with slack packs. Mt. Everett had a pretty steep climb and an even steeper descent. If there was a view from the peak, it was obscured with fog and clouds. The downhill was hard, not only steep but with a lot of large, smooth, wet, downhill sloping rocks. At that point it was not shaping up as a good hike. Next was Mt. Race. The uphill was much less steep, but also much longer. The summit was rewarding, lots of long rocks with great views. It was still cloudy and foggy, but the clouds were starting to burn off. As we walked along the ridge line, we realized we were walking along a ledge that dropped off quickly to the valley, and we followed that ridge for perhaps an hour. Then the trail started downhill and that lasted for 4 or 5 miles and went through a variety of landscapes. Finally we crossed a ravine with a stream and started back uphill, more steeply this time. As we climbed higher, the slope got steeper until finally we were confronted with a series of large smooth rocks that continued up as far as we could see. At first it seemed impossible to climb, but as we looked closely we realized that there were cracks and crevices in the boulders that presented opportunities to climb. So we moved up slowly. As we reached each new boulder we found a new path up and so forth. It took a long time, but eventually we reached the top. This time we were rewarded with a stone tower structure and more good views. The remainder of the hike was a long slow descent through a variety of terrains. Portions of the path were muddy and most of it was wet. The mountain laurel are in full bloom. There were a couple of small peaks along the way, but nothing major. Eventually, we ended up at the road into Salisbury where we finished two days ago and then we walked into town. We met quite a few thru-hikers along the way: Brown Gandolph, BrightSide, Furball, Elliot, Focus, Roadside, and several others we didn't know. Late in the hike we met Val, Andy and Cinnamon who had stayed at Bearded Woods last night. And we also saw some of the flip-flopping hikers we met at Anton's on the Lake. Plus there were a number of day hikers. So it was a busy trail. Spartacus thoroughly enjoyed the slack pack hike today and plans to join us and slack the rest of the way to Mt. Katahdin. He's a strong hiker and we're pleased to have him with us. We had beers in town until Hudson came to retrieve us. Back at Bearded Woods we gathered our gear together and made ready to leave early in the morning. There are only three of us here this evening and Big Lu went overboard and grilled luscious steaks with fingerling potatoes and a freshly picked garden salad. For dessert we had strawberries and fresh whipped cream over ice cream and a shortcake. If only we could come back to Bearded Woods every evening. Hudson and Big Lu do everything they can think of to provide the best possible hiking experience for all their guests. This place is a treasure. So, unfortunately, we leave tomorrow and head for the Sheffield/Great Barrington area. Oh and one more milestone today: we finished Connecticut and moved into Massachusetts. After MA, only 3 states left.