Date: 2007-07-15
From: Hemlocks Lean-to, MA

To: Lake Buel Road, MA
Miles today: 15.5

Do you ever have one of those nights when you lay your head down on your pillow and the next thing you know, the alarm is going off? You never seem to get the opportunity to enjoy your rest. Well, that's how it has been about every night so far this past month. I suppose it's due to the exhaustion that I feel at the end of each day.This morning came too quickly, but I got myself up at 5 AM and started hiking by 6 AM. The sky and sun was an unusually deep orange color this morning and I wondered if "Red skies at night, sailor's delight; red skies at morning, sailor's take warning," is really true. Moving down the mountain was uneventful, but I had to keep my head down to watch where I put my feet on the rocks. About an hour into my hike, I nearly bumped into another hiker approaching me, headed southbound as I hiked northbound. Like me, he was also busy concentrating on avoiding a fall on these rocks and he also had his head down. I think we were both surprised when we met. It was Backyard Boogie. I did not expect to see him and I especially did not expect to see him headed southbound. He told me that he stayed overnight in Salisbury at a local resident's house and she agreed to take him nineteen miles north to a trail intersection so that he could slackpack southbound back to Salisbury and stay there another night. Tomorrow, he'll be dropped off at the same location where he was dropped off today and then he'll proceed northbound.Traveling on this segment of trail was much easier today than it was yesterday except for the Kamikaze mosquitoes that were biting me through my clothes. I also had the opportunity to stop at a produce stand this morning near the trail on US 7. The produce stand is called the Corn Crib.   I sat down for a while enjoying two Oreo Klondike ice cream sandwiches, a Snapple iced tea and some orange juice. The biggest mountain climb of the day was ahead and the sugar rush was just what I needed to get my body moving.There were no views today on top of the mountain since the mountain was heavily forested. Many miles of trail followed the perimeter of corn fields and pastures, too. However, there was a decent view from the tent platform at the Tom Leonard Lean-to that overlooked a valley. What I saw from the tent platform were huge, mushroom-shaped clouds on the horizon with high tops, indicative of thunderstorms that were certainly headed my way. Within minutes, I began to hear the low-frequency distant rumble of thunder. For me, nothing "nips" at my heels to get moving like the sound of thunder gradually getting louder. Fortunately, I only had a couple of miles to go to reach my destination. Once on Lake Buel Road, I walked for what seemed like two miles on the road to get to the Eastern Mountain Retreat Center, a hostel for hikers and other groups. It's a religious retreat of some sort. I called there the day before and spoke to a Pastor Rose about the accommodations. It sounded like a good deal to me, however, once I made it to the entrance; I discovered that the buildings are 2/3 of a mile UP a dirt road. I also took notice of a bed and breakfast across the street. So, I started going up the dirt road and it seemed to take forever. I was tired already and then it started to rain. So, frustrated, I turned around and checked in at the bed and breakfast. In mere minutes, the sky opened up with fierce wind, rain, small hail stones, and lightning. Undeterred by the hazard of the high voltage arcing across the sky, making the lights flicker in my room, I rewarded myself with a hot shower, washing the sweat, sunscreen, and insect repellent off of me.