Date: 2018-07-25
From: Dalton MA

To: Mark Noepel Shelter
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: broken clouds

The continental breakfast at the Econo Lodge was underwhelming to say the least and we argued over the day's proposed mileage, as we often do. Glow Stick was adamant that 13.5 miles was unreasonable but of course, I didn't. We decided we would go about getting ourselves ready to get back on trail and see what did seem reasonable once we were under way. We pushed our checkout time til almost noon before heading over to the grocery store/Walmart. Chef, Pony, and I decided to stuff our faces with Taco Bell for lunch and then we got a lift back to the trail in Dalton proper (our motel was actually in Pittsfield). It was almost 3pm by the time we were heading north again and the 13 miles I had proposed did seem somewhat ambitious at this point. My concern was with the rain that was forecast overnight and the best way to avoid it was a shelter. It was already spitting rain as I hiked into the woods on the other side of town and I hoofed it to make my way into the town of Cheshire about 7 miles out. I made good time there but not good enough to make the little sandwich shop on the main drag before they closed. Glow and Ibex were already there at a picnic table as they had left Dalton before we did. There was a Shell station just up the road, so I blasted ahead and told them to meet me there when they were ready to head out. Once I made it to the Shell, I sat down to scarf an Italian sub and an iced coffee and the others eventually staggered in. It was getting later now and I had probably less than 2 hours of light left to make over 6 miles (mostly uphill) to the shelter. I checked the weather again and the rain was supposed to get heavy after dark and stay heavy through the night. The others said they doubted that they would be willing to push that far before dark and would likely look to camp just a couple miles up the trail. We agreed to meet in the morning up on Mt Greylock and I hastened out the door to make some distance. I pushed myself about as hard as I had to date and kept up a strong pace despite the consistent elevation gain. I had made over 3 miles in an hour when the light started to fade, I was able to see well enough in the clearings but when the trail dipped back in to the forest, I had to put on my headlamp to see the trail. There was so much condensation in the air that it reflected thickly around my head and prevented the light from letting me see much beyond my feet. As darkness gathered and the moisture felt more and more imminent, I had some concern about missing the spur trail to the shelter. Things were wet enough that I couldn't pull out my phone to use Guthook and therefore couldn't verify my exact location. My paranoia didn't last long as I finally reached the trail intersection and scurried down the .1 mile side trail. I spotted the bear box on the way in to camp and immediately stowed my food so I wouldn't have to deal with it in the morning. There were only two others in the shelter and already in bed so I quietly set up on one of the bottom bunks and climbed in to bed. The rain started in earnest between 9 and 10 and I was very glad to have pushed by myself to get here. Hopefully the rest of the crew doesn't float away.