Date: 2012-06-30
From: Wilbur Clearing Shelter

To: Cheshire, MA
Miles today: 11.0

I was alone in the shelter last night, but all the tentsites were occupied. That was a change from recent nights. This shelter and camping area is close to several parking areas and trails, and is a popular spot for the locals on weekends. The man from the family with the kids and dog had come over early last evening to introduce himself. That was nice of him. He said that some other friends would be joining them, also with kids and dogs, but he specifically stated that he dogs would be kept at their campsites and tied up overnight. When I got up and went to the privy at 5am I was approached by an unleashed growling dog. I tried to ignore it (I was in somewhat of a hurry), but it kept lunging for me and growling. Not wanting to get bitten, I just yelled in the general direction of the closest campsite for them to control their dog. It took 3 times before a voice from inside a hammock called the dog back. Ita is pretty ridiculous that someone would set up right next to the outhouse and leave their dogs loose. That's the one place that you would expect people traffic at night and early morning.I got up with the sun in an attempt to get the steep miles done before the heat of the day. It was successful. I made it up to Mt. Greylock at around 9:30: It was breezy and cool up there, and I sat admiring the view until my clothes dried out some. Afterward I went to Bascom Lodge at the summit hoping for a cooked breakfast. Just my luck that they stop serving at 10 am. If I hadn't just spent half an hour trying to make myself respectable enough to go in restaurant, I'd have been in time to go in a restaurant!Undaunted, I noted that lunch would start at 11. I hung around enjoying the view, and even managed a top up charge on my phone. Alas, when I returned to the restaurant at 11 I was just in time to see someone changing the lunch sign to 11:30: I wasn't happy, and I also wasn't waiting any longer.Back out on the trail it was much warmer than for my ascent earlier. I was also surrounded by sweet perfumed smelling tourists. I was glad when I made it past the lower parking areas and had the trail to myself again.My goal for the day was to get past the last 3000' until Virginia. That gave me the option of either a short day to a shelter, or a longer day through the town of Cheshire and back out to a camping area. The short day plan got shot when I stopped at the shelter for water and lunch and found another troop of rambunctious boy scouts, this time not in the camping area, but actually in the shelter, fighting over bunks, jumping around, and throwing food around. Definitely not the place for me, and I pity the hiker that pulls in late and has to deal with that all night. The trail had been good since Mt Greylock so I decided to push on. Shortly after, the trail turned to steep downhill. It had been very hot and sweaty, and now I was forced to hike slower, and my toes were taking a downhill pounding. I started trying to rush, and of course that is when I took another fall. Nothing serious, just a bruise here and there.There are not many lodging options listed for Cheshire in my hiker guide, but it was obvious now that I was not going to make it through town. As I approached the outskirts I started looking for places I could hang out at until dark and surreptitiously put the tent up. My biggest issue was that I was once again almost out of water. I drank over 9 liters today, and most of it ended up being swabbed away in my bandanna as sweat. I decided to get down into town, stop somewhere for something to eat, get enough water to last me overnight, then head back into the woods outside town for the night. When I got into town I actually didn't pass anywhere selling food. As I pulled out my hiker guide to find out where the food was, I noticed the one listing for lodging which stated 'midweek only'. I know it's Saturday, but I decided to give it a try anyway. Eva at Harbor House Inn answered. Not only did she have a room, she would come to pick me up in town. I asked her about food, and she said she'd run me out to a restaurant after I'd cleaned up.This place is beautiful. I had a nice long soak in a claw tub, and relaxed for a while in the very luxurious robe provided. Once semi-human, Eva took me to a good restaurant for an decent meal. My laundry is now done, and I'm almost ready to go sink myself into the very comfortable looking bed in my blue and yellow "Country Sunshine" room. All this, and breakfast too in the morning, for the same price as I paid for the fleabag motel the other night! When I told Eva about that experience she answered that I should have called, I was only a 15 minute drive away. The funny thing about hiking: You tend forget that things are that close together when it takes all day to walk between them.