Date: 2017-08-02
From: Church St./School St., Cheshire, MA

To: MA 2, Williamstown
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Today we hiked from one town, Cheshire, to another, Williamstown - with lots of mountains and woods in between.   We left the Catholic Church where we had camped and picked up the trail across the parking lot. The trail wound through the outskirts of Cheshire before taking us through a cornfield.  The rest of the hike was a long ascent to the top of Mount Greylock, followed by a long descent to Williamstown.  The trail winds through several streets here as well.I heard another white-throated sparrow, and I saw lots of turtlehead flowers.  Terri saw another small mammal that she couldn't identify - black with lighter fur on top and quite large.  Mount Greylock is the highest peak in Massachusetts.  Henry David Thoreau visited there and wrote about it.  There's a rock carved with his thoughts on it.  At the very top there is an interesting Art Deco style war memorial built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s to honor the dead of the Great War.  The Corps also built Bascom Lodge, which has rooms (for a mere $40 per night) and a nice little restaurant.  The style and furnishings of the lodge are Craftsman style, comfortable and pleasing to the eye.  Arlene, Bill, Terri, and I arrived at 10:45 and stayed for about two hours.  We wandered around the memorial, climbed to the top, looked over the mountains, and then had lunch in the lodge.  While we were looking out the top of the memorial we saw Lizzie and Patti arrive southbound.  They didn't stay long but continued on their way.Lunch at the little restaurant was very pleasant.  There was no air conditioning.  It was not very hot out, and the windows were open, letting in fresh air.  This was a real treat compared to most places where air conditioning is turned on whether or not it's needed.  The food was good.  After eating a hot ham and cheese sandwich, potato salad, orange juice, and coffee I went to the freezer to get an ice cream bar.  What appealed to me though was a lime-flavored popsicle in fancy dress clothes.  It was delicious.  When I finished I read the wrapper and said to Arlene, "This has no fat and hardly any calories.  I don't know why I even bothered to eat it."  We both laughed.  It's a new way of considering food for us.  The afternoon hike was uneventful.  Toward the end we heard thunder, and a threatening wind arose.  We arrived at the endpoint around 4:15, just minutes before a downpour.  This evening we did laundry, ate, went to an ATM, put our clean clothes away, and packed food in our packs for tomorrow.  We're staying tonight at a very interesting bed and breakfast, River Bend Farm.  It's in a house that was built in 1770 and has been maintained in nearly original condition.  It has been operated as an inn since it was first built.  It has electricity and other amenities but is otherwise like a museum of that time period - a really lovely place.  The floorboards in the kitchen are 15 to 24 inches wide.  Imagine the trees they came from!  I wish we had more time to hang out here and enjoy the place.  The owner is getting up early tomorrow to feed us breakfast at 5:00 so we can be back on the trail by 6:00. Tomorrow we hike 18.4 miles, which will take us to Bennington, Vermont.  Farewell, Massachusetts.  It was great!