Date: 2015-07-04
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Dalton, MA
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: light rain

I got up early. Pancake breakfast was being served at 630! They were super tasty and such a treat. The caretaker does this for the hikers at his own expense. Nothing like a good breakfast to fuel us up for the day. We wanted to get into town today because 1. Its the 4th and we wanted to see what was going on and 2. it was Mr. Cleans birthday and we wanted to celebrate. Mighty Mouse and I hiked all day together. About 2 miles from camp we cross a foot bridge over I-90. This was a big deal for me. Last year on my way home from vacation I drove under this bridge. I remember saying "next year I will be hiking over this bridge." I am ecstatic that I made it this far. At some point Par 3 caught up with us. We became a train of hikers, lol. It was a pretty dreary morning and it started to rain at some point. Kind of irritating since it wasn't suppose to rain. And hopefully it doesn't last too long. On one of our quick breaks we were chatting and Par 3 mentioned marathons. In essence he said that we've pretty much been training for a marathon for the past 6 months. Its true, I can hike 26 miles with a pack on, without a pack I could fly. Doing a marathon is on my bucket list. I'm not looking to set a speed record, I just want to complete one. So I'm going to look into a marathon when I get off the trail!About lunch time we hit the Cookie Lady's place. Shes .1 off the trail on a blueberry farm. She has fresh homemade cookie for hikers. They also sell cans of soda and ice cream! I ate lunch and had some cookies and ice cream! It was super tasty. The Cookie Lady and her husband have been doing this for hikers for 30 years! They were amazing and super sweet. Twinkle-toes arrived just as we were leaving. After lunch we had another 9.6 miles to go. We were a train of hikers again, lol. At about 3 it stopped raining and the sun peeked out here and there. For the most part the terrain was pretty decent and we moved at a quick pace. But with all the rain everything became a mud pit. The decent into Dalton took a very long time. It was a giant mud slide that you just couldn't get around. We did the best we could to root and rock hop but sometimes we ended up ankle deep in muck. Such a mess and very time consuming. We hit town about 6ish. There is a man named Tom that lets hikers camp on his lawn for free. He wasn't home when we got there so we relaxed on the porch for a bit. Par 3, Mighty Mouse, the Germans and I were there. When Tom came home he gave us the the rules and how things work. Fairly simple, no loud noises or the neighbors complain and we get kicked out, keep the hose by the shrubs so the yard doesn't become a mud pit. Tom was super nice. We set up camp, got cleaned up and headed into town for food. Angelinas Sub Shop was the only place open. They had great food!! We ate so much there. We wanted to get some beer for Mr. Cleans birthday but there were no restrooms available at Toms. Plus his yard was right in the middle of suburbia and visible so its not like you could do your business there. The bathroom at Cumberland Farms was our only option. So we decided not to drink so we didn't have to get up all night to pee. A bunch of other hikers were there camping as well. Sweet Eyes and few southbounders and flip floppers. Papalu and MOment were there earlier but moved on, I missed them by a few hours. Tons of fireworks were going off that night and I watched some from my tent. Pretty decent way to spend the holiday weekend!