Date: 2015-07-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day 7 Tuesday 7-14-15We left Laurel Hill Campsite about 7:05 AM. There was a short rain shower as we finished pack up to leave camp so we both had wet tents to pack. We stopped at Glen Brook Shelter at 1 PM. It was only a 5 mile day. Originally we had planned on meeting my wife near Great Barrington today but Acorn did not want Alma to skip an ice cream social at work today & a Grange meeting tonight. The trail out of Laurel Hill was pretty mellow for the first couple of miles. An easy, not too rocky upgrade followed by a mild down grade. Both areas had a few rocky areas and as usual everyone is passing us. I had heard that there were 3 NB thru hikers that were picking up trash as they hiked. They pack it out to towns. We even heard that that had found & pack out 2 mattresses for 1.2 miles. Today I WAS THRILLED!! We met all three of those hikers Goose, Cap and Spice!! WE met Spice on Mt. Race and Cap and Goose as we descent Mt. Everett. I have never heard of this type of deed before. We were told that they were just 10 lbs. short of picking up 1,000 lbs. of trash. And that Pennsylvania had the most trash and that Connecticut was pretty clean. They all had trash bags attached to their waist belts and reachers to pick up the small trash.Going up Mt. Everett was steep and rocky but really not too bad. It was not slippery at all. Towards the top we had to wait for 2 descending groups of summer camper girls about 11-12 years old. The girls and their leaders were all nice. The day was only about 70 degrees and humidity was low. This was our best weather day so far. Coming down Mt. Everett was slow with some difficult spots but not nearly as bad as it looked in Awol¢s Guide. No views from Mt Race. It was cloudy.The Glen Brook shelter camping area is huge. I bet you could fit in about 100 tents or more. It is a nice area too with lots of pine trees. We chose a tent site not too far from the privy, stream water source and a tent platform that we & some other hikers used to cook on & socialize. The bear box is fairly close too. We ALWAYS use a bear box or bear hang. I had a close encounter with a bear over food a few years ago. I thought that I was going to die and realized how helpless you are in a sleeping bag in a tent. I DO NOT want to repeat the experience. Our first 3 days of hiking were rough & difficult. We were carrying a bit too much stuff and were not in trail shape. We started with too much food not remembering that at first, most people eat no more or maybe even less than usual. This has been our 7th day on trail and I have been feeling better & better for the last 3 days after or NEARO at Bearded Woods. I definitely could pick up our pace on the mellower trail & could do longer days. I¢m not sure that Acorn can. She still seems to be struggling. Maybe dropping 5 lbs. or more of her pack weight will help. My right shoulder rotator cuff issues and torn bicep muscle have not given me trouble except the first few nights. I think that using the hiking poles are improving my strength & flexibility. They are good constant exercise.We had planned to meet my wife Alma at the rt. 7 trail crossing tomorrow. We decided that that would be too late in the day so I called & we are meeting earlier about noon at the rt. 41 trail crossing. Most of the trail is downhill tomorrow but that does not mean easy.