Date: 2019-05-21
From: Limestone Shelter 

To: Hemlock Shelter 
Miles today: 17.4

AT Day 81  5/2117.4 miles to Hemlock Shelter (plus 10 bonus miles)Well I did the unthinkable again.  I left the Limestone Shelter and hiked the 12 mile up to the AT.  Then I turned south and started hiking the wrong way. I even checked Guthook to make sure that I was going the north.  My brain must not have been working because I merrily hiked south down all the steep terrain that I¢d hiked up yesterday.  When I saw a dam spillway or falls area I had that sick to my stomach feeling that I had gotten turned around again.Needless to say I was very mad at myself.  I really didn¢t want to hike the 2.7 miles back up the steep grade to the shelter sign.  I checked Guthook and noticed that I could take some secondary roads to Route 44 and the follow route 44 to where it intersects with the AT.  From there I was hoping to meet up with WOW and hopefully he would guard my pack while I ran up south bound to the shelter sign and then I could run back down.  At the time I thought the road walk would be shorter than it was (it was at least 3 miles) and the return trip to the shelter sign less than 3 miles. The elevation profile looked like I could spend most of my time running.WOW graciously agreed to watch my pack and told me that I actually had 3.5 miles each way.  I took off fueled by Amazing Grass (health food drink mix) and part of a ProBar. I used my trekking poles to my full advantage, to power me up the hills and steady me on the descents.  I was fortunate that the majority of the trail had few trip hazards and I was able to tag the sign and get back down in 1 hour and 45 minutes. The picture on this page is proof that I ran the bonus miles up to the shelter sign so I could turn around and complete every northbound AT mile.  Once again I¢m insecure about my navigational abilities so I checked Guthook multiple times to make sure that my position on the trail was increasing in mileage.WOW has his own journal on this site called Monarch and WOW, so read his journal if you want to read about what its like to have a bonehead for a hiking partner.I must say that in my opinion Massachusetts is the most beautiful state thus far. You can always tell when you are hiking on a popular day hiker trail because the New England trail builders actually use switchbacks and try to avoid steep life and limb damaging descents.  The climb up to the summit of Bear Mountain was fairly easy. Once on the summit most day hikers turnaround. They are actually missing the best part. The ridge line follows the top of the mountain for a long time with the most stunning views that the AT has offered to this point.  It was windy but the air felt cool, crisp, and fresh. We took a break in the sunshine on top of the mountain and discussed the events of the day. Despite my screw up we had still managed to put in some descent miles for the trail condition.I was loving Massachusetts and singing its praises and then the steepest nasty climb of the trip came up.  I don¢t know how you could climb up these nearly vertical rock walls in the rain. The climb just kept going on and on and on.  I even stopped on the way up which is something I normally refuse to do. But like all uncomfortable experience on this trail, the climb passed into a distant memory worth telling stories about some day.  Then came the descent. Once again, I think there should be a standard gradient allowed for a hiking trail.  It was ridiculously hazardous in places and was made worse by the buildup of dead leaves. I use trees as much as possible to help me on descents.  I grabbed a small tree and somehow slipped and my backpack pivoted me around backwards. WOW with his quick reactions spun around and pushed up on my backpack to help me recover.  I also fell off a perfectly good double logged bridge backwards into the water because I looked up.  The water felt refreshing.Despite my mistake and the tough trail conditions we managed to hike a respectable 17.4 AT miles to the Hemlock Shelter. I figured that I had done around 10 bonus miles to add to my day.Tomorrow we hike to a parking area to be picked up for a Nero and resupply.Happy hiking, Silver Streak