Date: 2013-07-28
From: Sages Ravine Campsite

To: Jess Treat's House
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: light rain

Day One Hundred and Forty Two - Sages Ravine Campsite to Jess Treat's HouseIt was nice and cool when I woke up this morning, perfect hiking weather but Melkie did not want to hike. I packed up and then picked up his harness to put on him and as soon as he saw it he ran to Zenmaster and Canadian Bacon's tent and pretended to be sleeping. It should have been a sign for the day ahead! We finally started hiking and even though I knew that there were horrible ups to be summited I was in a good mood. It was so nice and cool and we followed the ravine for a little while before heading up the first mountain. It was beautiful, it felt like a really old woods with giant pine trees and moss everywhere and sunlight just barely filtering through. As I got closer to the top I could see bright white through the trees and I thought it was just sunlight but it was really all of the reflected light from the clouds below me. A group of kids and adults all dressed in Karate suits hiked by me and I could hear music coming from the other side of the mountain. When I got to what I thought was the top I found Two Socks sitting on a rocky overlook enjoying an amazing view of mountaintops peaking through the clouds. It was so cool! I stopped for a second breakfast and while I was there several other hikers joined us. The clouds cleared away showing the valley below but we all agreed that the view looked the best with the clouds. As hikers started moving on they would each yell back that the view was better on the other side, it's not that we didn't believe them just that it was so peaceful and the view was so perfect right where we were. When we finally did move on (Zenmaster and Canadian Bacon had caught up and taken the lead), the view for the next half mile was awesome overlooking the valley below and several nearby lakes. We were hiking on a rocky path that was surrounded by blueberry bushes. Melkie decided that eating blueberries was more fun than hiking so we had to wait for him a few times. We made our way off the mountain begrudging every downward step we took knowing that we were soon to be going back up again and not wanting to lose any of the elevation we had already gained. We were about to hike up Mount Everett and it looked steep. I guess it wasn't that bad because we made it up in half an hour but it was hard with several stops to catch our breath and a longer stop when we got to the top to recover. It was still morning and we had already hiked the worst hills of the day, I was impressed but then it happened again. A whole bunch of tiny ups and downs involving rocks that tired us right out. It seriously felt like we were in the movie Groundhog Day and were doing the same twenty minutes of terrain over and over and over again. At one of our many afternoon breaks we came across Bomber again. He was thru hiking when he got a job with the ATC surveying for invasive species. He offered to pick us up at the end of the day and bring us into town and he told us that we would see Lady today as she was slacking south. Sure enough he had just left when Lady arrived (I hadn't seen her since Virginia), after chatting for a few minutes we each went in opposite directions knowing we would catch up later tonight. We continued on the rocky up and down terrain until it turned into just a steep, rocky down and soon we were making fun of what they classify as a trail. We decided that was should make a YouTube copying Jeff Foxworthy's You might be a redneck if.... Ours would be You might be on the Appalachian Trail if..... I will let you know when it's finished. After the down we had relatively flat miles left but we were all exhausted and just wanted it to end. As we approached the road that would lead to a shower, food and a bed we found a cooler with trail magic in it! We immediately dropped our pack and enjoyed a treat. There wasn't enough soda left for everyone so we all had to share but it was still awesome! Thank you Trail Frog, Mama Frog and Baby Frog (2003 thruhikers)! We called Bomber for a ride and then began trying to secure a hotel room. First of all only a few of them allowed pets and secondly the cheaper places were full with only $249 and up rooms left. We weren't impressed! Bomber had suggested we call Jess and stay where he is staying so that's where we are now at a home in Sheffield, MA clean, fed and in the process of relaxing! Lady is here too so there is lots of catching up to do. Good night world!Trouble