Date: 2007-08-06
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Dalton, MA
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: mist

I slept well last night at the cabin. All of the bunks have about a 4 inch foam mattress which was very comfortable. Early this morning I could hear hikers shuffling downstairs and could smell coffee brewing, so I got up and followed the crowd. The caretaker was in the kitchen making blueberry pancakes on a small gas stove, and a fresh pot of coffee was percolating. On the dining room table there was a platter of pancakes and 2 pots of coffee. It is a sort of self serve operation here, so that is exactly what I did. What is interesting about the making of these pancakes is that the blueberries are picked by southbound hikers at a farm along the trail north of here, and carried to the cabin. Northbound hikers ask the southbound hikers to perform this little task as they meet on the trail north of the blueberry farm. A simple but effective tradition on the AT.After eating some fine pancakes and lingering over a second cup of coffee, I knew I'd have to start packing if I was going to break away from this very comfortable and peaceful oasis in the woods. For the past three days I have been trying to make contact with another hiker from my home town. His name is Scott and he attempted a southbound thru hike in June, but after the first 100 miles his partner became ill, and they both left the trail. He was hoping to get on the trail again and hike the section from MA up to Maine, where he had to leave the trail, but wanted to hike with someone else. A mutual friend of ours from Vernon suggested that he contact me and inquire about hiking with me. So we have been playing a lot of phone tag and leaving email messages, but have not yet spoken to each other. The last message he left was that he would meet me at the Kaywood Lean-to today which is about 17 miles from here. That is where I am heading today.About a mile or so from the cabin, the trail goes over I-90 on a foot bridge. Crossing on the bridge today was kind of exciting and sort of a milestone on this journey. Over the years, as I dreamed of one day taking this hike, I would always get a kick out of occasionally driving under this bridge, which is clearly marked "Appalachian Trail". I would always point it out to my kids and my wife, until they were sick of hearing it. Of course it was always exciting for me and kept my dream alive.So today I finally crossed that bridge as a thru hiker, a real symbolic point reached in this journey. I stayed here for a while taking it all in, and then moved on. I did some straight up climbing after that, but the hiking was a bit more comfortable since the weather was cooler with some light rain.I stopped for a break at the first shelter, October Mtn. Shelter. As I read the shelter register, I noticed that Scott had stayed here last night and said his destination today would be Dalton, MA. With this in mind, I decided to also shoot for Dalton, which would only be an additional 3 miles. Before I left the shelter, Philmont and Brisk stopped in. For the rest of the day, I was one step ahead of them as we seemed to make the same rest stops. Late in the afternoon, as I was getting close to Dalton, I heard voices in the distant, behind me. The voices were gradually coming closer and I was wondering who was behind me hiking so fast. As they finally reached me I turned to see Gypsy Spirit and Tumbleweed. I was surprised since I knew Gypsy had said she was going to an Allman Brothers concert on Sunday in Albany. Well as they flew by me, I learned that they both went to the concert, returned to the trail, and started hiking at 2 a.m. and have not stopped. They are going to Dalton too, and have already covered 40 miles. I was totally amazed and just waved goodbye to these hiking machines as they disappeared down the trail.As I reached Dalton, I planned to try and stay at a well known hostel run by a man named Tom Levardi. Tom has been welcoming thru hikers into his home for years and charges nothing. He truly has a heart of gold. When I got to Tom's house, there were many other northbound and southbound hikers there and it was somewhat chaotic. I asked Tom if I could simply set up my tent in his backyard and take a shower. He had no problem with that. After I showered, I walked to downtown Dalton and had some dinner. I made a few phone calls afterwards and walked back to Tom's house where I sat on his front porch and started journaling. After a few minutes, someone behind me asked if I was Easy Strider. As I turned around I saw someone I did not recognize. He introduced himself as Scott. Finally I had met Scott! He had been there all afternoon. We talked for quite a while and made plans to hike to Cheshire tomorrow.It was a great day on the AT, filled with surprises.