Date: 2010-08-17
From: Cheshire, St Mary's church

To: Mt Greylock summit
Miles today: 8.0

Day 29 - Tue Aug 17Plan: hike 8.0 miles from Cheshire to Bascom Lodge at top of Mt. Greylock. 2500 ft steady climb with two steep 500 footers.Weather: clear, crisp, coolLast day for me on the AT but it has been a great trip. The past few weeks on the trail has reminded me to expect the unexpected and to look for and take notice of the small things that make each day special. But even though I thought today would be an adventure little did I know what surprises and blessings of love would be in store...I'll explain... We had a good night's sleep on the floor of the community room at St. Mary's. The acoustics are great in this big empty room so Genevieve and I practice our harmony on "Fallen Leaves" which we sang for Father Raymond last night. The tag line in that song is "...when you leave this earth for a better home someday, the only thing you'll take is what you gave away". In our conversation with him we discussed the spirit of giving that is manifested in so many people who are the trail. St. Mary's has been sheltering hikers for over 30 years. Father Raymond has been here for nine. He sees this unusual kindness and generosity from a spectrum of people which ranges from young adventurer, college student, laid off worker, lost soul, retiree, to corporate executive on leave of absence. They all have the same rocks to climb and face the same perils each day and hence develop a sense of community and support for each other. In the past four weeks I have met a young girl hiking who has a 10 cm mass surrounding her heart and heard of but did not meet a blind fellow who is thru-hiking from Georgia to Maine. I promise myself that I will never complain about anything ever again. We check our drying clothes hanging on the church's chair racks and they are almost completely dry. Boots which I stuffed with newspapers are still wet on the outside but dry inside which is good enough . I eat half a jar of peanut butter for breakfast along with a couple cups of chewable powdered milk drink. We had planned to get on the trail by 7:30 but it takes me a long time to eat that much peanut butter so it is 8:30 before we are out the door. Last night John, the church gardener, drove me to the store for supplies. I purchased two liters of Gatorade and was informed by the store clerk that there was a sale - buy 2 and get 3 more free..."To bad you are hiking", he says. What the hell I take the extra 3 anyway thinking I can drop some in the hiker's box at the church. I wasn't smart enough to get 5 of the same flavor - I got all sorts. So this morning when I decide instead to load my camelback with the three remaining liters I have a green, blue, and purple. I mix them all together and it makes a nice brown color. Genevieve says it looks like pond water and suggests that I put in a few drops of bleach to disinfect it. I lie and say it tastes good. On to the 2500 foot climb up Mt Greylock then!! Strangely the white blazes lead us through streets and people's backyards before we reach the forest trail again. I'm glad we're not in Texas and I'm looking over my shoulder for a little old lady leaning out her kitchen door with a shotgun in hand. It rained hard last night and everything is very slippery. We have to walk over some boards through a muddy patch in a cornfield. As soon as I put my foot on the board Whoosh!!! I slip and do a backflip into the corn. All body pieces still are intact so I struggle to get my dignity back up on its feet and carry on. We move a hundred yards further and we are back in the forest. We are greeted by wild green apple trees. The trail is strewn with apples. Beyond that beautiful tall trees with slender trunks stand like sentries. I wish I could identify the plants and trees better. We are surprised how gradual the incline is and we make a good pace. Genevieve lets me lead - we both want to stay together on this our last day. We're both somewhat reflective. There are a few challenging spots but most of this trail on the south side of the mountain is switchbacked and the grade is not too bad. About 10:30 "Ups" passes us who is soon followed by "Winging It". Winging It likes to talk a lot and has a better pace than I and so Genevieve finally starts walking again because she wants to get a move on. I tell her to go ahead because I know it is difficult for a hiker to not walk at his or her normal stride and pace. We are about an hour out of Mark Noepel lean to. I am getting pretty good now at judging my speed over ground and then estimating arrival times. Alone in the forest again. It is green and damp and quiet and peaceful. My familiar place. I keep a steady pace forward. About 11:45 I am not surprised to meet Genevieve hiking back my way. She has found the shelter and informs me that Winging It will have lunch with us. We make the shelter right at 12:00. Taking out 50 minutes for break I am averaging 1.8 mph. The shelter is a .25 mile hike down a slope and I carefully look down at my boots and pick my way down the rocks. Genevieve moves on to get a head start on lunch. I'm tired and ready for a rest. We have had a great morning but still have 3.5 miles to go. When I look up at the shelter Winging It is leaning against the shelter wall eating lunch and Genevieve is sitting on the rustic table in front sorting through the cook gear. I must have been more tired than I thought or trail weary because up in the shelter from behind a pole I imagine I see an image of Sofia. She is wearing forest colors of green and brown and smiling at me. She is beautiful. It is our 5th wedding anniversary in 3 days and I confess I have been thinking of her while out here walking on the trail these past few days. She has been so wonderful to me and to Genevieve helping us get ready for this trip and supporting us throughout it all. And now there is this beautiful image of her looking at me from the forest. Funny how the mind works. Then the image moves a step, waves at me and says "Hi Honey". I bend over and squint my eyes and try to get a closer look. "How are you?", she says. Damn! It's Sofia! She's here? How can she be here? Now my mind isn't working anymore. I bend over and squint some more. She is here! I throw down my trekking poles. Throw down my pack. Stumble her direction. In a heartbeat we are in each others arms. So...she had been following our trail journal even with the last minute changes of the past few days with rain and indecision on stops and booked a flight out into Albany, hired a car to drive Bascom lodge, woke up early on the 17th - the day we planned to hike up to Bascom, hiked down to the trail junction for Mark Noepel shelter and arrived about an hour before Genevieve showed up at that place. There is a split log / bench improvised there so she sat waiting, reading her book. She met Cerveza and PowerNap and Ups and Winging It walking up the trail. When Genevieve walked by Sofia casually said "Hello". Genevieve turned to return the greeting and then couldn't believe her eyes. "Shaddup!" She exclaimed in typical New York fashion. Well the two girls had me snookered at that point and conspired to work the rest of the surprise. Genevieve walked back up the trail to find me while Sofia went down to the shelter. If there is any man in this world past or present who is loved more than I am loved, he is a lucky man indeed. We have lunch and set up a clothesline to dry socks and shirts. Long lunch and we do not get back on the trail until 1:30. Genevieve heads on ahead leaving Sofia and me to stroll along at 1.0's pace. We make good time though and are rejoined at the final half mile to the summit where Genevieve is waiting for us to summit together. It feels strange to be this close to the final moments of a months long journey and we have a lot of surplus energy. When we break out of the forest at the summit there is a huge tower topped with a glass globe that is a memorial to WWI veterans. Genevieve and I are running and racing to the top. She could easily win but in her typical fashion she says, "Let's do it together!" Sofia captures the moment with the camera and we are elated and hugging each other with sweaty hugs. I have forgotten the sore feet and shoulders. Our next challenge is to find all of our bounce boxes that were forwarded to Bascom Lodge. Some are at the lodge and some are at the visitor's center 7 miles away. It is convenient that Sofia has a rental car. There is some confusion and some packages are buried at the back of closets but we find everything in the end, shower and get ready for dinner. We have dinner reservations at the lodge at seven. Bascom Lodge is a hundred year old ski lodge with a good wine list and kitchen. The menu tonight is a ginger carrot soup followed by whitefish with shrimp topping and steamed squash. They do a pretty good job and it is a great way to celebrate. But after ice cream over roast peaches dessert we all realize that we are completely bushed and head off to bed. The accomodations at Bascom are simple, rustic and charming. Sleeping is like fading into the old woodwork with feelings of completeness and satisfaction. Peace, joy and contentment. Tomorrow we will sort through the bounce boxes and Genevieve will prepare for her journey north to Maine and Katadin and I will prepare to go back home and back to work. As I am drifting off to sleep I am thinking about all the people we have met who are still on the trail, and the people back at home and around the world who were reading our journal and encouraging us. I realize how blessed we are and the importance of community in the human experience, and how each day we have the opportunity to share what we have with others who need us: maybe it is just a smile or word of encouragement, or a shared meal or a helping hand, but it is in the small spaces in between where the greatness of the human spirit is found. Thanks for reading and following our brief journey. We had fun and are determined to make another journey soon.