Date: 2008-07-12
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Cookie Lady's Backyard
Miles today: 11.0

The Cookie Lady¢s HouseUpper Goose Pond Cabin to The Cookie Lady¢s House: 11 miles Breakfast was pancakes and I had twelve, tying the record with Rabbit who had twelve and left immediately for the trail. I broke his record for staying at the lodge by staying there until about 10:30 with the Scarlet Seven (-3) and they invited me to join them for a roadside lunch of hoagies from their friend who was coming to visit them and bringing chow. I really wanted to move on but it just seemed like the right thing to do. I was having a hard time leaving the cabin because there was a trail crew who had come to chop down a HUGE tree that had been lightning struck last month and was leaning perilously over the cabin. The guys who came to cut it down were definitely not seasoned tree cutters and I REALLY wanted to film the whole thing; sure that there would be plenty of interesting content and possible devastation and YouTube-Worthy Drama. The tug of the trail was overpowering and eventually won out. I did go swimming in the morning though. It was great just to loaf around; alone in a huge pond that didn¢t even have a ripple in it when I broke the surface. I filmed myself ¢logging in¢ which was basically crawling into the water and floating like a log for a minute or two. When we finally go ton the trail, it was a sluggish start. I think it was all the syrup or something but I just didn¢t want to move. Luckily it was only a mile or two to the road where they were meeting us with the hoagies. We ate and got back on the trail. I like hiking with the Scarlet Seven(-3), they have a good vibe. They go about the same pace as I do too, except when they get near a town and then they fly down the trail like Massachusetts Mosquitoes. The trail was pretty easy with one good climb after we ate at US 20. We passed Finerty Pond and I really wanted to find a place to jump in but it was too swampy around the edges. I¢m starting to really like the idea of jumping in ponds lately. It¢s awesome to be all sweaty from hiking and just jump in for a couple minutes and then get back on the trail and keep hiking. We passed October Mountain Lean-to and there were some fellas there with a whole lot of character. I was glad we were stopping somewhere else. I did meet a cool Luthier who worked for Ovation and Guild Guitars and I hope we get a chance to talk after this expedition. We decided to push all the way to The Cookie Lady¢s House which was on Pittsfield road. We didn¢t know what to expect but we figured it had water from a spigot and camping in the back yard so it would be better than a shelter. When we got there, no one was there except for Rufus the dog who looked like a little golden retriever, maybe a chow mix. The only way we knew his name was Rufus was that there was a sign on the wall that said, ¢don¢t feed any cookuies to Rufus.¢ He took forever to warm up to us and was really rude to us until Roy drove up. Then he was suddenly all lovey-dovey. I think he knew we were going to get some cookies. Roy was a very cool cat and we discovered that his back yard, which was a very long strip of grass, was actually a landing strip for his airplane. He had a blueberry farm and although they weren¢t ripe yet, you could smell the berries brewing. At sundown the Mosquitoes came out and I know I have been talking a lot about the Mosquitoes lately but I absolutely cannot believe the tenacity of these guys! It was the worst yet. Out of nowhere they appeared like a swarm of killer bees, attacking any bare skin and hitting your face over and over again. Then they would attack you through your clothes. There would be ten or twenty of them on you at a time. We frantically hustled to get our stuff together and get in our tents where we might find a brief respite from the hive. I got in my tent as quickly as I could and I turned on the light. There were at least twelve of those bastards in there with me. It took me five or ten minutes to kill them all except for this one last bloodsucker who kept waiting for me to forget she was there. Obviously she didn¢t know about me. Oh wait maybe she did. My memory sucks. Nevertheless, I got her stone cold against the netting and read a little (just to make sure another one didn¢t appear) and got some sleep. It was cold so I kept my clothes on.David AKA ¢Mister Gentle Spirit¢ Website http://www.wbafinc.org Photos: http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproofVideos: http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1