Date: 2008-07-25
From: Summit of Mt Everett, MA

To: Mt Wilcox South Lean-to, MA
Miles today: 20.8

Today got started early!I set my tent up last night on top of Mt Everett. I had to set it up on rocks, so I couldn't use my tent stakes. I sat rocks on the corners of the tent and tied my guy lines to rocks....so it wasn't set as taut as I'd like. There was a nice breeze that felt great! I was hoping it would die down some over night because my tent would make flapping sounds every 5 to 10 seconds when the next gust blew through. I realized at 2am that the "nice" breeze wasn't going to stop blowing. I laid there awake....having not slept, but having listened to all the music I could stand on my mp3 for one night and I started thinking....only four more hours to go and I could start walking for the day. Then I thought how nice it would be to get some good sleep at the bottom of the mountain, but how much was involved in taking down my house and packing all my stuff, then walking down the mountain at 2am and finding a good flat spot for the location of my new home for a few hours, setting up my new home, rearranging all my furniture after I took it out of storage, making my bed and finally.....laying down and getting some sleep! I NEEDED SLEEP! I started packing up at 2am. :-) The water was still running down the trail like a stream from all the rain and it was a fairly steep down....and it was dark, so I had to walk slowly. I didn't want to ruin my almost 1,500 miles of no falling record I have going this year. :-) I got down the mountain and started seeing some promising new homesites off to my left in the forest. I walked off Trail and kept going for about 75 yards into the forest before I found just what I was looking for. I set up my new home and crawled in, set up my bed and arranged my furniture and was sleeping by 2:50am. I remember waking up at 8:15am and thinking....wow, it's 8:15am! I never sleep that late! I heard a horsefly buzzing in the fly of my tent and looked and it was9:15am, I NEVER sleep that late! I figured I'd better get up or I might be more like my ol' buddy Chief and sleep the whole day away. :-) I ate some dry frosted shredded mini wheats and had some water for breakfast, then got packed up and was walking north on the Appalachian Trail at 9:50am. The Trail still had flowing water in it. I walked by the side trail to Hemlocks Lean-to without stopping, then Glen Brook Lean-to. They are two shelters real close together. I kept walking slowly because of all the water on the Trail. I worked my way through lots of small ups and downs, past Mt Bushnell and on to Jug End Summit. The Trail started going down for about 900 feet....steeply down! I really was being careful because it was so slippery. I eventually made it to easier and flatter walking when I got to Jug End Road. I saw a hiker there talking to a guy near the back of a truck and started thinking to myself just how nice a Coke would taste about now. :-) I turned on the road and walked by the truck. The guy asked me if I wanted a Coke! :-) I must have REALLY looked happy because he said; ¢Here, take two Cokes".Turns out he's done some hiking all the way back in '98 and '99 on the AT. His name is Alan White, but his trail name was Dishman. The other hiker that was there was a nobo I hadn't met yet by the name of Lake. Lake walked on and I stayed long enough to drink my two Cokes. :-) I thanked Dishman and walked on. Hey Dishman, thanks! It was good meeting you....and not just because you gave me 2 Cokes! ;-) I came up to a sobo by the name of Chatterbox and stopped and talked to him for a while. I told him about the four sobos I'd seen yesterday but didn't get a chance to talk to. He said their names and said they were two Canadians, a Korean and an old guy. I couldn't believe it...a guy with the name of Chatterbox says to me; "Well, I'd better get going".But I'm not done talking yet. Ha! :-) I walked past Shays¢ Monument, then got to MA 7 and headed to The Corn Crib. I always enjoy microwaving fresh corn on the cob there, but there wasn't any. The lady said it was due in at 11am and it was already past 1pm. Shays¢ Rebellion Monument Walking through the corn fields south of The Corn CribI got a soda and went out to the gazebo and talked to CC Rider, Neon, Bound, Gumby, Sherlock, Sprout, Moccasin and even Mike stopped by in a car with his sister. We hung out for about 90 minutes and I ate lunch, then went in and bought a pint of vanilla ice cream for dessert. :-) I am supposed to go to Mother Hen's home tomorrow night, so I checked my email to get her phone # to call her and let her know about when I'd be in Tyringham. I accidentally deleted all her information when I pressed a wrong key on the cell phone. :-( I emailed Mrs Gorp and she emailed me back with Mother Hen's email address, so I sent an email letting her know what happened, then I walked on. I saw Icarus just getting dropped off at the trailhead. He was with Orande Dust, Enoch and their dog Bea. I walked through a corn field, crossed the Housatonic River, then started climbing June Mtn. June Mtn was a little harder to climb after having just eaten a pint of ice cream. :-) I got up that 500 foot mountain, then climbed another 700 feet to the top of East Mtn. It was slow walking because of all the small, choppy ups and downs. I finally got to Tom Leonard Lean-to and stopped to eat dinner and sign the register.Most of the hikers were there that had been at the Corn Crib. They were all still eating when I left. I wanted to get a little closer to Tyringham so I don't have as far to walk tomorrow. I planned on only going a mile or two, but I passed MA 23 in two miles and started climbing. I climbed about 600 feet and didn't see any good flat spots, so I kept walking. I got to Benedict Pond just as the sun was setting and took a couple pictures. I climbed some more and it was dark out when I got to this place called "The Ledges". Humm....wonder why they call it "The Ledges"? I got to thinking about it and shined my light to the side and saw why the call it "The Ledges". :-)I paid more attention to my footsteps and my balance! I got to Mt Wilcox South Lean-to in another mile. I found a flat spot, but it was near another tent. The guy was talking to his wife on the cell and asked who was out there when I was shining my light around looking for another flat spot. I told him and he said; "Hey Stumpknocker, it's Blues Traveler!" I think it was almost 10pm. I went ahead and set up my tent and crawled in and ate my second dinner before falling asleep. I had promised to talk about a couple things on my mind in today's journal, but I'll have to do that in a later journal entry....you know, about my guestbook/message board and a couple observations I've had about my ol' buddy Chief and his upcoming hike on the Long Trail. :-) Another great day on the Appalachian Trail. :-)