Date: 2017-06-22
From: Salisbury, CT

To: Glen Brook Shelter, MA
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: moderate rain

6/22/17, Glen Brook Shelter, MAMiles hiked: 1194.8, Miles to go: 995.0All of a sudden, when I awoke at Vanessa's place this morning, it was time to move on.  Although the last day and a half was just what I needed to heal my feet, Vanessa and her adult son are not the neatest people and the mess (such as last night's dinner still sitting on the kitchen counter) was all of a sudden too much. To make matters worse, 1st Sgt, J, and I shared our small room containing two sets of bunk beds with a young woman who, I would guess, has personal hygiene issues even when she is not thru hiking. As a result, our room smelled. Bad. Apparently, 1st Sgt and J felt the same. The three of us were packed and out the door by 6:30 AM. The only problem was that Sweet William's, the place we planned to have breakfast, didn't open until 7:00 AM. Luckily, there were outdoor tables at Sweet William's where we could hang out until they opened. After eating breakfast and hiking back to the trailhead, we were actually back on trail by 7:45 AM. It was a perfect hiking day - cool, sunny, and breezy. We were leaving town so, of course, we climbed. And climbed. We were almost out of CT and, I guess, CT wanted us to remember just how tough it was. So, it sent us up and over Bear Mountain. It actually wasn't too bad of a climb and, before long, we were over the top and down the other side and entering Massachusetts. Woo hoo! Of course, Massachusetts wanted to show us how tough it was and sent us over Mt Race AND Mt Everett. The climbing wasn't fun; but, it's nice to be back in actual mountains. The views from the Mt Race Ledges were incredible. And it's nice to once again have tumbling mountain streams rather than boggy, sluggish lake outflows. Hiking with J has been nice. He added a new element to our conversation. 1st Sgt and I have hiked together so long now that he just says' "Joke number 7" and I reply, "Ha, ha, ha! Thats a good one!" We found out all about J's family, career, hobbies, etc. it's funny - he started his hike on February 26 and we have crossed paths several times; but, this is the first time we've actually hiked together. Today's hike was fairly short - just 12.7 miles. We have now entered the Berkshires. This area is a very popular hiking area and has been loved to death. As a result, the ATC is trying to reduce overuse and only allows camping at designated campsites (they appear to be pretty serious about it - we saw two ridgerunners patrolling the area). So, we could either hike 12.7 miles today or 27.1 miles. We chose the former. With both 1st Sgt and I experiencing foot issues, the shorter hike was the better option. My feet are doing 1000x times better than when I hobbled into Salisbury two days ago. They are still pretty tender; but, the swelling is about gone. I'm hoping wet feet from the next two days of rain don't undo everything. We had a pleasant afternoon and evening at the shelter, visiting with other hikers and Ridgerunner Sarah. I am now comfortably ensconced in my hammock and ready to sleep. All in all, our first day in Massachusetts was great!