Date: 2003-08-01
From: Shaker Campsite

To: Rte 20 Junction, Lee MA
Miles today: 11.5

Rain, rain, rain -- starting out drizzly, turning into a genuine downpour over the course of the day.Morning's hike was pretty easy with one short uphill just north of Tyringham. No remarkable animals apart from lots of frogs/toads and burnt-orange salamanders trying to soak up some moisture.Ran into 2 hikers on a three-day just north of Shaker campsite. I could hear them about 1/4 mile away shouting, "Hello, bear! Hey bear!" It turns out that a NB just ahead of me had seen a bear just south of Shaker and reported this to them just before I ran into them. They were kind of freaked. Saw a bunch of SB sectioners and thru-hikers, and then got passed going uphill by AWOL who was slacking for the day.Though the day was mostly flat, there were a lot of rocky sections that slowed me down in the rain -- no trips/falls though! I took a long break at Upper Goose Pond Cabin to wait for Karen, who would be picking me up at the Rte 20 intersection that evening.UGP Cabin is a wonderful place that is well worth the 0.5 mile side trip off the AT. It's a real cabin in the middle of the woods with a living room with fireplace, kitchen, and plenty of accomodations upstairs along with tenting areas close by. It's manned by caretakers who staff the cabin on a rotating/volunteer basis. There's also a lake with a canoe, which the caretaker uses to bring water from a spring across the lake. What a great place to get out of the rain. While I was there, I had plenty of hot tea and some muffins just out of the oven. By the time I left, the place was full of hikers pulling in for the night, who mostly left me and the male caretaker alone (husband/wife team) while we chatted about mainframes and differential analyzers (he was a computer guy from the 60's on). I really felt bad that I couldn't stay the night.Due to crossed signals I ended up leaving the cabin pretty late and did the 2.1 mostly-uphill miles back to the road in under 40 minutes. Rushing was a mistake -- I trashed my knees pretty well in the process. Driving Karen's car after I got off the trail didn't help matters. By the time we made our first stop I was having a hard time getting up, much less walking. Hopefully a day off with Karen in Pittsfield would help that problem out.We found a HoJo Express in Pittsfield with an available room (at Berkshires summer prices -- yuck) and got a real dinner at a real restaurant. My feet are an aesthetic mess. Even though they stayed dry all day (thank you, gaiters), somehow in just one day they managed to sprout blisters (painless and benign but there) and weird little dots where the skin was starting to peel off. I don't think it's fungus but it looks strange. Only got 6 hours sleep and then a sucky free breakfast at the hotel. Then off to do laundry in Pittsfield and a visit to Greylock.Picked up trekking poles in Williamstown for the knee problem. Also got some knee braces at Wal-Mart. We'll see if they help. Had problems finding a hotel for the evening (Josh Groban was at Tanglewood) and ended up going all the way to Hadley and getting the last room at their HoJo. Between the stuff going on at Tanglewood, a Jehovah's Witnesses convention in Springfield and a Teddy Bear Rally in Amherst there were almost no hotel rooms for miles. Should have gone to Albany/Troy.