Date: 2003-08-16
From: Silver Hill Campsite

To: U.S. 7, Housatonic River
Miles today: 13.1

I discovered this morning that my PocketMail alarm clock works! Okay, not very exciting, but I was glad...I needed to be up early. I was up till 11:30 last night writing e-mails and my journal, as well as dealing with my digestive system...it was not happy with something I'd eaten. I slept really well, although it got a little chilly during the night, and I needed to use my piece'o'flannel for extra warmth. I got up at 6:15, packed up and ate breakfast on the swing. There is a pine tree right in front of the swing that looks like the climbing tree that we used to play on in Orient, ME...CT continues to make me nostalgic. I got on the Trail at 7:30, and quickly got into a groove...the first 4 miles went by fast, despite the fact that there were several climbs, and I lost the blaze for a bit. Every now and then, this happens. You're hiking along, possibly daydreaming or thinking about something, and your feet follow what may have been old Trail, rather than following a! more newly blazed Trail. I vowed to keep my head more in the moment, at least for today, so I could make my destination on time. I reached the spot where I had planned on taking a break, or so I thought. It actually was a little bit before the actual brook I should have stopped at, but the water I got at the stream ended up being better than the water at the brook. I drank some Gatorade and ate beef jerky and crackers and cheese. This was going to be my only break for the day, other than my time with Nuts and Twigs, so I needed to eat well. I was a little bit behind on time...I was definitely not going to make it by 1:00, but maybe by 1:30. I hurried on. I don't like to rush on the Trail for two major reasons. 1) I like to be able to look around, in case there's cool stuff to look at, like local flora and fauna. 2) I don't like to fall down, and rushing almost guarantees that this will happen. I passed Pop-O a couple of times during my hike, and chatted briefly. !I stopped in to check the register at the Pine Swamp Lean-To...with a name like that, I was glad I wasn't staying there. Cruiser had left a message urging me to CATCH UP! I am trying to, I swear! The rest of my hike felt tedious...it seemed as if the Trail was constantly going up just to come right back down again. It was frustrating, as I just wanted to GET to the road crossing, and every time I thought that I was getting close, the Trail headed back up again (the air around me was quite blue, with the language that was I was using!). I tripped over a twig, my trekking pole bounced up and tripped me further...I went down hard. I was afraid that I had hurt my thumb, as it bent back when I hit the ground, but after the initial shock of the fall wore off, it was fine. I was covered with dirt and leaf debris, however, as was my bandana...I couldn't even clean up. I pulled myself together and hiked on, more carefully. I made it to the road at 2:00 to find...no one. Maybe they hadn't gotten there yet? I ate some snack food and had someth!ing to drink...I know that part of the reason I'd fallen was because I really should have taken another break. I'm usually good about that, though...this was a special occasion. I found a run-off pipe and tried to clean myself up. I was putting some Ivy-Dry on my back when I heard Nuts say hi to me from the Trail ahead. They had been waiting at the next road crossing, half a mile ahead! I got my stuff together again, and Pop-O showed up. The four of us went ahead to the parking area. We sat and had italians, Mountain Dew, chips and watermelon while we talked about life on the Trail, as well as life off the Trail. It was so good to see Nuts and Twigs, and to hear that they were doing well. Having Trail Angels that you know is even better, in a way, than Trail Angels you don't know. They will be moving to the Northampton area, so I will be able to visit them when I get home. Pop-O thanked them and headed down the Trail. We were waiting for Gerri and Randy to get th!ere...I knew they'd be at least an hour behind me. Gray Matter came through, and had a soda. He told us that Randy and Gerri were about 15 minutes behind him. Thunder had been grumbling for awhile, and it was becoming more persistent. Clouds were rolling in, and we started getting a great lightning show. I was hoping they'd get to us before it started to rain. Twigs brought Gray Matter to a cafe that was just up the street, while Nuts and I waited. It had started to rain, and the lightning and thunder were intense. Suddenly, hail started pelting down on us...it was the size of brussels sprouts! Luckily, Twigs got back right then, and we got in the car. Still no sign of Gerri and Randy...we drove around to the other crossing, but they weren't there. We had left a note for them saying where we were, so we went back to the parking lot. It hailed for at least 20 minutes...I'd never seen anything like that before. Finally, Randy, then Gerri came out at the Trailhead. Twigs took the three of us up to the cafe, so they could get inside a!nd dry off. Then she went back to get our packs and Nuts. We sat inside, Gerri and Randy ordered meals, while I had some ice cream and coffee. It continued to pour outside. We only had four more miles to get to where we'd planned to be for the night, but we didn't want to have to set up in the rain yet again. Gerri was inquiring about the cabins out back...I could tell we were done for the day. Both she and Randy really needed to take showers to get warmed up. Gray Matter joined us...we decided that, yes, we are wimps, but we are TIRED of rain! Maybe this means we'll have fabu weather when we head through the Whites...who knows. This means we'll need to do 18 miles tomorrow, but we'll be in MASSACHUSETTS!! I'll be in my home state for at least a week. Which brings me to say...if you are able to take the day off, call in sick, or whatever...I would love to see people on August 20th. At around 12 noon, I should be crossing route 20, 5 miles east of Lee, MA. My Se!ester will be meeting me there, possibly with my Dad, and it would be so fabu to see friends from home, as well as family! Time for bed now...I will need the rest for tomorrow's hike...