Date: 2005-08-11
From: somewhere further north

To: Dalton, MA... er Cheshire?
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Greetings all!Slight confusion as to my location. Physically, I'm in Dalton right now (approximately mile #1555). But, trail-wise, I'm up in Cheshire, which is 10 miles further north. You see, well, I _left_ Dalton this morning, with the intention of hiking up to Mt Greylock (the highest point in the great state of Massachusetts). But then, well, I didn't_manage to actually _leave_ Dalton until after 11. And, since, well, I didn't _really_ want to rush myself, I decided that I'd just hike a meager 10 miles, and chill at the hostel in Cheshire. But then, well, it turns out that the hostel in Cheshire wasn't open, so, well, what was I to do? I _could_ have hiked on another 4 miles, to the next shelter, I suppose. But, well, that sounded an awful lot like work. (I was hot and tired. After 3 zero days, battling this incessant headache and loss of appetite, even an easy 10-mile jaunt was enough to tire me.) Hmmm. I realize that perhaps I haven't exactly told all of you about my recent head troubles. Nothing serious. But, it started the day I left Kent, which was last...Wednesday, I believe. I felt the migraine coming on, but bull-headedly decided to hike anyway. I was sick and tired of zero days, although the NYC trip was a blast, and it was _awesome_ seeing Walking Stomach again. So, I hiked out w/ Freedom and Thatch. Got to camp. Headache was progressing down a path I _really_ didn't want it to, especially since I knew that a reunion w/ Free, Serenity, and Poet was forthcoming. So, I bit the bullet and, against my will (but not Mom's better judgement), I took some medicine. It worked. Unfortunately, it only worked temporarily. Mid-night (sometime around 2am), the migraine returned - with a vengence! Ended up taking my first zero day in the woods, along w/ the entire Pod (Free, Serenity, Poet, Freedom, and Thatch). Took more medicine, which again worked. Temporarily. The next two days were spent battling my head, which fortunately never got any worse, but unfortunately never got any better either. Made it to Great Barrington, where I zeroed. Still no luck in defeating the headache. Took a bus up to Dalton, which I _really_ didn't want to do, but I _really, really_ didn't want to lose track of the Pod, after I spent Three Weeks! tracking them down. Zeroed again in Dalton. Finally, this morning, I felt (nearly) headache-free. (It was either hike again, or go positively in-sane w/ the sitting around.) And that's how I ended up in Cheshire today. Okay, end of aside. Back to today's story.So, there I was, wandering around Cheshire, debating about what to do. And then, well, a solution presented itself. I met Tracker, a fellow hiker, who had likewise come from Dalton that day. He spoke extremely highly of Tom LeVardi, an incredibly generous man who allows hikers to stay overnight. He said that he might possibly be going back to Dalton tonight, to stay at Tom's again. Well, there was my answer. He called up Tom, to discover that, not only could we stay, but that he was cooking dinner. And it was going to be movie night as well. All that was left to do was to determine how, exactly, to get back to Dalton. Why hitch, of course! Problem was, which way was it? I whipped out my cartoon map of the Berkshires, which I had appropriated from the hotel in Great Barrington, to aid me in my tortuous bus trip up to Dalton. As we puzzled over the map, Milkman arrived in Cheshire. We twisted his arm and convinced him to join us in our endeavor. And then, well, we hitched. Got a terrific ride from a terrific woman, who drove us directly to Tom's door. And well, now, here I am. Gettin' a ride back up to Cheshire in the morning, and, possibly will reach Vermont tomorrow... (Possibly, but probably not.) Life is grand on the trail (now that my head seems to have regained its sense). Thanks for all of your messages. As usual, I love hearing from you all. Until my next report,