Date: 2014-08-01
From: Mark Noepel Shelter

To: Petes Spring (almost)
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: overcast clouds

That was quite a snorefest in the shelter last night. 99% of the snoring came from two people. I didn't sleep well with the snoring festivities taking over the entire enclosed space. Though a thin barrier of a tent fabric would not have physically helped at all, I wished I had at least that barrier up around me. I had tent withdrawals with the snores resonating into y ear drums all night. One guy was the typical singing chainsaw snorer which I can easily ignore but the other was horrifying. In a gross way. He had snot in his nasal cavity that kept getting sucked up with his sleep apnea snoring only to droop back down and get sucked up again. One of them was a chronic sleep farter too. It was a festival of snort snoring hiker fart horror all night. I don't mean to bring down any snorers, it's not your fault. But it would be a great public service just to at least give a heads up so I can prepare myself mentally. The night went by so slowly that I thought the sun was coming up soon at 12:30am. When I checked my watch around that time, the mice came out like gremlins. The first was content to gnaw loudly on some wooden post incessantly. That one was by Fruit Punch and he fruitlessly banged on the beam to try and scare it away. Once in a while I drifted into little bits of sleep among the gremlin mice and heavy snoring but I kept waking up to mice either fighting or having sex next to my head. I kept the space next to me empty in case a hiker came in late at night in need of a dry place from the rain and on the other side of me was Trix and Aquaman. Some mice kept hopping over us back and forth like it was a game even after I flung one across the shelter after it perched on top of me for too long. It was a good day overall though. Hit Mt Greylock sometime late morning which is where Merman's friends treated were waiting for us with Dunkin Donuts and beer. It was a relaxing couple hours hanging out there but I eventually made a move on. Made a stop in North Adams, MA for a lunch buffet anticipating that I'd need some time to digest before hiking again. Thus I headed to the nearby YMCA in hope of a free shower. Was pleasantly surprised I could also use the swimming pool, sauna, and steam room as well. Sooooo I spent like 4 hours there... I had about 100 minutes of daylight left by the time I made a move to get a resupply before finding a place to camp. The trail was 3/4 of a mile away and I figured camping so close to the town would probably be unlikely. Even if the trail wasn't right next to the public watershed which makes camping there illegal, tenting options were terrible. I hiked until I got real close to what I thought must be the Sherman Brook campsite which is where I found a spot that I could just barely fit my tent in. Rationalizing that I could be wrong about where I am and how passing this spot up could mean having to hike 5-7 more miles if the campsite is all full... I took it. The sun was already down and night hiking over slippery rocks and mud was not my idea of fun. Just as I finished pitching my tent I spotted a headlamp bobbing and swaying up towards me. I guessed correctly that it was Medic and he was disappointed to discover my headlamp was not a sign he made it to the Sherman Brook campsite. He looked around and was disappointed again that there were no other tentable options around so he trudged onwards. 1 minute later I see his headlamp swing around back towards me and he yells, "Affirm! I know you just set up and everything but the campsite is literally right here!"Dam. Haha. I started brushing my teeth and walked over to check it out. I only went halfway before I decided I was totally content with my decision to stealth camp. Even though it was past 9am I saw a bunch of headlamps in the distance following the .2mile trail to the campsite. It was a rough trail and I didn't want to get caught up in some post hiker midnight conversation just for the sake of being sociable. It felt like it's been a too long since I've laid in my tent. I really missed that little sanctuary so I headed back.