Date: 2015-06-25
From: Bascom Lodge (Mt. Greylock)

To: MA 2 (Williamstown, MA)
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: broken clouds

After last night's excessive behavior on the part of some, morning came oh so early. But we had such a light hiking day planned, that we all agreed to sleep in a bit and take advantage of the Bascom Lodge continental breakfast. So we chilled and enjoyed a little more time at the lodge. We finally got moving sometime after 8 and stuffed our backpacks into Spartacus' SUV. Spartacus' brother and his wife were heading home, Spartacus was hiking again with Amanda and Janelle was ferrying all of our backpacks to our motels in Williamstown. Princess, Focus and I were out of the gate early and we headed downhill from the Greylock summit. My only real complaint about the trail is that the northbound AT exit from the circle around the summit monument is not clearly marked. I've talked with several people who had problems locating the trail. This time we did better, but I still think it needs to be improved. As we headed down, we leapfrogged with Bearfish and Happy Camper, and later with Euchre. Most of the hike was downhill - nothing really difficult - with only a few muddy spots. Overall, the trail was pretty dry, in fact we walked around a number of planks and puncheons that are likely necessary in wetter weather. We also met Neon Mountain and 2 of his companions who were climbing up Greylock - with slack-packs. He was moving fast and smiling. Maybe it's catching on? Focus led us much of the way and Princess and I were happy with that. Focus lives in France much of the year, occasionally travels to Nepal, and he and his wife have hiked all over the world. He's a veteran hiker (and marathoner) and we both admire his footwork. He looks like he's taking a leisurely walk, until we try to keep up with him and realize how quickly he's moving. So we're really happy with our small group and we hope to hang in there all the way to Katahdin. Speaking of which, some of you may be interested to hear that Ranger, Princess' brother is planning to join us again when we get to New Hampshire. Which isn't too far away. Now back to today's hike. That's not to say that there weren't a few climbs today. Mt. Williams and Mt. Prospect were both on the route and Mt. Williams provided a nice vista. But both climbs were only a couple hundred feet. Virtually all of the rest of the hike was downhill. It was steep in a few places, but the grade was remarkably consistent over most of the trail. And there are a number of switchbacks at mid to lower levels to soften the descent. I have heard stories about how difficult the Greylock north slope can be in bad weather, and some mud would have made it much more treacherous in spots. We were fortunate that we didn't experience that. One final story, I stopped for a few moments to see a man about a horse and I heard Focus and Princess just as I was about to catch up with them. Literally moments before Focus spotted a large bear just ahead of them on the trail. By their accounts it was order of 500 lbs. By the time I caught up it was out of sight. They said it just looked at them and slowly continued on its way. They both took phone pics, but it's hard to get a sense of size. Prudently, they didn't try to get any closer. For Princess it's the first bear sighting of the year (I'm still at zero, but I'm OK with that). We popped out of the woods in a residential area about a half-mile from our pickup point on Rt. 2 and called our motel for a shuttle. We're staying at the Williamstown Motel. We stayed here last year and liked it OK, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that it is improved over last year. It's quite clean and I believe they have done some work on the bathrooms and the furnishings. Besides cleanliness, it has the amenities we look for like trailhead shuttle and laundry. As well as refrigerator, microwave and coffee. And it's close to DG, Dunkin Donuts and other useful stores. If you're willing to walk a mile or so to the Williams College area, there are more stores and restaurants. So we're glad we came back. We had dinner this evening with Spartacus, Janelle and Amanda at the Hops & Vines Beer Garden and Brasserie. It's another repeat of last year and we liked it again this year. A good draft beer selection. Past my bedtime, and we have an early and long day tomorrow, and probably wet.