Date: 2018-07-17
From: Upper Goose Pond

To: Dalton, MA
Miles today: 20.6

We were up early to get ready for Pancakes, the mosquitoes were out in full force as we packed everything up. We waited on the porch with the others as the caretaker was making the pancakes. Most of the other hikers were interested in coffee, but Mary poked her head in to see if the caretaker could put on some tea water for us, she gladly did. She can only cook 2 pancakes at a time, and bring them out on platters of 6. With 15 or 20 hungry hikers all waiting for pancakes the platters didn't last very long. We did our best at making sure everyone got a chance to have pancakes though, some were better than others. In the end I think most got their fill of pancakes and had coffee or tea and were happy and ready to hike on. The call was for rain today, so some hikers we're going to zero at the cabin and others were maybe going to go on just to the first shelter and wait out the rain. And still others like us were going to try to make it to Dalton. We really didn't have a choice as we already had a reservation in Dalton, so we started out fairly quickly trying to get a few miles in before the rain started. It wasn't long after we crossed the Mass Pike that we came to the trash can we had heard about. A couple of hikers were already there (Espresso & Clover), and when we stopped and looked in we saw the can was full of big bags of potato chips as well as lots of hostess Twinkies and cupcakes and stuff like that. All the drinks had been taken, but we got a quick sugar fix. Several  hikers came in right behind us,  everyone stopping to get another quick fix of sugar to go on top of the pancakes they had just enjoyed. Soon everyone was heading down the trail buzzing along. About a mile before the first shelter, where we planned to eat lunch, the rain started coming down. First it was light rain, but then we got a couple of hard showers. It's been so dry that the leaves seemed to suck up all the rain before it really hit the ground. By the time we got to the shelter we were a little wet, but the rain had mostly stopped. We were able to eat under the overhang and stay nice and dry with the other hikers. Soon the rain was starting to pick up again as we were getting ready to leave, all the other hikers decided they were going to either wait out the storm or spend the night there. We really didn't have that option, so we put on our rain gear and started out.Shortly after we headed out the rain pretty much stopped and the sun started to come out, so off came the rain gear.  Naturally, not long after we got going again the rain started, and this time it picked up and was a little more steady. We didn't want to stop again, so we just hiked on hoping it would let up again. Soon it was really coming down and we could hear the thunder and see the lightning in the distance. By this time we were already wet so it didn't matter, we just kept going. It was also about this time that I realized I left my Gatorade bottle that I mixed my lemonade in back on the picnic table, so I only had one bottle of water. We decided to make the side trip to the cookie lady where you can get water and she also hands out cookies to hikers.When we arrived at the cookie ladies house I went up on the porch to make sure it was okay to get water. I knocked and it took awhile before an elderly gentleman came to the door. He said I could get water and handed me a couple cookies. As I was leaving the porch I stepped on the first step which was sopping wet and all mildew, so it was like greased lightning. Sure enough, I slipped and landed flat on my back. I was very fortunate to have my pack on because I landed on the pack and really didn't get hurt at all. It hurt my pride more than anything. After that incident we marched on to town in the pouring rain, the thunder and lightning quickening our pace.The terrain was mostly flat, but there were enough bumps that it still made for a long hike. As we neared town the rain stopped and the mosquitoes came out in full force. Sure enough, as we approached town the trail had one more hill for us making for a big climb up followed by a long climb down.Once we got down we paralleled the railroad tracks for some time before we finally hit town for the long road walk down to our motel. We were pretty tired and soaking wet, so we headed right for Cumberland Farms where we each grabbed a chocolate milk and a bag of chips. The motel was just down the street, so we quickly made our way there. The office was closed, but she left the key to our room in an envelope in the mail slot. We got into our room, got hot showers, and started to dry out our stuff. We then headed next door to the sub shop to get a bite to eat before we went to bed. Happy to be warm and dry after a long day of hiking in the rain.