Date: 2006-07-25
From: Tom Leonard Lean-to

To: Tyringham, MA
Miles today: 13.0

Last night at Tom Leonard was absolutely horrible and little sleep was to be had. Wouldn¢t you know it, the one night they had a big shelter to themselves and cool temperatures, they should have slept the sleep of the dead. But nooooo. First, the mosquitoes were beyond belief. Then at 1:15 am . . . there was the visitor.Bama was uncomfortably aware of some strange noise just outside the shelter. She listened and figured out it was some kind of grinding sound. She fumbled around and got her headlamp and saw a creature that was bigger than a woodchuck and discovered it was a juvenile porcupine! It was merrily gnawing away on the picnic table. Not at all minding the light, it eventually waddled away, but returned again after a while. This time, Bama just turned over and tried to ignore it. I had read in other trail accounts how porcupines are a scourge in this part of the country, chewing up shelter and tables for the readily available hiker¢s body salt.Luckily, today was not a bad trail day and the mountains and rocks were tolerable. It was also much cooler than last week where hiking could be life-threatening due to heat exhaustion/stroke. After a number of very pretty areas, they came to wood¢s road after Benedict Pond and saw a sign that said ¢Hiker Feed.¢ Buoyed by the prospect of something substantial to eat, they hurried only to find a BBQ grill and a sign that said, ¢Sorry we missed you, help yourself.¢ Apparently, the cook-out was last night, but the Trail Angels had left drinks, crackers and homemade brownies under the grill lid this morning and there were folding lounge chairs to sit in. Bama and Little Wing had a long and very much appreciated rest and snack. Thanks, Angels! No SOBO sightings today.Refreshed, they took off for Tyringham, their next stop. Fortunately, as they approached the town, there was a home made sign that said, ¢Post Office - 1/2 mile.¢ This ended up being a short-cut to the P.O. and the town pavilion where hikers can camp (directions follow). Once in town, they walked around trying to find the Fire Chief, from whom one must get permission to camp. No luck. They did find the one business in town, a fairly expensive B&B with only a continental breakfast. Well, they wouldn¢t stay there tonight. But the owner did sell them Cokes and candy bars and the girls sat in the backyard and rested for a little.Bama and Little Wing wandered to the library ¢ which didn¢t open until 3:00 pm ¢ to see if they could use the computer. The librarian said it was broken. Hmmmm. The Post Office was open, but nobody was in there. Some section hikers had left town earlier and had way too much food to carry home and put it into a box at the P.O. Bama was able to pick out six great trail dinners in the hiker box. Thanks, hikers!Oh well, still have to find the Fire Chief. They found his house, but he wasn¢t home. The girls set up their tents anyway and settled near a lovely, babbling stream by the pavilion and soaked their feet and freshened up a little. Somebody told Bama here was a porta-potty at the pavilion, but no water ¢ she found a faucet anyway for water to cook her dinner. She¢ll get tomorrow¢s drinking water from the water fountain outside the library.Bama said this town was definitely not as hiker friendly as Unionville, NY. She said she and Little Wing read some, washed some, cooked dinner and had no one to talk with. Bored, Bama measured the pavilion picnic tables (25 ft. long) and counted them (38 of these big boys!). Now that¢s bored! At 6:30 pm, she was ready to go to sleep ¢ still no Fire Chief. No signs of any other thru-hikers in town. As Bama described all this, I couldn¢t help but to think about an episode on the old Twilight Zone television show. Maybe the town won¢t have porcupines tonight.Tomorrow, a short hike to Upper Goose Pond Cabin and some ¢luxury,¢ a swim and maybe company and conversation with other NOBOs and SOBOs.BillShort-cut directions to Post Office and pavilion: At Jerusalem Road (mile 1526.3), turn left and go .6 miles to the Post Office. Turn left at the P.O. and go .25 miles to the Pavilion. This will cut about a mile off your walk by exiting the trail here instead of waiting until you get to the main road at mile 1527.4.