Date: 2014-07-02
From: US 20

To: Quality Inn - Pittsfield, MA via MA 9
Miles today: 19.0

What a wet swampy rainy mess today! A dry morning turned into a rainy evening and we opted to take refuge in Dalton - or at least the town right next door.Enjoyed a little bit of sleeping in (a luxury on the trail!) and ate the continental breakfast at the hotel - it was not a huge selection but it was enough to fill us up. We checked out of the room and hit the trail - it was already warm and humid in the morning so we knew it was going to be a tougher day.Started out with a nice steep climb up from the road to the first mountain - really got the blood (and sweat) pumping first thing in the morning! Big Dawg had another rough start and so we take it slow so he can keep on keeping on. Thoughts to ourselves we walked through swampy areas and nice forests - today was one of those days of not much talking going on!A couple more rests along the way (lots of water breaks) and we got to the October Mountain Shelter and rested with Outback - an older gentleman from Ireland who also has a very nice hat like mine! He was an interesting fellow to talk to and very excited about getting a beer in Dalton - maybe we will go that far too.Pressed on to the road where the Cookie Lady lives to eat at her house for lunch - walked over many boards and log walks over muddy areas - maybe they should call this part "Mudachusetts". We ran into a bit of surprise trail magic right before the road in the form of cupcakes and Gatorade in a cooler - much needed on this hot and humid day! We scarfed them down quickly and walked to her house.No one was home when we arrived but we sat on the picnic table out front cooking and eating the meal with one of their chickens - she liked Big Dawg' cereal! The Wiley's have a very nice setup for themselves and hikers - a great place to rest and relax from the trail! Enjoyed the sun and the trees and the break (and petting their kitty cat)! As we were getting ready to leave the Cookie Man Roy returned from shuttling someone to town - we chatted for a bit and he offered us some of the famous cookies - boy were they good! The rain clouds were coming in so we thanked him for the hospitality and packed up hoping to avoid most of the heavy rain.It was not meant to be though - the rain started out slowly and lightly but turned into a constant rain the rest of the afternoon. We opted out of the rain gear so our clothes were soaked but it only became an issue when the water started getting past the gaiters into the boots - no bueno! But still we hiked on through the thunderstorm to the shelter - had to cross an open hill during the storm which kind of worried me but no issues. We also almost needed the headlamp in a couple of places it was so dark - if the trees had scathe faces and lit up during lightning flashes we could be in a Disney movie!After some slippery hiking we made it to the shelter for a break - we had decided to push on into Dalton to help get the boots dry. Also we wanted to be near a town since Big Dawg noticed blood in his urine - hopefully it is just a kidney stone!We quickly made our way into Dalton (although not as quick as the girl that flew by us!) with only one graceful fall by Big Dawg. The town of Dalton was nice to walk through since the rain had stopped and we walked to the Shamrock Inn to get a room. We found out from the hotel assistant that all the rooms were booked up but he helped us find room at the nearby Quality Inn - he even took us over there! He had just moved down to Dalton from NYC and was already loving town life instead of city life - a great guy and very kind of him to help us out.Checked into the Quality Inn - it was an ok place to get out of the rain and get dry but it was a bit run down and things were broken. No laundry here to dry our stuff so we hung it up and hoped for the best - same with the boots we got the air blowing on them as well as we could. Good meal at Applebee's and another early bedtime - another tiring day! Hoping everything is ok with Big Dawg - going to hit a clinic at our zero day in Williamstown.