Date: 2015-07-24
From: Grange Hall Rd Mile 1566.4

To: Mark Noepel shelter
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: few clouds

Alas, this was the last day of chobani, chocolate pudding, fruit and tea for breakfast, and it was time to say goodbye to Colette and Fred. People are starting to think this thru-hiking thing is just a walk from one lounge chair to the next! Thanks again to Colette and Fred for their wonderful hospitality, all the great fresh food, the shuttles, the bottle cleaning, the Cliff bars, the lunches, I could go on, but let's just go with 'thank you!'.It was to be an easy transition, with not one but two town visits to ease the shock back to trail life. I only needed to hike for about an hour and a half before I got to Dalton. Once I got there, I made my way to the post office where I picked up two packages and sent one of them forward to my vacation destination. I asked the lady at the counter if she could look up the zip for the General Delivery in Lake Placid and her supervisor immediately chimed in they needed an address. Fortunately he then got distracted with some phone call and the lady was much more inclined to help and found it for me. We'll see if my package gets there, but really, how many post offices can there be in Lake Placid?I had passed the local coffee shop on my way and now went back to sort my stuff, have coffee and eat a second breakfast. While I was waiting for my sandwich, Clover, M&M, Laces and Mya the dog all arrived. I hadn't seen them since before Harpers Ferry and thought they were ahead, so that was fun. Then on my way back to the trail I saw Outro on the other side of the road! It was great to see her again and we took a quick picture to send to Yoda. . It seemed like a lot of people I hadn't seen in a while were coming into Dalton. Fun!The next section would lead me to the small town of Cheshire, where there is an ice cream shop right next to the trail. It was about nine miles to get there but I just enjoyed the walking and the miles rolled by quickly. Unfortunately the ice cream shop was out of all the most interesting sounding flavors, but I did enjoy the chocolate shake and two 'baby hot dogs'. The lady working there was very nice and interested in the trail, so we chatted about that a bit. They also had a register and when I signed it, I saw that the last entry was from Tumbles and Putt-putt, also not seen since Daleville. I figured they'd be at the same shelter I was aiming for this evening, and I was right.The last stretch from Cheshire to the shelter looked like it was going to be a bit of a bear. Just under five miles but all uphill, some of it steeply. However, it turned out be eminently doable, partly because the trail was in good condition on the steepest sections. No rocks, no roots, just nice trail (for the most part). Of course nothing can ever be just perfect, so it did thunder and rain. Even that wasn't bad though. I never saw lightning and the rain never quite got to pouring levels. The tree canopy helped quite a bit too. The frustrating thing was just that I could see blue sky juuuuust to the right (trail east) and it seemed that if we just moved over a little bit, we'd stay dry. Eventually the blue was ahead of me as well, and right then I got to the side trail for the shelter.Clover, M&M and Mya are here, as well as Laces, Tumbles and Putt-putt, Bearfinder, a Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation guy who I met near Guilder Pond a few days ago and two Dutchie young guys (not even quite 18) who are hiking a short section while visiting the U.S. cities of the North East. I think they are the first Dutchies I've met hiking.My tent is set up on a platform, for the first time ever. It's by far the worst pitch I've had, but it'll do. And the upside is that I won't get mud all over the tent. It is actually pretty cold and I'm wearing my puffy! Good sleeping weather.Tomorrow: Mt Greylock, hopefully with clear weather (according to the forecast it should be) and later in the day, the Massachusetts/Vermont state line!Open map in new windowWant to add a map to your journal?