Date: 2003-09-16
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: North Adams, Mass.
Miles today: 0.0

After we all settled down to bed last night, the heavens opened up. Literally! I have never heard it rain so hard for so long and I woke repeatedly, feeling grateful for the roof over my head. Don't get me wrong.... cuddling up in my sleeping bag, snuggly ensconsed in my tent is a great way to ride out a storm, but having to deal with all that wet gear the next morning is a pain! As it was, I got to hear the rain through the screen sides of the cabin while everything I owned stayed nice and dry. :)In the middle of the storm I heard another hiker arrive and figured that it must be Portugees friend, Prozac. Sure enough, there he was, sitting at the table when Travelin Jack called us all to breakfast. We sat down to blueberry pancakes, and enjoyed a feast fit for a thru hiker! The food was wonderful, but it was far outweighed by the company. Jonathan, John, Prozac, Portugee, Travelin Jack and myself continued our story telling from the night before, and once again, I excused myself from the group with aching sides from laughter. This warm camraderie of fellow hikers was made even richer by the wet green woods, bright blue sky, and cool autumn air. The porch of the cabin kept us dry from the dripping trees as we all created one of those wonderful AT memories that I will carry home from my journey.After breakfast, Jonathan took me over into the woods to show me an American Chestnut. The Upper Goose Pond Cabin, like many of the older buildings we have seen on this trip, is made of this wood, and I was under the impression that there were no more American Chestnuts living. Jonathan explained to me that baby trees grow all of the time, and that I had hiked passed hundreds of them! Unfortunately, the blight that has killed all of the adult trees does't allow the young chestnuts to grow up before it kills them. When he showed me the tree, I did recognize it as one that I have seen constantly on this trip. It did give me hope that if researchers can find a cure for the blight, the tree itself exsists so that it can regenerate itself.Despite all the laughter and learning, I finally tore myself away from the group and packed my stuff up. My hike today would be fairly short, but the journey to get back to the car could take all day, so I had to get moving.The woods were fresh and new from all of the rain, and for the first time in my trip, I was the first person out on the trail! You might think that being the first person out of the shelter in the morning is an invigorating way to start the day, watching the sun come up and listening to the birds begin to sing. However, the Native Americans have a name for this hiker...She who Eats Spider Webs!. Yep...I ate spider webs all the way up the trail! All those industrious little spiders worked hard all night long, and I came along and ruined it! What I really want to know is how they know how high off the trail to build their webs so that they hit me directly across the face?! Now I remember why I usually lag around camp in the morning! :) After hiking a couple of miles, I heard the sound of traffic getting louder, and looking down, I saw the bridge crossing the Mass Pike. For ten years I have driven to New Hampshire to go to class, and for ten years I drove under the foot bridge built especially for the Appalachian Trail. For ten years I would honk, regardless of whether or not there were hikers on the bridge, and for ten years my eyes would well up and I would think, "someday....".Well.....today was my day! Before I crossed the bridge I wrote a note to my hiker friends from the night before, that said, "Look where you are! Enjoy this, because as far as AT moments go, this is a big one!". I placed it under a rock in the midle of the trail, and walked out onto the bridge to take my place with all the other thru hikers that have come before me. If you drove under the AT bridge today and looked up at the right time, you would have seen a woman in a blue shirt and a great big backpack waving her hiking poles wildly in the air as a huge grin split her face in two. As I did the dance of the real woman on that bridge, the sound of car horns rained down around me, and yes, as far as AT moments go, it was a big one.The rest of my hike was uneventful, and by the time my heart had stopped beating a mile a minute, I had come to the highway leading into Lee. I was five miles from the nearest bus stop, but I had a problem. I didn't have a ride! This is the time when most hikers throw their thumb out and hitch hike, but being by myself, that didn't seem so smart! Using a tried and true rule that I have already used several times this summer, I thought to myself, "Would I want one of my stuents to do this?" The answer was a resounding, "Heck No!!!", so I kept my arms by my side and started walking. There was a lot of construction on the highway, and all the workmen and police greeted me as I walked by. The next hour and a half went by quickly and as I came into town, I found myself in front of an old convenience/package store. The sign said that they made sandwiches so I went in to check it out. Five minutes later, I was sitting on the front stoop of the store, boots off, earting a bologna sandwich and drinking a liter of Gatorade. I looked down and realized that this was who I had become....a person completely comfortable and completely at home. At home in the woods...at home on the byways of this country.... and at home with myself. Yep, as far as AT moments go, it was a good one. :)Love, Anna aka Mud Buttwww.trailjournals.com