Date: 2014-06-19
From: Shays Rebellion Monument

To: East Mountain Retreat Center
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: broken clouds

As usual my alarm went off at 4:30, and also as usual I didn't get up. At 5:30 I was about to start packing for an early start but the rain started again. Back to sleep I went. I do seem to be getting my best rest from 4:30 and on which has been making it hard for an early start. This morning it was almost 8 when the rain ceased and I could just feel that I was out of it. Not only mentally, but now physically. My pack doesn't seem to fit right anymore. I seem to have 'under" grown it. These packs are very finicky when it comes to sizing them, and when I bought mine back in September I was a medium. You can adjust these things as you go. They have so many straps and stuff to adjust it's crazy. However I have every strap pulled to the max and it's not sitting right anymore. Time for a small size I guess, afterall I'm 30 lbs lighter than when I started. I hiked the 2 miles on the AT to US 7, but nothing feels right. I seem to have little muscle coordination as a walk, like i had one too many beers. Maybe dehydration? Again, my pack feels odd and double the weight, so I decided to road walk the 3 miles into Great Barrington, MA to take a break.I came to this store called Guido's. It like Whole Foods. Fancy, expensive, (cause they stamp every thing as organic and jack it up a few bucks, what a racket. .lol) earthy, all that weird 'I'm saving the planet cause I shop here' stuff, and I bought coconut water, (cause they say it hydrates you faster) and a carton of a protein shake. I tried coconut water in Belize before and didn't really care for it too much, but I engulfed this 18 oz can in seconds. Still don't really like it. After a few minutes I got up and walked into town to explore and slowly I started feeling better. Great Barrington is an interesting place. It's not quaint like some other towns here in New England, even though you can see evidence that it is trying to be, but the downtown area seems to be a mini-Manhattan. The whole 2 blocks of it. There was a ton of people there in mid afternoon on a Thursday eating outdoors at some, yet again, fancy coffee shop or bakery, even the dress attire was 'city-ish" Urban -vogue? Maybe? A unique feel with about 4 pizza joints and a million antique stores. Do these antique stores really make any money? With all that fancy stuff I walked on and ate lunch at the Golden Arches. Cheap and predictable food. Most of the time it's what you want any way even if you won't admit it. Not an outlet in the whole store. Ugh. Feeling better but wanting to just take it easy I thought about staying at this roadside motel with a salt water pool. Salt huh? But after more studying of my guide book I found the East Mountain Retreat Center about 5 more miles off the trail. They opened their doors to hikers, and for a donation of $10 you get a bed, a shower, laundry, and all the books you would ever want to read on every religion in the world. I came in and was the only one at the hostel all night, which was preferable. I ordered a pizza from "Manhattan's" which was ok at best, it was pizza and I did eat the whole thing. I laid on the white leather couch and read up onnthe latest AT Journals Magazine, and glanced through a book about a 70 year old who thru-hiked the North Country Trail. A 4400 mile trek from the Badlands of North Dakota to the NY/Vermont line.Overall I seem disappointed that I'm wearing down a bit, hoping it's just a phase before I get another 'wind' before the real tough states coming up. Maybe I'm just old and can't keep up with the youngans out here and have to just find my own pace. Maybe I just need to drink more water.... lol. Keep hydrated. Song of the day, Horse with no name, -America