Date: 2016-06-06
From: The Hemlocks Shelter

To: Mt. Wilcox South Shelter 
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: clear sky

Kept raining late into last night, but the little fix I did on the leak seems to have done its job. I woke up nice and dry with the sunlight streaming in through the light fog of the morning. No Schedule was up, and asked me whether I knew anything about transit around Great Barrington. Apparently his knee has gotten to a point where he needs to see a doctor and he wants to head home to Ohio. First person I've seen quit right in front of me. I was the first one out this morning (a product of not having other thru hikers around, I always used to be last) and I passed over the rain-soaked ground and slippery rocks down the miles to Great Barrington. The views were pretty amazing from Jug End and a couple other ledges, down into the Housatonic Valley and across to the mountains of he Berkshires I'll be climbing soon. The terrain was pretty rough, and last night's rain made for a few treacherous descents over slabs and rock jumbles. The trail then let out to a series of pastures, bogs and wonderfully open dark hemlock forest. I like the spookiness of the latter, and the pine needles underfoot feel nice. As I came out to route 7, I decided that it was late enough (11 am) for me to reasonably go in to town for lunch. It only took me about three minutes to catch a ride with a man who had a kayak strapped into the bed of his truck. We passed by the garden center he owns as we drove into the center of town. He suggested I go to GB Eats Diner, and I was not disappointed. I had a burger with a deep-fried patty. Yum. The day was sunny and warm as I headed back out of town. Hitching out of town always seems harder - or at least stranger - to me. When I'm on the trail hitching in, I look like a hiker going into town. When I'm trying to hitch out, I always feel like some drifter, completely out of place among the nice buildings and sidewalks, far from the state routes with the wide shoulders that are good for hitching. I walked with my thumb out for a good ways, and then a woman stopped at an intersection probably half a mile out of town offered to drive me the rest of the way. I thanked her a great deal and she brought me back to the trailhead. Onto Guthook Map #7 of 9, which brings me all the way to Hanover. The second half of my day was filled with rough climbs! Massachusetts is no joke, either. I stopped and got water from one of my favorite sources I've seen so far, a spring-fed brook flowing between a giant cracked boulder. I stopped in at Tom Leonard Shelter and hung out for a good while talking to two girls whom i'd passed earlier. They have just graduated from Harvard, and happen to be the roommates of my family friend who goes there too. When one of them mentioned her name, we got to talking about school and a cappella and name dropped a few other mutual acquaintances. One of them is visiting the other, who is headed (hopefully) from New York to Maine. I wished them luck and moved on. The climbs up to the Mt. Wilcox Shelters were pretty grueling, actually, and I got in just after 6. The late arrival was mostly because of my long lunch in town and and my hour spent at Tom Leonard chatting. The shelter is built just like the Hemlocks, gorgeous and new. I hung everything up to dry. A few minutes after, a man named Chris showed up. He is from Plainville, CT, and is sectioning from the NJ/NY line to Greylock. I told him he picked a hell of a section. He was good company and we talked about gear and life and had a very nice evening. I facetimed Ali before heading to early bed. Tomorrow I'll have a shorter day over to Upper Goose Pond Cabin, one of the highlights of Massachusetts, a big shelter with real mattresses and a caretaker that will make you pancakes in the morning!