Date: 2017-07-09
From: Cheshire, MA

To: Seth Warner Shelter
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: few clouds

I, and I think probably everyone else in the church hall, were woken up at 5am when an early riser got up and started packing up. I had wanted to get an early start as well and so got up and moved my stuff outside while I consolidated it into my pack. Sidenote, one of the guys in the hall had one of the thermarest pads that I had debated switching to while I was home in MD. So glad I didn't. Those pads crinkle like no other whenever the occupant moves at all. I hit the trail at about 6, but didn't make it far before I headed down a road and made a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts to get 2 breakfast sandwiches. Those, along with the leftover fruit from yesterday made a great breakfast.Back on trail, I started up the first "real" mountain on trail (in my opinion) since Virgina... Mt Graylock. Right at the trail head I found a cooler full of TRAIL MAGIC beer and I picked one up and packed it out to enjoy at the top of the mountain. I had about 2500ft of climbing to do, but the trail was well graded and at no point did the trail become extremely steep. As I ascended the terrain became more alpine, the deciduous trees giving way to coniferous, moss covering any ground-fall wood, and the soil becoming progressively muddier. I hadn't seen this kind of terrain since the Smokies, 1300mi ago, but it was good to be back in it.As I usually do, I had doffed my shirt when I started climbing since there wasn't any use in getting it sweatier than it already was, but as I passed Mark Noel shelter and neared the summit I had to put it back on to retain some warmth from the cool air and chilly breeze. During the ascent the trail had become quite muddy, even though we hadn't reached Vermud yet, which I thought was false advertising since obviously Vermont is the only state that has mud on the trail.The summit of Graylock is topped with a 93ft granite tower, crowned with a glass orb... quite a striking monument. I noticed that the lodge (located just below the summit) only served breakfast until 10, but there were some fun looking clouds blowing past the summit, and so I elected to go up and take a quick look around up top and then come back down to the lodge. The view from the top was incredible... The sun shown down from a blue sky dotted with puffy white clouds which constantly morphed into new shapes as they drifted by. Stationed in the cardinal directions were signs pointing out the sights which could be beheld from each direction, and mountains and landmarks from NY, CT, MA, VT, and NH were visible in the distance. Below I could see the lake that I had dinner next to last night in Cheshire, the hills I had traversed stretching off into the south, the sprawl of several towns in the valleys below, powerlines bee-lining into the distance, wind turbines continually waving hi to me, parts of the Catskills, Stratton and Glastonberry Mountains (which I'd climb in the next couple days), and the endless woods of the Northeast. I took in the view for a few minutes and snapped a few pictures before deciding that it wasn't going anywhere and that I could safely go and have second breakfast.I got an omelette at the restaurant inside the lodge and ate with Immrum and chatted about the upcoming section of trail. Heading back out I ran into Lost chatting with Socks and then headed back up to the top. I was hoping to go into the tower to get an even better view of the surroundings, unobstructed by trees, however it was closed for repairs until July 2017... Wait a second... That's now. I didn't think arguing that point was going to get me into the tower, so, oh well.I sat for a few minutes and took in the warm sun and enjoying once again, for the first time in a long time, being eye-to-eye with the clouds. Eventually though, it was time to get moving, so I saddled up and continued hiking. It took a few minutes to find a blaze amongst the labrynth of paths which criss-crossed the summit, but after that I headed down to the thunderbolt trail which the AT followed. This was the first, but certainly not the last time that the AT would take us along a ski trail.I crossed a couple ups and downs and the top of William Mt (which didn't really seem like a summit...) before deciding to take my lunch in a quiet, shady spot. I enjoyed the beer I had picked up earlier and then got moving again and of course, not 10min later, came to a magnificent northward view that would've been a great lunch spot. From this vantage the town of North Adams (which we'd cross through) as well as an unbroken line of mountains and forest stretched northwards... The Green Mountains. I chatted with a few local day hikers before moving on and heading down the steep and muddy descent. This downhill in places rivaled the steepest trail I'd seen on trail and eventually broke into switchbacks, but not until most of the descent had been completed.Emerging into town I found Socks again and we both decided that with only 7mi left to the shelter for the night we had time for a cold drink. We walked down a couple blocks to stop-n-shop and I picked up some drinks, fruit, and a new knee brace (I hate one of the ones I have... It's too restrictive to motion and is uncomfortable to wear for long periods). The store was right next to Papa John's, which offers 50% off everything for hikers, but unfortunately I wasn't nearly hungry enough to tackle a pizza. Back on the trail I headed up into the mountains, retracing my steps from last fall which had brought me down this mountain after 17 days on the Long Trail. It's interesting to look back on being so excited to be done and to get back to modern comforts after having had just a taste of the hiker lifestyle on the LT. So far I've been on the AT for ~6x as long at this point and am fully immersed.I headed up a rather steep hill and then got waylayed by a GIANT blueberry patch on a sunny rock outcrop. Several other hikers came and went as I picked and ate for about 45min, not having come even close to exhausting the supply. Finally I pulled myself away, not wanting to get to camp too late, and continued on. It wasn't too long after that that I completed my 10th state, Massachusetts, and entered Vermont, the 11th! Good to be back!The last couple miles to camp were uneventful, but it was interesting to see how different the landscape looked with all it's leaves still hanging. Last time I had been through here had been early morning with the sun casting it's rays through the sparse red and yellow leaves, coloring the entire forest. Now, dense green foliage surrounded the trail in the height of it's summer growth. I got to Seth Warner shelter, our camp for our last night on the LT last October. Just like last time though someone already had the fire going for us, this time Sherpa and SchholBus. Their trail cat, PackCat (guess where he gets to ride...) was napping in preparation for his nightly work as I setup my tent (and realized that I had forgotten to dry it out after Dalton, whoops).We all had dinner and chatted throughout the evening as the sun set the sky aflame behind us. While I was hanging my bear line I managed to severely stub my big toe, hard enough to draw blood around the periphery of the nail and making it painful to walk around. So that was dumb...I probably really should have closed toed camp shoes. Hopefully I get to keep the toenail...Tomorrow Socks, Lost, and I are heading to Glastonberry fire tower with the intention of camping there to get sunset, sunrise, and maybe some stars, so that should be fun. That's 21mi from here, but combined with going into Bennington to get my package and resupply, it should be a busy day.