Date: 2020-08-31
From: US 7 (Great Barrington)

To: Stealth site near Tyringham mile 1543.9
Miles today: 20.1

I was content to walk the three miles from the Days Inn in Great Barrington back to trail along route 7. There was a bagel place along the way I wanted to try! I did get a lox bagel, but it didn't feel so great paying twice what it cost in Warwick, NY. The Berkshires earn their rep for pricey living. While I walked off the calories along the road, a car stopped to offer a ride. It turned out to be Dottie who, along with her husband Dave, had given me a lift into town yesterday. They live practically next to the trailhead and pick up hikers all the time. Such nice people. I keep a list of such folks so I can send them thank you cards after I finish.Minutes into the trail I passed a maintainer weed-whacking the grass along the trail. He asked about downed trees or storm damage behind me, but I told him Massachusetts has been pretty clean. Connecticut took a few hits from the last storm but the worst seems to have spared this area.A couple of nights recently have dropped to around 50 degrees. A timely reminder that I need cold weather gear for New Hampshire and Maine. I called my daughter and wife while I walked this easy stretch to arrange to ship my winter gear to Hanover, New Hampshire. While talking I lost the trail as it doglegged through a road crossing and found myself back on route 7, well to the south. Ah well, just another bonus mile!I continue to pass a lot of southbound hikers. Hops and Sorry are a couple that started in Georgia and got off at Stecoah Gap before the Smokies. They restarted in NJ, went south to Stecoah, then flipped to Katahdin and went south. They are ten days from finishing in Jersey. This year is making for some complicated hikes. With them was a true SOBO named Mad Dog. Later I met Cinderfella, a skinny kid with long blonde hair who started July 19th, so making great time. There were other hikers I exchanged quick pleasantries with but never got names. I'm seeing so many I can't talk to them all. I'm sure they felt the same way about NOBOs for awhile.Benedict Pond looked extremely inviting as I passed it, with a perfect clutch of boulders for sunning and contemplating. I took a dip in the cool waters, after waiting for some families to hike through, then finished off my grinder from yesterday as I dried on the boulder.The terrain has gradually become less rocky, often covered in pine needles, though still rooty. A lovely evening climb took me through yarrow fields blazing gold in the evening sun, and up through pines and ferns over Cobble Hill in Tyringham.The light was dying. I'd started late from town and put in nearly twenty miles but wasn't going to make it to Upper Goose Pond Shelter without a few hours of night hiking. Stopping, though, would mean a long day to Dalton tomorrow. Better to stop early tonight and start early tomorrow. I need to be more disciplined in the mornings if I'm going to cover the miles I need to.I came to a stream in a low elevation wooded area outside of the village of Tyringham. The forest floor was relatively flat and covered with pine needles, a great area for stealth camping. So of course there were signs saying No Camping. I generally respect these signs, which are usually posted in overused areas near overlooks. But Massachusetts has a blanket ban on any dispersed camping. And unfortunately the official campsites near here are ten miles apart. Plus the state has officially closed them for the time being anyway. So basically no camping, period, in Massachusetts. Well, I needed to sleep, so I would sort out their Catch-22 another day. This particular stretch was National Park Service land anyway.More worrying - when I went to filter the stream water I couldn't find my Sawyer filter! I haven't taken water from streams much in the two weeks since I got back on trail in Pennsylvania, relying instead on water caches and businesses, but I know I used it 4 days ago south of Kent. I don't remember seeing it when I exploded my pack at Vanessa's in Salisbury. I suspect it fell out of the front pocket of my pack when I hurriedly grabbed my poncho during the hail and tornado on Schaghticoke. My dirty water bag was attached to it, so now I have just the one Smartwater bottle. I'm not one to tempt fate with unfiltered water. There are high springs in the south I will drink from, but dipping into a low-lying stream in agricultural Tyringham isn't my first choice. But I had no choice. I plotted a quick hike to the nearest spigot tomorrow, and hoped the stream was clean enough.