Date: 2015-07-20
From: Guilder Pond Mt. Everett MA

To: RT. 44 Salisbury, CT 1512.6 miles
Miles today: 14.9

Monday, July 20th   The Iceman is now in Massachusetts! He passed the 1500 mile mark today and even though he started in MA, because he flip flopped and ended in CT he¢s now officially in MA. He began at Guilder Pond which is in the Mount Washington Forest near South Egremont, MA this morning and met 2 young ladies at the trailhead. These girls are the daughters of Red Hot and were setting up some trail magic to surprise their dad. There was also a woman putting gallon containers of fresh water and a large jug of water on a picnic table at the site. She does this almost every day, for the hikers, because it¢s been a dry season and the streams have either dried up or are very low. She mentioned that the rattlesnakes have come down from the mountain top because the little creatures they live on are at lower elevations also because they can¢t get water at the higher elevations. Watch out for them! On his hike today the Iceman did see a snake but not a rattler. The first part of his hike in MA went over Mt. Everett, which offered him spectacular views, and then he descended and went back up over Bear Mountain in CT. Much of the hike up Bear Mt. was over boulder fields and a rock face which made it a very difficult hike but the views couldn¢t be beat, they were breath taking. Between Mt. Everett and Bear Mt. he passed through Sages Ravine. This ravine is about 12 mile long and it encloses a stream with multiple water falls. The ravine itself was worth the hike as the water falls are awe-inspiring. The last 6 miles into CT was quite easy.   As he hiked south he met those in his bubble going north like Red Hot (who had a feeling that his daughters were going to have a surprise for him), EZ, Sam-I-Am, Ice fire and Chocolate and her family. What a busy day it was on the trail today. The Sherpa needed to shop today for the Iceman and the first place was Price Chopper, a grocery store in Great Barrington.   After buying 10 bottles of vitamin water, a new flavor with A LOT of potassium in it, and fresh fruit the checkout person asked ¢Would you like a bag?¢ ¢What kind of question is that¢ thought the Sherpa. ¢Yes. Of course?¢ was the answer. The next stop was K Mart for tick spray. At the checkout counter the clerk asked about a bag to carry out the spray and MORE vitamin water. This was puzzling until he turned the sign around, that sat on the counter.   It said, in Great Barrington one must pay, in this store 10 cents per bag, in every store in the town for bags. The clerk said that this had been in force for many years.   The Sherpa left the items and went to the car for a cloth bag, based on principal. ¢The government is best which governs least¢. Thomas Jefferson   WAY too much government interference these days. That¢s just my feeling. Dinner was across the street from our Holiday Inn Express at the Barrington Brewery and it was quite good. The menu declares that the brewery was the first on the east coast to heat its hot water to make its beer using solar energy. The larger vehicle that we now have was a blessing today, since the road to the trailhead was dirt and rock and we would have been hesitant to use the last car over such terrain.