Date: 2004-06-29
From: Great Barrington, MA

To: Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 129.9
Weather: scattered clouds

6/22/04I stayed in town most of the day, going to the library for email, and then staying there and reading for several hours. Then I went to the grocery store, and then met my father, who took me out to dinner. After dinner I hiked out of town.The evening was humid, and the mosquitoes were ferocious. As the Trail ascended steeply my glasses began to fog up. Gradually the light faded and I had to turn on my headlamp. At one overlook I saw a spectacular sunset, the red sun glowing brightly from a hazy blue sky.It had rained during the day, and the rocks on the Trail were slippery. All of this combined - wet rocks, headlamp, fog, and foggy glasses - worked against me as I hiked, and my pace slowed to a crawl and I began to get more and more frustrated because I couldn't see. Finally I reached the shelter, and found MoonPie there with two section hikers. We had a good long talk, and my spirits returned to normal once more.6/23/04 WednesdayToday wasn't nearly as humid as last night was, which is good because the Trail rose and fell over several mountains along the way. The mosquitoes were once again out en force, and it was a tricky balance between being eaten alive while walking, or stopping to put on insect repellent and being eaten alive for the few moments it takes to take off your pack and get the DEET out.There was a fourteen-mile stretch between the first shelter we came to and our final destination, and that seemed to drag on forever. Finally, however, we got to Upper Goose Pond Cabin, an enclosed cabin on a beautiful glacial pond. MoonPie, Einstein, and I took a canoe out to an island on the pond, where we went swimming and lay out on the rocks for a while. We came in when the sun went down, and cooked dinner inside the cabin, a mosquito-free haven. We'll sleep well tonight!6/24/04 ThursdaySoon after leaving the cabin I came to a landmark I've been looking forward to for a long time: the Massachusetts Turnpike bridge. Being from Massachusetts, I've often driven under the footbridge labeled "Appalachian Trail". Now I got to walk over it, and while up there I did the universal "truck horn" signal to the trucks driving by below, and got them to sound their horns for me.MoonPie had a package waiting for her twenty miles away in the town of Dalton, so the whole day was a race to get there in tme, before the PO closed. We'd gotten a late start from the cabin because we waited for a pancake breakfast which the caretaker at the cabin cooked for us. That made it a good haul into town, but we made it with half an hour to spare.There was a rumour of a "secret hostel" in Dalton, so we followed a lead left in a register to the south, and we found ourselves with hot showers, a place to sleep for the night, and we got to go out to an all-you-can-eat buffet for dinner. With us were Wolf Wind, Einstein, and Spicey. (If any future hikers have any questions about the Dalton secret hostel, drop me a line.)6/25/04I got a late start, but I had to reach the summit of Mt. Greylock, the tallest point in MA, by six o'clock, since I was meeting my sister there. This last stretch of MA is a series of town crossings. I left Dalton, where the Trail goes along the streets, and after a few miles came to Cheshire, where the Trail also goes right through town. It passed an ice cream shop, where I stopped in for a bite to eat. Cheshire's claim to fame is "The Big Cheese", a 1200 lb. wheel of cheese which Thomas Jefferson liked so much that he displayed it in the White House, and continued to eat it for the next fourteen months.After Cheshire, the terrain began rising, and after a few hours I came to the summit of Mt. Greylock, the tallest mountain I've climbed since Virginia. My sister and brother-in-law were waiting for me in Bascom Lodge, a hut mostly for guests who drove to the top of the mountain. We had dinner at the lodge, and they left, and I went to stay in the hiker hostel near the lodge, where Spicey and Whistler were staying. Spicey was nice enough to pay for my stay at the hostel. Thanks, Spicey!6/26/04 SaturdayIt rained during the night, and it was still drizzling when I left in the morning. The wet rocks were slippery, especially since the north side of the mountain was very steep. At the base of Greylock the Trail once again passed right through a town: North Adams. I hitched into nearby Williamstown and checked in the outfitter there, then went to the Clark Art Institute for a few hours to look at art, including a large collection of Renoirs, and a particular painting by Pissaro which, for me, made the entire museum trip worth it.After stopping at the grocery store to resupply I headed back out of town, and within a few miles I was in Vermont: eleven states down, three to go. I've hiked most of VT before, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing it again. I stopped at the first shelter in VT, three miles past the border, for a bite to eat, but then I started listening to Prairie Home Companion on my radio, and decided to stay the night.6/27/04 SundayA day of ups and downs, with one valley standing out in particular: dropping 1000' nearly straight down to VT Rte. 9, and then back up 1000' again on the other side. The river flowing through the valley was the reason for the steep slopes, but it seemed benign enough for the moment.The Trail then rose and fell over a few vistas and peaks again. I passed several groups of weekend hikers, many with dogs. There was a German Shepherd who barked at me from the moment he saw me until I reached him, and then decided I wasn't a threat. There was a big fluffy white dog who'd sat in black mud and had dirty hindquarters. Then a man passed me, and a few seconds later I saw his big black dog coming up the trail. Wait a second - that's a bear! It walked up to the Trail through the woods, and since I was downwind it didn't notice me. Of course I moved closer to try and get a picture. When I was ten feet away, the bear happened to look my way, and it did a double-take, completely surprised to see me. It immediately turned and ran away. Drat, no picture.The shelter overlooked the valley below, perched on the edge of Glastonbury Mtn. I went up to the top of the mouontain, where there was a firetower, and great views of the setting sun. The wind was fierce - it had been all day as it ushered in a cold front - and it was even fiercer above the trees. While waiting for the sun to set I crouched behind the railing of the tower as the wind howled around me.6/28/04 MondayToday I climbed Stratton Mountain, which has several historical significances. First of all it was the inspiration for the creation of the Long Trail, which traverses Vermont from Massachusetts to Quebec. Second, it was while on the Stratton Mtn. and the Long Trail that Benton MacKaye envisioned a longer trail which connected all of the mountains in the Appalachian range: the Appalachian Trail. Certainly the view was impressive from the fire tower atop the mountain, and we could see Massachusetts, New York, and New Hampshire, including Mt. Monadnock, perhaps the most-climbed mountain in the world now that Mt. Fuji has a road leading up it.After spending some time at the summit of Stratton I hiked to Stratton Pond, where there's a shelter which normally has a caretaker and a fee, but the caretaker wasn't there. I decided to hike on anyway, so I could get into Manchester Center the next day to resupply, and I ended at an old log shelter a ways off the Trail. There were two very nice section hikers there, and we had a great evening of conversation.