Date: 2014-06-26
From: Mark Noepel Shelter

To: Karl's Dad's House, North Adams
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Man we got lucky. Nice to have gotten to that shelter in plenty of time to unload, get water, change clothes, relax, all that stuff. I think we had gotten in around four and the rain started around six. Always before the rain it's very very sticky and going up hill you pant and huff and puff and sweat. When we got to the shelter I changed shirts and hung my hike shirt up to dry. It was as if I had dunked it in the stream and not squeezed it out. Grasshopper was sitting on the shelter edge and thought the rain had started but nope..it was my sweat coming off the shirt - GROSS. Sorry Grasshopper! It really poured starting about seven and just didn't stop. Someones phone even went off with a flash flood alert. Woke up in the middle of the night because of two things - the mice were chewing away at something, but didn't seem like any of our stuff, and the little barely flowing channel downhill from the shelter that was our water source was now a raging river. The sound of the rain though would drown it all out and I had a great nights sleep. All the more better when you know you're heading to a real bed and shower today AND there's a place for second breakfast. Topo and Grasshopper and I hiked the three miles up to Mt Greylock in a thick layer of fog. Even though it wasn't raining the mist and fog and water dripping off the trees made me all wet again, and didn't help that my shirt was as wet this morning as it was last night. You didn't even realize you were at the summit when we got there it was so cloudy. But you could see the Bascom Lodge - a beautiful old CCC built lodge right off the summit with the timber construction and thick leather furniture and fireplace. Little too warm for that but perfect for coming in to dry off and have some breakfast! Nice little dining room and there's Survivorman. I knew from the logs he was just ahead and he spent a nice long day there yesterday. Showed us pics of the view we should be getting, spectacular. Of course all we saw was fog. I ordered a breakfast omelette that came with two thick pieces of Texas toast and home fries, a coffee, and a side of chocolate milk and it costs all of $12. Then after, I decided I wasn't caffeinated enough so I got a can of coke and it was.....$2.60??!! What the? It was the same in Shenandoah. A can of soda was in the $2 range but a can of beer was $.88. Yes cents. They know they're audience I guess. Now it's a further 6 miles all downhill to North Adams/Williamstown through the soup and muck and slick rocks and very steep descents. Avoided any falls (though my nose hurt inside this morning from the fall and my right hand is still difficult to move right at certain times). This another of those - walk right through town and down a lovely residential street to get to the other section of the trail. Passed a house that had a sign at their spigot inviting thru hikers to fill up on water. THANKS! Survivorman, Topo, and Grasshopper are all staying at the Williamstown Hotel to the west and I'm going to stay with my friend Karl at his Dad's house in Cheshire. One of those weird moments where you forget how fast car travel is as I was in Cheshire the day before and thought why would I want to go all the way back? Of course it's all of 15 minutes by car. I got a hearty "you need to take serious shower dude" from the guys before I left, and they weren't joking. Seven days of no laundry or shower and lots of humid weather makes for a very very stinky Dune. Just a few blocks away from Karl and I could not be happier. He lived in Austin for a while but has moved back to his hometown of Boston.Nice to get that taste of home. This is especially true when I get to his Dad's house which is awesome and sits on a huge piece of property with beautiful long views of the country side. After a quick shower, I'm immediately offered a martini. Trouble. Enablers these two! And they like to keep your glass full. My kind of people. Had a really really nice afternoon. The weather of course has cleared and it's sunny and warm and quiet out here. A few drinks later it was time for a nap then Karl took me out to eat at one of his favorite restaurants called Meze. Very very good food and so decadent compared to the pasta sides and pop tarts I've been eating for months. Had pate, sriracha chickpeas, and octopus just for apps. Slept again like a baby. Nice to catch up on some sleep. Tomorrow (well today as it's the next day) is resupply, a visit to a museum, drinks, maybe a movie, more drinks, then out to dinner again. And an FYI this post might get slurred as we're already having bloody Mary's for breakfast. Again...trouble.