Date: 2015-07-23
From: Goose Pond Rd Mile 1545.8

To: Grange Hall Rd Mile 1566.4
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Another slack packing day! Yes, yes, as some people have remarked, I really have been roughing it. I was telling Yoda that I was trying to bank some miles before going on vacation and she quipped that what with all the trail magic, slack packing and house stays, she thought I was on vacation already! My hosts and I all got a kick out of that. ? This morning was another beautiful cool and dry affair, and the hiking today looked like it should be relatively easy. So, I had planned a relatively high mileage day, for me anyway. For a while I thought that I wasn¢t even going to need bug spray today, but that turned out to be wrong later in the day. Still, the morning was lovely. I almost regretted not staying at the Upper Goose Pond cabin, as I am sure it was a lovely night to have been there. The Texas hiker kids came out of there one by one, having enjoyed the pancake breakfast. We chatted briefly about missing fruits and veggies, though the youngest (I think his name is Corbin) said he didn¢t really miss veggies very much. Of course when you¢re nine, you¢re not really supposed to. The Mass Turnpike was not especially enchanting, but I did remember driving under the trail overpass years ago with my friend Lynn when she lived in the area, so that was fun. The only climb of note today was Becket Mountain and with just a slack pack it was no big deal. Not too long after, I got to Finerty Pond, where I had lunch. Or second breakfast, whatever you want to call it at 10 am. In addition to the hummus sandwich and fruit salad, I also had a boiled egg and some carrots and zucchini. All stuff that normally is too heavy to carry as food, but not when you are slack packing! There was a long level section and then October Mountain Shelter quite suddenly loomed in front of me. I took a short break to read and sign the register but when I wanted to continue, I couldn¢t find where the trail went. After 5 or 10 minutes of fruitlessly walking around the shelter area, Sam I Am and Bearfinder arrived, and Sam I Am managed to find the trail. It was a little ways back and the shelter was really on a side trail, but it wasn¢t blue blazed so I never realized that. That is the second time in two days, and pretty much also the second time during the whole hike, that I couldn¢t find the trail. The next trail attraction was the Cookie Lady¢s house, but when I got to the road crossing, there was trail magic at the road already! Rob was handing out sodas, fruit, muffins and more. The Texas hiking family was there, as well as Red Hot and a hiker whose name I didn¢t get. I was enjoying my soda when Fred rolled in, having run a few miles southbound before hiking the rest of the 7 miles northbound with me. Nobody had checked yet if the Cookie Lady was home, so Fred went over and soon returned with two Klondike bars! And then it was time to finish the daily mileage. Mostly the terrain was unremarkable, but we did go over Warner Hill where there were massive blueberry bushes, with loads of ripe blueberries (and also a bunch of unripe ones). There was a brief blueberry break to take advantage, naturally. Some dark clouds had appeared in the sky at this point and it looked like it might rain, but we made it to the car without getting wet and indeed by then the sun was back out. I am really enjoying this weather, though the forecast for the next few days is substantially hotter. Tonight is the last night that I will enjoy all the comforts and amenities of staying in a real house with my kind and generous hosts, and tomorrow I¢ll be dropped off the trail a couple of miles south of Dalton. I¢ll get to the post office and pick up my care package, then probably have some town food before moving on to Cheshire, where I¢ll have some more town food. The rough life continues! As I was writing this entry, we were about to hang my wet clothes outside. Colette¢s dryer is not hooked up but her neighbor saw her and asked if we would like to use her dryer. So we did and chatted about the trail while waiting for the clothes to dry. Trail angels everywhere here in Massachusetts!Open map in new windowWant to add a map to your journal?