Date: 2004-07-05
From: Kellogg Road Bridge over Housatonic River, MA

To: Day 90: Shaker Campsite, MA
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: light rain

On AT Day 90 Hot Chocolate and I got up at 4:00 a.m., drove from Greenwood Lodge and Campground near Bennington, VT to the AT trailhead at the Kellogg Road bridge over the Housatonic River, in MA in time for me to begin my hike by 8:00 a.m. However, before I completed the half-mile or so to the base of June Mountain, I had to stop for a DEET break since the local mosquitoes were feasting on my blood and besides the nuisance and pain, I certainly did not want to contract a disease. Hot Chocolate¢s experience with tick-borne Lyme disease certainly brought this unpleasant possibility home to me¢¦The day began with heavy overcast and high humidity and temperatures in the low 70¢s. By late afternoon it warmed up to the low 80¢s and by around 5:00 p.m. the clouds began to rumble, heralding a significant thunderstorm. I took this as a challenge and picked up my pace to see if I could complete the 16.7 miles to the Shaker Campsite before the rain hit ¢ I lost this race and much of pack¢s contents got soaked before I could get my tent up on the wooden platform. It was a little strange to sit there wearing wet clothes in puddles of water in my tent watching the lightning flashes and jumping with each loud thunderclap ¢ visions of falling trees and my metal tent poles acting as lighting rods kept me ¢alert.¢ On the bright side, dealing with this storm taught me to carry extra plastic trash bags to keep my gear (including the waterproof sil-nylon bags) dry as I set up and repacked my tent in rain storms. The rain also turned the tiny little stream from which I was to get water for dinner and breakfast into something much more substantial¢¦ The rain did not; however, seem to do anything to deter the appetite of the impressive mosquito population.Earlier in the day, I met a group of 10 or so day hikers when I stopped by the Tom Leonard Shelter for my morning Power Bar snack break. They seemed to be very interested in the fact that I was an AT through hiker, asking lots of questions. When I told them what my trail name was, one of the men remarked that it ought to be ¢Rambo¢ ¢ I guess to them my trail-roughened appearance was a bit ¢unusual.¢Leaving this shelter, I was soon treated to a rather impressive view of the near-by Ice Gulch where it is claimed that ice often lingers in its dark and deep pockets late into the year ¢ none was visible today, however¢¦ Shortly thereafter I was passed by a young male-female pair of NOBO section hikers hurrying along to their car at MA 23. They didn¢t hurry fast enough, however, since just as I rounded the tree-shielded bend leading to the parking lot I inadvertently caught the wife with her shirt off. I tried to be discrete, but she saw me at the same time as I saw her. I figured the best thing to do was look away, try to ignore this unexpected nude fauna-sighting and engage in inane small talk with the husband as I hurried to rejoin the AT at the other end of the parking lot. I met several other groups of section hikers (all SOBO) later on, but none were as memorable as this first set.Exiting the MA 23 AT trailhead, I soon began to cross hundreds of yards of ¢bog-bridges¢ or ¢puncheons.¢ The need for these aides was certainly exacerbated by the impressively ¢mischievous¢ activity of the local beaver populations who seemed intent on damming up every moving water source ¢ including the culverts designed to safely transfer water under the forest roads. Not surprisingly, at several locations GMC trail workers were forced to create detours for the AT since the trail was completely submerged, more often though we hikers were simply expected to slosh through the mud ¢ what a fun day!