Date: 2013-10-22
From: Rte 2 - North Adams

To: Seth Warner Shelter
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: light rain

This was the first day of a hike from Rte 2 in North Adams, MA to Rte 9 near Bennington, VT. Parking the car at the 36 car lot on Rte 9, I took the Green Mountain bus (free) to the terminal in Bennington. There I took a BRTA bus for Williamstown, where I changed to one for North Adams. Picked up at 8:20 am and on the trail by 10:30. I prefer to walk to the car when section hiking alone. It worked well, total cost was $3.00.The Long Trail runs from the Mass/VT border to Canada, and follows the AT for 105 miles. Many of the hikers I met were doing LT hikes, and the AT was incidental. I met one SoBO who had just completed the LT, he was continuing south to meet his wife in Great Barrington. Also two young women who had been working at Green Mountain Lodge, the were hiking from Bennington, where one of the lives, to NY, where the other calls home. I got rained on pretty good. Got to the shelter, the bear box defeated me. I studied it, and studied it, but couldn't figure out how it worked. Amazing, the Swamp Fox is smarter than the average bear, or so I thought. So I got out the paracord and did a regular tree hang. I brought down the first branch I tried - it was dead. No problem, it was the right size for firewood, and it was reasonably dry. Supper was a Knorr side with Spam,Teriyaki, also added salt and olive oil. It tasted better than it sounds. While supper was cooking I went about making a fire. The previous occupant had covered his coals with stones to put the fire out, it kept the charcoal relatively dry, a big help. I still had trouble getting a fire going, because all the sticks were damp and I didn't have any paper or a fire starter. Finally I remembered, or thought up, the idea of whittling a stick to make shavings. I picked a stick that looked good and made a generous handful of shavings, the fires started quickly from there and it was just a question of feeding it. The appelation "Vermud" is not inaccurate (see pictures). There were plank walks, and cordoroy (logs placed across the trail to create a firm surface), but the most common method of dealing with it was stepping stones. Somebody did an awful lot of work to drag them into the trail. My boots have about 1,000 miles on them and although they are lined with Goretex there are leaks where the leather has split. Soon enough I stepped in the mud and decided I didn't want my feet to get any wetter. So I picked my way with care. I hate to let go of my Lowa boots, for the fact they fit well from the get go, I never had to break them in, and I never had a blister or rolled an ankle. Reviews for the Lowa Goretex at REI are very negative, the leather split for some of the reviewers within the first few days. It was probably some bad leather than got past quality control, since mine were acceptably durable. I tended the fire until 7:00 pm, and turned in early. I had the shelter to myself and it would have been nice to have some company to talk around the fire for a while. I put it out by covering it with rocks, since it worked well when the other guy did it. It got down to freezing during the night, and there was frost on some of the leaves in the morning. I was using a 15 degree synthetic bag, somewhat heavy, but I was warm enough. I have a tendency to sleep cold and wound up wearing both a fleece and a jacket. I was using a lighter Exped Synmat air mattress, if I go out when the weather report calls for freezing weather I will plan to use the heavier one. For the extra pound I would rather sleep a little warmer.