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I slept great last night! I was so happy to be inside away from the biting insects. I woke at 8:30 a.m. to Rider poking at me exclaiming breakfast—the trail famous blueberry pancake and coffee breakfast prepared by the caretaker of the cabin—was ready. Hikers can generally eat as many pancakes as they can manage, but we have to wash our own dishes to help each morning. Also, there is a $3 donation requested. Pacemaker, Rider and I ate well as did all the hikers. I actually had a cup of coffee, too, just for the fun of it. Pacemaker was the first to leave since he was trying to make it to the post office before it closed at 5 p.m.; I was next to leave, followed by Rider. Two miles from the cabin, Rider and I crossed US 20 (1535.5 mi) by way of a concrete bridge. Even though we hadn’t been hiking long, we took a “pack-off” break here. Apparently, US 20 (goes to Ohio, Rider’s home state) and this bridge were special to Rider. We watched the traffic go by under the bridge while motioning “pull-your-horn” gestures to the drivers of the 18-wheelers. It was fun, but we had to continue north. The remaining miles were not too much to speak of, just miles to walk. Most of the day was gray and overcast. I strolled into Dalton, Massachusetts (1554.5 mi) around 6 p.m. I could hear thunder as I approached town so I picked up the pace. When I crossed over the railroad tracks, I knew I was close. “Now,” I thought to myself, “if only I could avoid the rain…” But of course, as luck would have it, I was just outside the center of town, perhaps another 5 minutes walk, when the skies opened up a furious thunderstorm. I ran to a nearby gas station seeking shelter, but by then, it was too late. I was sopping wet! To make matters worse, I abandoned the idea of stopping to put my backpack cover on thinking it would take too much time—time that could be used to walk. So, my backpack was saturated with water as well. But, despite my wet condition, I was in town where I could shower and dry-out and that was all I needed to make me happy! I waited the storm out inside the gas station for over an hour. Later, Rider, in full rain gear, came past the gas station and spotted me; we walked to the “Birdcage” Hostel in search of Pacemaker. When we got to the hostel, a house, Rob Bird, the owner, has lived in since childhood, we found Pacemaker. Rob has opened his home to hikers since 1998(???) and tonight was the most hikers he’d had since he opened—a grand total of 16! He was more than filled to capacity; it was a zoo! It was fine with me though, since I was planning on staying at another place in town. Per Desperado’s advice, Tom Levardi’s place was the place to be in Dalton. Tom Levardi has catered to hikers’ needs for over 20 years in this small town; he is somewhat of a trail angel legend. After meeting Tom, I can see how he has developed such a great reputation throughout the trail community. He is very kind and eager to help hikers in any way that he can. Rider and I slept on the porch with Hiking Bear. It was cool and windy and still raining when we crashed for the night. Walked a total of 20.6 miles today.
Today is a great example of why I love the trail—you just never know what’s going to happen when you wake up for the day. Plans change all the time. Rider and I met Pacemaker at the Duff -&- Dells for breakfast. Tom affirms that this is the “best breakfast on the trail!” Who could resist a claim such as that? Not me. I enjoyed a veggie omelet with home fries, rye toast and a juice (two, actually). I also ate a large chocolate-chip cookie for desert. It was yummy! It was getting late by now (11-ish) and I still desired to go to the library to check my email (if it was working) and the website. Rider and Pacemaker tagged along too. After we finished our business at the library, we ate lunch at Angelina’s Subs, and then departed ways. They headed north and I stayed in town to “zero” for the day. We had run together for the last ten days covering 160 miles of trail. It was sad to see them go, but I have faith it will not be the last I see of them. I went back to Tom’s and read and wrote in my journal. Tom invited me to have dinner with him; I accepted. It turned out that we would not be eating dinner alone either. Around 6:30 p.m., Two Ton Mantis, Sven and Sardine casually ambled into town. It was a pleasant surprise to see them. They greeted Tom and took off their packs. Within minutes, Tom offered ice cream and they excitedly consented “twist my arm”. Tom disappeared to the kitchen while we all caught up on the news (since we hadn’t seen each other since the Greymoor Friary). Moments later, Tom came back with three HUGE bowls of mint chocolate chip ice cream with whip cream, bananas and sprinkles, and Oreo cookies; they devoured it to the very last cookie. Moreover, planning ahead, Tom had enough food for dinner to feed all of us including a new face, Red B. We had a total of 6 for dinner. Tom prepared salad, potatoes, carrots, and broccoli, pasta with meat sauce, and sausage links. It was quite a feast! Later, we all watched the Olympics in Tom’s living room. Tarzan and Brood X came in late; Arms, Mad Scientist, and crew also in town for the evening. I’m very glad that I stayed for another night. And to think, I was planning on hiking when I woke up this morning. The vicissitudes of the trail…so unexpected! It’s chilly again tonight, but cold temperatures make for sound sleep.
Breakfast again this morning at Duff -&- Dells. Wrote in journal some while sitting there. Tom had the day off from work, so he invited me to have lunch with him and his Aunt. We drove into the next town to pick up Rose. Rose lived at an assisted living home and absolutely loved it. It was a nice house that had been converted into dorm-like living. She was a very kind and enjoyed the almost weekly lunch with Tom. I was honored to tag along. I was planning on walking out of Dalton today, but like all days on the trail, you just never know. Instead, I was going to take another “zero” with Tarzan and Brood X. I told them I would meet them in the next town, Cheshire, at 2:30. At 1:00 p.m., it was clear that I could not hike the 9.4 miles to Cheshire in an hour, so I asked Tom if he would drive me to meet them. Tom agreed. I met them at the post office. Brood X had a friend that was meeting us there at the library around 5 p.m. Meantime, Tom took us all to the mall where we went to the outfitter, EMS; we took a bus back to meet Brood X’s friend at the post office. I was going to take another “zero” with them, like I said, but for some reason I didn’t. Instead, I just walked south back into Dalton for another blissful night at Tom’s. I made that hike in record time, too—2 hours! My personal best! I am using a heart rate monitor now (thanks, Steve) and I wanted to try to keep my heart rate in my range of 125 beats to 166 beats per minute. As a result, I had to run the flat sections and down hills. With my light pack combined with my new, lightweight shoes, I was cruising! As I was walking into town (trail goes through town for 1.5 miles using sidewalks and roads) I met a group of really nice locals named Kathie, Danny, Maria, Josaline (sp), and Margaret. They were hanging out by a stop sign. One of the girls said hello and asked if I was hiking the trail. After talking to them for 45 minutes, Kathy gave me a ride back to Toms. Tom was pleasantly surprised to see me! He quickly fed me a salad and then we watched the Olympics. Dead tired, I passed out on the couch during the events. Also here with Sardine, Two Ton Mantis and Sven, who slack-packed 23 miles south back into Dalton for another wonderful night with our host, Tom.
Up early—about 4:30 a.m. Tom had to work today so I was relocated from the couch to the porch where I continued to sleep for another few hours. Breakfast at Duff -&- Dells again. The rest of my day is confusing, even to me, but I will try to explain my logic as best as I can. You see I am technically north of Dalton in Cheshire; and Cheshire is 14 miles south of my next drop, Williamstown, Ma (1577.8 mi). I didn’t have any food; so instead of buying food, I chose to take a bus to Williamstown and get my food drop. From there I would take the bus back to Cheshire to pick up the trail where I left off. Understand? Somehow, it didn’t quite work out that way though. First, Sven, Sardine, Two Ton Mantis had to wait for the bus to pick us up to take us back to our respective trailheads. The bus picked up around 10 a.m. It took 2 ½ hours to get to where we needed to go via the public bus. We had to switch busses once and then wait at each stop for others to board. I fell asleep for a good while during the ride. Finally, I made it to Williamstown. I found the post office with ease and received my package as planned. I sat down on a park bench on the edge of Main Street and opened my box. While sorting its contents, it began to rain. I had to hurry to pack up and I found cover beside a coffee shop. This town reminds me of Athens, Ga. In fact, Williams College is entwined in the city like UGA is to Athens. It is really neat! As I sat there, a conversation sparked between two local girls, Danie and May and me. We talked waiting for the rain to pass, but it never did. My plans of hitting the trail today were falling apart. So, in lieu of hiking, I took a “zero” with them. We went to the library and back to the coffee house just hanging out. It was fun. Later, I met Aaron, Danie’s boyfriend and we watched the Olympics together at Aaron’s. We slept at May’s place, which is a cabin owned by the hotel she works for. We watched a movie, but I didn’t last. I was out cold before the movie was even halfway over. Today was another unexpected twist, that, sometimes, you just have to go with the flow. Tomorrow they are going to slack-pack me from Cheshire over Mt. Greylock (3491’) and back to Williamstown.
What an abnormal day two in Williamstown!! I woke up, and May drove me to Cheshire and dropped me off. I would be slack-packing back into Williamstown from Cheshire which was a 14 mile hike. The big fun for the day was climbing Mt. Greylock which is at 3491 feet elevation. While climbing, I met two section hikers, a father and son team named Jay and Jesse. We hiked and talked until we came to a mountain pond where we stopped to take some photos. There was a “shelter” (though I’m really not sure what it was) across the pond. Jesse and I found an overgrown trail leading to it. The glass in the windows was gone and there was graffiti on all the walls. It was kind of spooky. Hiking on, we reached the top of Greylock where there is a large war memorial. Moreover, there is a lodge with a snack bar, a hostel, a lobby, and a pay phone. I ate lunch with Jay and Jesse, then used the phone to call home. Talking on the phone with Mom and Dad, I was notified of current family news. Meantime, a familiar face showed up – Wipeout! She was one of the girls who conquered the “40 mile challenge.” While I talked, she ate, and then we hiked out together. We chatted all 6 plus miles to State Road Ma.2, the road which leads to Williamstown. Unfortunately, it began to rain about a mile outside of town. I was using a school back pack that May let me borrow, so I had no rain cover. More importantly, I didn’t have a water-proof bag that I could put my camera in. We picked up the pace to almost a run. When the storm shifted from a “light drizzle” to a “cats and dogs deluge,” I left Wipeout to run for cover. I found it at a local’s porch, where I was able to ask for a garbage bag. They felt sorry for me and gave me one. I used the bag to cover the camera! By now, Wipeout had caught up with me. We stayed under the porch for a few minutes, but had to keep moving so as not to get cold. We were already wet to the bone!- so at this point to try and avoid the rain was senseless! We walked to the Redwood Motel. Wipeout stayed but I continued on to find May, Danie, and Aaron. They found me wandering into town, wet and tired. We didn’t do much tonight. I showered then slept on the floor at Danie’s place. What a day!!
I thought I wanted to hike out today, but I am stuck here!! Mostly due to rain! The entire East Coast is getting hammered, so I just didn’t try to get out of town. It’s my pattern- I’ve noticed now- that if it is raining and I am in a town, there is a 90% chance I wont’ be leaving!! Further influencing my choice not to leave here was the good people I have to hang out with. I spent a lot of the day in town running errands and then headed to the library to write my journal. Disappointingly, the library closed at 4:00pm which wasn’t enough time to complete my work! I walked over to a hotel to ask if there was a “Quest” computer, but no luck. However, on the way out I noticed a man in a tie watering the flowers. I asked him if I could use a computer. After explaining my situation, he allowed me to use an office terminal that was not in use at the time. What a Blessing!! I stayed there until 7:30pm. Afterward, Danie, May, Aaron and I ate pizza and listened to music until bedtime. I am leaving tomorrow. I am ready to get back on the trail….. A big THANK YOU to Danie, May, and Aaron for a fun-filled 2 ½ days. Good luck in all that you do!!
I finally made it out of Williamstown! I calculated that I averaged 6.2 miles a day over the last 6 days! Hee! Hee! How did that happen?!!!! Oh! Yeah! Rain, Rain and more RAIN!! And the 3 zero’s I took to avoid it! But Dalton and Williamstown were both great places to get stuck. The people I met made the experience worth the time away from the trail. But I was glad to be back on the trail today. It was sunny and absolutely beautiful!! Aaron dropped me off at 10:00am. The first few miles were a climb. I passed two SoBos, Drifter and Lucky, in just minutes after starting. I followed a stream for miles. The trail is super muddy. Welcome to VER-MUD! Or is it-- Welcome to the Vermont section of the Appalachian Mud-Slide-----Err, --Trail! Some sections there was calf- high deep, quick- mud; it was tricky navigating the trail—from solid ground to rock to rock to mud puddle to mud puddle to solid ground to rock to mud puddle. Get the picture?? Vermont is the state that wins so far, for the most interesting first impression. I ate lunch at the Seth Warner Shelter (1584.7 miles). I spent 1 ½ hours there, then left at 2:30pm for another 7.2 “mud-maze walk” to the Congdon Shelter. I stumbled on Chef Vegan resting at a vista. We talked awhile and began hiking north, past Sucker Pond- very pretty!! There is no swimming allowed in it, though. Upon arriving at the shelter, Chef Vegan pushed on. I am staying the night with Red B and L.P. Then Tarzan and Brood X wandered in late- about 9:00pm. I’m not sure what tomorrow holds except of more sunny, muddy, muddy miles!!!
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