Saturday, July 25, 2009

Cheshire MA to North Adams MA

Saturday, 7/25

AT Miles = 14.4 / 1582.1
Other Miles = 0.4 / 53.6
Total Miles = 14.8 / 1624.8

Miles to Katahdin = 596.2

Another day of slackpacking. After a hearty breakfast Jodi dropped me
off back in Cheshire and I hiked up to the summit of Greylock as the
sun burned through the clouds and fog. I got my first view of Greylock
on this trip when I was a mile or so south of the summit. Greylock is
usually visible from multiple spots in Connecticut and southern
Massachusetts, but the weather has been so wet and cloudy that I have
had no views at all.

It was really nice making the climb from 974' to 3491' (highest point
in Massachusetts) without my heavy backpack. I didn't even have to
carry my lunch as Jodi met me at the summit of Greylock with a big fat
grinder (hoagie, sub, spukie, po' boy) and a soda. She also brought a
bagful of sweet, delicious oranges and some grapes, which we shared
with some of the other hikers we saw there.

I finished my hiking day by hiking down the north side of Greylock
until the point where the trail crosses Rt 2 in North Adams. I will
start there tomorrow morning, with my full backpack this time, heading
for Vermont only 4 miles further north.

It has been really great slackpacking these last two days, and I will
be really sad, for multiple reasons, to leave Jodi tomorrow and watch
her drive off heading for home.

--
~~~~~
Allen F. Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

Friday, July 24, 2009

Dalton MA to Cheshire MA

Friday, 7/24

AT Miles = 8.9 / 1567.7
Other Miles = 0 / 53.2
Total Miles = 8.9 / 1610.0

Miles to Katahdin = 610.6

So, slack-packing. Sa-weet! I coiuld definitely get used to this.

Jodi dropped me off in front of Tom Levardi's house in Dalton, which
is where she picked me up[ on Tuesday night, at 11:15 this morning.
The AT follows roads through town for a mile or so, and then turns off
into the woods. Since it just stopped raining this morning, there was
plenty of mud and wet rocks to contend with. But without a heavy pack
on my back, felt like I was flying. I covered the 9 miles to Cheshire
in under 3 hours, and at 2:10 I was walking the road into downtown
Cheshire and calling Jodi to come pick me up.

We headed back to the motel in Williamstown that Jodi had found for
us, showered, put on clean clothes, and were off for a nice dinner and
a martini. Now this is thru-hiking on the deluxe plan! Salad, fresh
bread, a couple of lamb chops and a baked potato, some fresh sauteed
vegetables, and some mud pie for dessert. All accompanied by a couple
of Sapphire martinis. Ahh!

Tomorrow Jodi will drop me off where she picked me up in Cheshire
today, and I will hike the 14 miles up and over Mount Greylock and
down to Rt 2 in North Adams. And since thwere is a road to the summit
of Greylock, Jodi can even meet me there with a nice lunch tomorrow!
How cool is that?

Unfortunately, this luxury can't go on forever. Come Sunday morning I
will be putting the backpack back on and hiking the last few miles of
Massachusetts and crossing into Vermont, the 12th of 14 trail states.

But for right now, I sure am enjoying my currently 'luxe existence!

~
Allen F. Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

Weather Forecast

Does this make you want to get out in the woods or what?!

From www.wunderground.com:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forecast for Northern Berkshire Hide
Updated: 5:02 am EDT on July 24, 2009
No Active Advisories (US Severe Weather)
rain
Today
Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. A chance of thunderstorms...mainly this afternoon. Some thunderstorms may produce heavy rainfall this afternoon. Highs in the mid 70s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.
nt_rain
Tonight
A chance of thunderstorms in the evening. Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. Some thunderstorms may produce heavy rainfall in the evening. Lows in the upper 50s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.
partlysunny
Saturday
Partly sunny. Highs around 80. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph.
nt_partlycloudy
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 60s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.
tstorms
Sunday
Partly sunny with a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning...then mostly cloudy with showers and thunderstorms likely in the afternoon. Humid with highs in the upper 70s. South winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.
nt_chancerain
Sunday Night
A chance of thunderstorms in the evening. Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. Lows in the lower 60s. Chance of rain 50 percent.
nt_chancerain
Monday and Monday Night
Partly cloudy. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s. Lows in the upper 50s. Chance of rain 40 percent.
nt_cloudy
Tuesday and Tuesday Night
Mostly cloudy. Highs around 80. Lows in the upper 50s.
chancerain
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy in the morning...then becoming partly sunny. A chance of showers. A chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 70s. Chance of rain 30 percent.
nt_chancerain
Wednesday Night and Thursday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 50s. Highs in the upper 70s. Chance of rain 30 percent.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Photos

As I think I mentioned before, Jodi brought my new camera when she met
me in Kent before we went to New York City for a few days. I took a
bunch of photos while we were in New York. Here are some of them:

http://www.allenf.com/gallery2/main.php/v/AT2009/NewYorkCity/

--
~~~~~
Allen F. Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

Upper Goose Pond Cabin to Dalton, MA

Tuesday, 7/21

AT Miles = 19.7 / 1558.8
Other Miles = 0.9 / 53.2
Total Miles = 20.6 / 1601.1

Miles to Katahdin = 619.5

Well. I was up at my usual 5:45 in the morning. And as usual, a swarm
of mosquitoes was buzzing around my hammock, underneath the tarp and
just outside of the mosquitoes netting. God bless whoever invented
mosquito netting!

As usual, I struck camp as quickly as possible, to avoid exposing
myself to the mosquitoes any longer than necessary. I had gone swimming
the previous afternoon in the pond, and my shorts and shirt had dried
very little overnight, so I got to enjoy the pleasure f pulling wet
clothes on first thing in the morning. Ah! That's got to beat a cup of
hot, fresh brewed coffee for waking you up in the morning!

The best part of staying at Upper Goose Pond Cabin is that the
caretakers cook pancakes for everybody every morning. I sat at the
table long enough to eat four before giving up my place to the next
shift.

When I let it was obvious that rain was imminent, so I rigged my pack
for rain. Since it has been so humid I haven't washed my socks in
several days -- I can't wash them when they won't dry for days and
days -- so I was wearing damp, dirty socks. Yuck!

About 2 miles after leaving the cabin the AT crosses the Mass Pike,
and then almost immediately Route 20. Just after crossing Rt 20 there
was trail magic in the form of a cooler of soda chained to a tree and
a bucket of goodies like oatmeal cookies and Yodels. I stopped the
chug a cola -- yeah, I know, it was right after breakfast. So? -- and
put some cookies and yodels in my pocket to eat as I walked --
mosquitoes, remember? A couple minutes later the rain started, and it
rained all day.

Shortly before reaching October Mountain Shelter I saw my third bear
of the hike as he or she ran off crashing through the undergrowth.Just
a few minutes later I passed a trio of southbound section hikers. As
hikers often do when traveling together, they made quite a bit of
noise chatting with each other. I told them about the bear just ahead
of them thinking that they might want to hike quietly in hopes of
catching a glimpse, but they responded by telling me they would be
sure to make plenty of noise as they hiked. Oh well. Their loss, I
guess. I also saw a pile of moose scat today, the first I've seen on the trail.

I took a break at October Mountain Lean-to, chatting a bit with Dixie
Dawg who was already there. It was cold sitting around in my wet
clothes and it soon looked like the rain was tapering off (though that turned out to be so very wrong!), so I set off again, bound for the Cooke Lady's house located just off the trail
in Becket, Massachusetts. There is a couple who own a house very close
to the trail who let hikers fill their water bottles and, if they are
home, offer cookies to every hiker that stops by. If you ask
permission, they will even let you camp in their yard. I stopped there
to fill my bottles with water that didn't need to be treated, and I
stood in their open garage and ate the cookies offered and chatted for
a while. I even plugged my cell phone in and charged it up a bit, and
ate most of my lunch in their dry garage. Then I headed back out into
the downpour.

From here my day went downhill fast. I had cooled down a lot while
standing around at the cookie Lady's house, so when I left I was
wearing my rain jacket over my already soaking wet clothes. Well, I
just got colder and colder, it rained harder and harder, I slogged
through mud several inches deep, I climbed up and down wet rocks, and
eventually I took a tumble and smacked my knee on a rock pretty hard.
Now I was cold, dirty, wet, and could hike only very slowly. Hiking
slowly meant I was not generating much heat, and my personal misery
quotient was hovering dangerously close to the red line.

I talked to Jodi on the phone several times yesterday and today, and
we agreed that she would drive out to Dalton and meet me this
afternoon. Unfortunately her job went way longer than expected and she
couldn't leave Boston until nearly 7:30. When it rains, it pours, you
might say. On the other hand, if she had been able to leave early she
would have been stuck in Dalton waiting for me, as I didn't manage to
reach town until 7:30 myself. By that time, with the heavy rain and
all, it was pretty dark in the woods and I could barely see where I
was going. There is a guy in Dalton named Tom Levardi. who for some
inexplicable reason just likes hikers and opens his home to them. By
the time I arrived there he had a houseful of hikers but I told him I
just needed a place to wait for my wife to arrive with the car and he
welcomed me in. Whew! It was so nice to be warm and dry for a change.
A couple of hours later Jodi arrived and we were off headed back home
to Quincy for a couple of days.

It is Thursday now. I made a trip to REI yesterday and bought a new
pair of hiking poles to replace the pair that, after over 1500 miles,
finally died on me. I also bought a new pack rain cover which
hopefully will be more waterproof than the one I had, and a new pair
of socks to replace a pair that now has gaping holes in the toes.
Tomorrow morning we will drive back out to Dalton. It is ten trail
miles from Dalton to Cheshire, and after stopping at the Dalton post
office to pick up my mail, Jodi will drop me off and I will slack pack
-- hike with only a day pack -- the ten miles to Cheshire, then Jodi
will pick me up in Cheshire and we will retire to a motel somewhere.
On Saturday Jodi will slack pack me again as I climb up and over Mount
Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts. Since there is a road up
Greylock, Jodi can even meet me on top with a nice lunch! I'm hoping
by doing this I can continue to give my feet a bit of a rest, yet
still continue to make some miles. I will also be able to eat better.
I feel like I have been getting really run down lately, and that my
body is getting weaker and starting to break down on me. With the
Whites and the rough trail of Maine facing me, that worries me a lot.

By the way, Jodi and I cycled Greylock one weekend back in 2005:
http://www.allenf.com/mount_greylock.htm

619.5 more miles to Katahdin.

--
~~~~~
Allen F. Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Misery

Wet. Muddy. Cold. Feet are a mess. Fell and hurt my knee. Hiking 1 mph.

Heading home to sleep in my own bed for a day or two and try to regain some perspective.

"I shall return."

--
"Home is where I hang my food bag"

Monkeywrench
Allen Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

Monday, July 20, 2009

Mt Wilcox South Lean-to to Upper Goose Pond Cabin

Monday, 7/20

AT Miles = 15.8 / 1538.2
Other Miles = 0.5 / 52.3
Total Miles = 16.3 / 1580.5

Wow! The mosquitoes were something else last night. Right after dinner I climbed into my hammock intending to read my book, but the swarm of mosquitoes just outside of the netting was amazing. Even the noise they made was very distracting. So I gave up on reading and listened to my radio with the earbuds. With my eyes shut, I could neither hear nor see the vicious little bastards as they flung themselves against the netting in their attempt to suck me dry of blood.

I didn't even try to eat breakfast before leaving camp this morning. I shoved a Snickers bar and a granola bar into my pocket and took off, eating as I walked. I hiked the 16+ miles to the cabin here with only one break, which I took when the trail crossed a field at the top of Pine Cobble just before Tyringham.

With the lack of breaks I made it here in record time, but I was exhausted when I got here. Upper Goose Pond is a beautiful pond, and the cabin here is great. It was not built as a trail shelter, but rather used to be a private cabin that is now run as a hiker cabin. There are volunteer caretakers here and for a small donation ($3 for camping outside, which I am) you get the run of the cabin, spring water carried from across the lake in a canoe, and a pancake breakfast in the morning. There is a bunkroom upstairs in the cabin, but I chose to set up my hammock outside as I know I will sleep better there.

I took a swim in the pond after I got here, and I do feel better for having done so. Unfortunately the weather looks like we are likely to get a storm tonight. When the weather is wet I can't wash my socks, since they would never dry.

The mosquitoes are taking a toll. My ankles are an ugly mess of scabbed over mosquito bites. Why my ankles? I've no idea. I theorize that they nestle down in my socks where I can't see them, and suck my blood at their leisure as I hike along.

I expect to be in Dalton early on Wednesday morning. If I can find a place to stay there, I will take a zero day and catch up on laundry and other chores. My clothes haven't seen a washing machine since Vernon, NJ, back on the 4th of July.

--
"Home is where I hang my food bag"

Monkeywrench
Allen Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Hemlocks Lean-to to Mt Wilcox South Lean-to

Sunday, 7/19

AT Miles = 19.7 / 1522.4
Other Miles = 0.2 / 51.8
Total Miles = 19.9 / 1564.2

Whew! Finally, I made some miles. I guess I can thank the mosquitoes! They were unbelievable today, and the only way I could cope was to hike full speed ahead. Once the trail came down off Jug End, it crossed a big low lying, wet area before climbing back up ibto the hills. The trail was fairly smooth, thankfully, and I could put the hammer down and try to outrun the hordes of mosquitoes. It seems that whenever I let my pace slow below about 2.5 mph, the swarm would descend. With negative reinforcement like that, I kept my speed up! I cranked out the first 7 miles, to where the trail crosses Rt 7, in a bit over three hours. There I stopped at a garden center type place that has some cold drinks and snacks for sale, and is friendly to hikers. I spent a half hour there drinking a cold Pepsi, eating chips, candy, and crackers, and availing myself of the luxury of a flush toilet. Then I filled my water bottles and headed back out to do battle once again with my pesky little opponents. Th
ere was a sign where the trail left the road saying that the trail was sometimes flooded and dangerous and if so describing a detour to use. Well, that's useless information. Tell me if the trail is currently flooded and if I need to use the detour or not.

As it turned out the trail was fine, and I again hiked at top speed and made the next 7 miles to Tom Leonard Shelter in another 3 hours, at 2:00PM. Here I stopped to eat lunch, and left a long entry in the shelter register for the Boy Scouts I shared camp with last night, as I knew they were bound for Tom Leonard today. I hope they coped with the mosquitoes okay. I really enjoyed their company last night.

Tomorrow I will be heading for Upper Goose Pond Cabin. I have been looking forward to this since I started my hike. At Upper Goose Pond Cabin the caretaker cooks blueberry pancakes for breakfast every morning. Yummy!

Have I mentioned the camera dilemma yet? I think I did tell you all that I killed the display on my old camera back in New Jersey, when I let the camera sit in a few incles of water. So Jodi bought me a new camera and brought it with her to Kent last Sunday. While we were in New York City I charged up the battery and played with it a lot while checking out all of the features, and I took a bunch of photos while we were in the city. Then when I got back on the trail I used it some on Wednesday, and when I next tried to use it on Thursday the battery was dead. I should have thought to recharge the battery after playing with it so much in NYC, but I didn't. Duh! Yet again, I am the victim of my own stupidity. I won't be able top charge the camera battery until I get my bounce box in Dalton on Wednesday. So of course now I pass something I want to photograph at least a dozen times a day.

Oh, Jodi told me that Alberto Contador won the first mountain stage in the Tour de France! Good going, Alberto! I must admit it would be nice to be sitting on the couch in front of our 60" plasma TV watching the Tour in HD with Jodi at my side. Ah well, choices must be made, and with choices come consequences.

--
"Home is where I hang my food bag"

Monkeywrench
Allen Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com