Massachusetts

The humidity let up a little bit today, so it was actually bearable. Overnight it actually got cool enough that I got into the sleeping bag, which I haven’t done for a while, it was nice. I think part of it was I didn’t have my sleeping pad, which not only cushions you but actually insulates you from the ground. I tried to get up early but I didn’t sleep that well right on the ground, so I snoozed a bit and got out of camp around 7:30.

Did a little road walking in Salisbury and passed troops of day hikers. As a thru hiker you feel like a local, even if you’ve never been in the place or even the state before the AT is your home, and that makes the day hikers tourists. Sometimes you’re happy to help them figure out where they’re going but other times they’re just in the way and loud. I did meet a lovely woman and her dog on top of Lion’s Head who just moved here from Connecticut. She said I looked more put together than most thru hikers she’s seen, which felt like a big compliment. I guess I must have been downwind from her, because I don’t fell particularly together after a sweat drenched week without a shower or laundry.

Went up Connecticut’s Bear Mountain, which also has a stone tower but it’s literally just a pile of stones from the late 1800’s. It felt precarious sitting on top of it, plus it was hot in the full sun, so I didn’t linger there long. A steep and rocky descent into Sage’s Ravine, dodging day walkers coming up. The ravine was beautiful, with a brook going over cascades and little waterfalls running between the fragrant pines. There I left Connecticut behind and entered Massachusetts. Woot new state! Then up Mt Race, which had a long impressive stretch of exposed ridge.

The last mountain is always the hardest, but this time Mt Everett was actually the hardest, 700 feet up then 700 feet down quick and rocky. It was a relief to get to Glen Brook Shelter, the last stop that has me sleeping only 8 miles from town. Got to know Bird a little better, been seeing him since the night by the tracks. We’re the only thru hikers here so far, with a loud bunch of kids up at the shelter. I’m 676.4 from Katahdin. I’m going to put my headphones in so I can get some sleep, dreaming of town food and a bed. In Great Barrington I’ll find the leak in my pad by sticking it in the bathtub and finding the bubbles. I hope the hotel doesn’t have a shower stall. I’ll figure something out if it does though, a good thru hiker is resourceful. I also lost my toothpaste like an idiot. I left it in my pocket and was too lazy to take off the pack and put it back, and it must have fallen out when I was sitting somewhere.