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I started section hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT) spring 2008, this years hike would take me across MA, VT and NH, at least that was the plan, we all know how plans can change.
MA is rather flat compared to other states the AT passes through, it’s easy hiking and fast miles allow for this state to pass quickly if you let it. I’m a section hiker and choose not to hike fast or high mileage days, but seek out the details of the trail that most walk by unnoticed. I choose to hike the trail as if I may never get to hike it again.
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Early in this hike was uneventful as I walked through MA and the Berkshires finally reaching Upper Goose Pond. UGP is a beauty spotty and favorite stop among hikers with its pond for swimming and canoeing, its cabin with nearby camping and pancake breakfasts. UPG is also where my gear began to take a direction all its own as explained in this post.
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Full moon rising over Roy and Marilyn (Cookie Lady) Wiley’s barn
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The first town I stopped in was Dalton, MA, the trail goes right through town, ice cream, burgers, pizza, Tom’s hostel, a nearby EMS outfitter and full grocery, what more could a hiker need.
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From Dalton I preceded north to Cheshire another small town the trail passes through and before reaching Mount Greylock the highest natural point in MA, 3489-feet above sea level. If you ever visit Mount Greylock be sure to try the handmade raspberry sorbet at the lodge.
Vermont
North of Williamstown MA is the MA/VT state line, there’s no chance you’ll mistake it for anything else, it’s marked with TWO signs, one marks the southern terminus of the Long Trail.
Trail story- I was taking a break one afternoon when a 20-something female backpacker walks up and noticed the bottle of Ben’s 100 DEET in the side mesh pocket of my pack. She quickly jumped on top of her soapbox and began to preach at me the horrible things DEET will do to skin and long term effects it can…I quickly interrupted saying I wasn’t using it on my skin (flat out lie) I was using as part of my water treatment, double dose of AquaMira and a cap full of DEET will kill anything in the water including the run off from beaver ponds (another un-truth) look at my legs there’s not one single bug bite (true) so that makes DEET a double use item. She had that “OMG” look on her face and hiked on. Later I saw her in one of the camps, I placed the bottle of DEET next to my water bottle on the table…she kept her distance.
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View from Glastenbury Mtn fire tower
Trail story- In a camp the food locker had a pad lock on it, there was a note in the shelter saying “too much trash was being left inside the locker so it was closed.” I over heard a hiker say “what are we suppose to do with our food?” Another hiker spoke up “you hang it.” First hiker- “Huh…how do I do that?” Second hiker- pointed to where several food bags were hanging from a limb. First hiker- “how do you do that?” This became a serious and deep discussion. For the record I did not participate in the discussion, I had seen no signs of bear only chipmunks. On this night I slept with my food placing food inside an OpSak…I was living dangerously!
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View if Stratton Mtn across Stratton Pond. It was on the summit of Stratton Mtn Benton MacKaye conceived the idea of a trail spanning over 2100-miles from Georgia to Maine, known as the Appalachian Trail.
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My favorite day
I decided I wanted to hike off the beaten path of the AT/LT and took a side trail, remember I didn’t have maps they were in the lost resupply box, I borrowed a LT map from a fellow hiker and copied info and making a small hand drawn map to follow. Remember Hurricane Irene? This is a very small part of what she left behind deadfall piled 10+ feet high across the creek. BUSHWHACKING! I climbed, crawled and scrapped all the while hoping to find the trail on the other side. After clearing the debris the trail looked more like a game trail for the first half-mile or so, finally I began to notice fresh tracks left by another hiker…moose and deer tracks, more moose tracks and there it was and big as a mountain a moose standing in the thick. I had secured my camera inside my pack at the beginning of the…BUSHWHACKING… and couldn’t get it out before the moose disappeared in the thick.
On the topo map the elevation was flat and I expected to find swampy areas. I did. BUSHWHACKING…man it was thick, it’s a good thing I watch Dual Survival. With compass in hand I found the trail again. Dog prints started to appear in the sandy areas along the creek, I caught up with the dog named Butters and her owners; it had been their tracks I saw earlier. The side trail mileage was 5.3-miles, I estimated it to take me 2.5-hours to hike it, it took almost 4-hours…BUSHWHACKING…it was great and my favorite day of the trip. An adventure!
Trail Story- I watched a JetBoil Sol Ti go up in flames. Fortunately its owner was a quick thinker grabbing a hiking pole and knocking it away from the table, hikers scattered like crows. It burned out on it’s own, I’m guessing the canister was out of fuel. I really expected the thing to blow, stupid crazy exciting and sometimes dangerous stuff on the AT/LT.
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I got back on the AT and continued on for four days before finally giving into the fact my knee wasn’t going to make it, it was time to end this hike and go home. I caught a ride with a couple of weekend hikers back to Manchester Center, VT and I spent my final night at the Green Mountain House Hiker Hostel, best hiker hostel ever…I’m giving it a 5-star rating…seriously it’s that nice, reservations only.
Total miles hiked 166 not the 385 planned to complete NH, it was a great trip, just not long enough, I’ll return to trail next year and pick up where I left off and with strong knees.
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