Friday 3 August, Day 24
AT v2.0, 10.2 miles, Benedict Pond Campsite MA. Sir Lanche-A-Lot and the
Whole-y Trail (copywrite CrocaDilly 2012...she made me give her credit). By
Papa Wolf - We used to having a saying in the Air Force…"Flexibility is
the key to Airpower"…it appears that is the same with Backpacking. We used
to follow that saying with "the key to flexibility is indecision". J Anyway, we were flexible and decisive
and with a HUGE thanks and help from my Mom and wonderful Aunt Pat, we were
reconnected with Mojo and Skye and my Avalanche…Sir Lanche-A-Lot…after 7.5
years living in England, he was knighted. They arrived in Great Barrington
around 1100, and after a nice lunch with everyone, TailBone, CrocaDilly, and I
came up with a good plan now utilizing our support vehicle. Just a bit more
planning now as we want to make sure we camp within a few miles of a road…fairly
simple right now based on where we are in the North East. The key for us is to
stay true to the trail. The "All knowing 'They'" say that if you
leave the trail for more than 6 days, you will not get back on. I can see how
that may play out as having been at home 40 days for the burglary, it was
difficult coming back on…a roof, electricity and indoor plumbing are not to be
taken for granted. BUT, I proved "They" wrong and have been having a
great time since I got back. The new challenge, with the support vehicle, will
be for us to not get lazy, not jump off the trail at every rain shower, not get
a ride (yellow blaze) just because we can. Frankly, I am expecting it will be a
much bigger challenge than we think. With no car, there is no choice so you
just get on with it. When you have an option to take the easy way out…that is
the challenge. Time will tell how we do but I am confident we will stay true to
the trail. As far as slack packing goes, meaning you only carry a day pack and
water, I am of two minds. Until today, I only slackpacked approx 50 of the
950ish miles Ive hiked so far. I feel a little guilty, but the lady who set the
official Appalachian Trail speed record last year did it carrying virtually nothing
really. She had support vehicles and her team at every road with supplies etc. Taking
nothing away from her remarkable accomplishment, and maybe using it as an
excuse, I figure if the official speed record can be set slackpacking, I can do
the last 650 miles with less weight as well. Not to forget either that once we
hit the White Mountains and Maine, we won't see a car for days at a time so
back to normal full packs. So with all that to consider, we said goodbye to Mom
and Aunt Pat, gave a ride to our friend who did find her car…towed and in the
next town over…and we hit the trail at 3pm. We did have a good hike and got to
our destination before dark. The campsite was deserted except for the three of
us, the two dogs, and a hiker friend Miles. I was not sure if I was impressed
or a little disappointed in the local youths and it was a beautiful park on a
lake and a great summer evening…perfect for a Friday night party to get into
mischief and bust curfew. As it was, we had a very peaceful, but hot, night
sleep.
Saturday 4 August, Day 25
AT v2.0, 17.1 miles, Upper Goose Pond Cabin MA. By CrocaDilly - Last night I
did not sleep well. I don't think having spoken to others today that many
people did. It was so hot and humid during the night that it made for a very
uncomfortable night's sleep. I think I managed about four or so hours - a good
portion of which was after I should have got up! It hadn't helped that one of
the puppies had decided to spend most of the night sleeping on me … I love how
affectionate they are and how much they love to snuggle but when it is so hot
having a 90lb furry being lying on you does not help! So I spent the day very
tired and very grumpy. I was also struggling significantly with my conscience
and the new set up. I just did not like it. It feels like such a different
challenge and I am not enjoying it as much as I was. It doesn’t feel like the
challenge it was and I somehow feel less free and that I am carrying the weight
of the world on my shoulders again despite the fact that 34lbs has been lifted
from them. For the first time I thought about going home. And I did not like
that feeling. I came on the trail for many reasons and to push myself to the absolute
limit and some of that has now been taken away. Furthermore I enjoyed the exhilaration
of being totally in control of my life and free. I am fully immersed in the here and now and my
surroundings and having everything I could possibly need on my back without the
distraction of everyday life. I had rid myself of the extraneous artifacts and
material goods of the modern world (except my phone) that could interfere with
the bubble of freedom I had created - it was just me, my family and my thoughts.
Now all of a sudden with the arrival of the car we have this great big reminder
with us constantly of "real life" …something that I was happy to
leave behind for a bit and not think about. I enjoyed only having my legs as a
mode of transport and the odd ride in a car. I was worried we would get sucked
into yellow-blazing, have constant access to sodas and this would become just a
merry jaunt in the car across New England. I wrestled with my thoughts and
feelings all day and each and every step felt sluggish and slow and hard. It should
have been the exact opposite considering I no longer had the pack. It actually
also takes longer to get ready in the morning too - what do you need to take
with you and what can you leave in the car? I prefer to be able to just throw
everything in my pack in its proper place as I have been and go. It just all
felt wrong. One minute I have a pack and the next minute I don’t. We set off
from the campsite without our whole packs - just a day pack and water. We then
had to put on the whole packs to hike the rest of the three miles to the
campsite we were staying at and it made me feel like I was hiking day 0 again. I
had had this issue before on our first day back after slackpacking and swore I would
never do it again!! At this point I could have just laid down in the car and
gone to sleep! I decided I prefer hiking with my full pack. We got to the Upper
Goose Pond and what an amazing set up - when they say pond they mean large
lake. A lot of hikers were already hanging out when we got there including our
bubble of northbounders. The cabin on the lake shore higher up was already full
so we set up camp with Ambassador, Rory, Last Out and Franklinstein on the
beach by the water's edge. The water was cool and inviting and swimming whisked
my cares away. I decided to see how I felt in the morning about the new set up
- I think I was just super tired and quite a few of the others had been grumpy
due to a lack of sleep too! We had another sumptuous dinner using the fresh
zucchini and cucumbers that Aunt Pat had given us. Truly delicious! The people
staying at the cabin that week - caretakers - were awesome and very friendly.
We had some banter and sat around.
Sunday 5 August, Day 26
AT v2.0, 11.0 miles, Shamrock Inn, Dalton MA. By CrocaDilly - Last night was
the first night that we slept without the rain-fly on and wow what a difference
that made to my sleeping experience. The night was cooler anyway but not having
the fly on was like having air conditioning suddenly! It was lovely also to
look up at the trees and the sky and the moon and stars! I only woke a few
times instead of the several an hour which I have been doing consistently
(including when in a normal bed). I wake up a lot due to restlessness and
fidgety legs which I hear is common and Mojo actually sat on my head at one
point in the night, then decided he wanted to snuggle with Scott so scooted in
between the two of us before proceeding to then push me off my air
mattress!! I felt so much better though
when I woke up at 0630 and thought I would tackle the day more positively. I am
still hiking the whole route after all, a goal I had set for myself (how many people
can say they hiked 900 miles in one go?) We have the boys back - I missed them
terribly and it was very strange hiking without them! We have promised
ourselves we are not going to yellow blaze unless it is due to danger, we are
not going to have a supply of soda or beer in the car or a cooler - we may buy
more food because we can store it including veggies but that will be it. I will
also for the most part, unless we need to do super miles, carry my pack. I like
the weight and the extra exercise. Also we have the 100 mile wilderness to
contend with which is hard terrain in terms of remoteness and the changes in
altitude we will expect. I think it would be hard to slack pack for hundreds of
miles and then hit that beast. Today though I had my first new challenge - 20
miles (slack packing … and quite a few people were joining us on this venture!)
It was also the day we had been waiting for when the trail would cross I-90. This
has been a pivotal moment for us in our journey since we have passed under this
bridge that carries hikers on their merry way numerous times on our way to
Boston and have dreamed of the day when we would ourselves cross it on our own
journey! The day started off with fresh coffee and blueberry pancakes provided
by our hosts. That is always an incentive to get out of bed early…not a pop
tart in sight!! The blueberries are picked fresh from a farm up the road and
carried by the southbounders staying at the campsite the night. The lady that
owns the farm is known as the cookie lady since she also bakes cookies for
hikers and lets them use facilities at her and her husband's farm and stay
there for work. Her farm was our first stop at 11 miles today. I could not help
feeling a bit Hansel and Gretelish hiking through the woods towards the cookie
lady's house lol! The going was good - a short climb followed by miles and
miles of soft piney paths through cool woodlands and we ate up the miles and I felt
so good, weightless and that I was finally getting into my stride again. I also
felt less guilty and that I should be more flexible and go with the flow. I am having
too much of a good time and still getting so much out of this adventure - it
has changed just a little bit that is all and I will embrace the change.
Everything happens for a reason whatever it may be. We saw quite a few people
on our travels today. The highlight was passing over the iconic (to us)
Appalachian Trail Bridge over I-90 early in the morning. A few people tooted
their horns as we crossed and we looked like we were going mad at Disney world
what with all the pictures we were taking! I loved it and walking across the
bridge felt like such a huge achievement. How could I have ever contemplated getting
off the section of trail I have planned to hike without completing it? I was all set to finish my 20 mile day but
lunchtime brought bad news of a flash flood warning and bad thunderstorms. Us
and the troops decided when we got to the cookie lady's house (cookies were
delicious!) - she also sold fresh eggs and other produce! - that we should take
heed of the weather and stop for the day and head into Dalton for the evening.
We will back track tomorrow. So here I type after a sumptuous dinner at the restaurant
associated with our motel - the Shamrock Inn having had a three course meal,
done laundry and reading waiting for the weather to clear. It got really bad
around 8ish when we would have been getting into town so glad we decided to
bail early. We will do 18 miles tomorrow to include the miles we missed to day.
Disappointed yes but no sense putting ourselves in unnecessary danger and walk
in wet boots just to say we did 20.
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