day 82 - 05/31

mt. greylock proved to be a breeze of a hike. not sure if i am just in much better shape, but when i called my rents to thank them for the care package, my dad told me the mt. greylock climb was rated 7 out of 10. to be honest it felt like 2/10. i will admit, however, the the downhill was tough in sections. the pics below are all of the greylock hike. the first is of the caretaker cabin near the top. the second is the moment on top, which you can actually climb up and is where i took the third and fourth pics. i then made the climb down into williamstown in the hope of meeting up with meats, a guy i hiked with back in va and has since caught and passed me when i got off trail. i had am awesome lunch at a natural food store, but didn't connect with meats, so i hit the trail just a little ways to a beautiful spot where i am now hammocked for the night, knowing, and hoping, it is supposed to be dry. 16.3mi from cheshire to sherman brook campsite. 1589.2 total.




- posted using blogpress from my iphone on the appalachian trail

day 81 - 05/30

i think maybe 2 inches of rain fell last night. it was crazy wet. this makes for a much more challenging hike just avoiding the foot-soaking mud holes that seem to be just about every 20ft up the trail. there were actually newly formed streams from all of the rainwater runoff. today was actually an easy hike as it was relatively flat and i stopped in the town of cheshire, ma just before the looming mt. greylock, the highest peak in mass at 3,491ft. i am staying at st. mary's of the assumption and am very grateful for a nice dry place as i got drenched in another thunderstorm on my way into town. i will pick up some home-made cookies from my parents at the post office tomorrow and then tackle mt. greylock. 20.6mi from october mt shelter to cheshire, ma. 1572.9 total.
- posted using blogpress from my iphone on the appalachian trail

day 80 - 05/29

so nice to be back on the trail. i received the rest i needed and was so spoiled by my family and friends. i am so grateful to everyone for an awesome weekend. so thanx to aunt pat, kris, brian, and maryanne for the first half. thank you pat for picking me up, dinner, donation, a roof over my head, etc. you are so unbelievably generous. i then made my way to boston and spent the weekend at my cousins' house, jaz and jon (see pic below). they are always so awesomely chill, but this visit was so ridonculously incredible. i ate so much good food and got to visit with steve-o (thanx for the steak!), martha (thanx for the cookies), the beckster (who, btw, looks smokin' hot! ;) ), taylor, tracy (thanx for the bug spray), karla and everyone else at "the glen!" i also got to see my aunt donna and uncle frank and their new house, which looks so frickin' unbelievably beautiful. i saw my cuz adam and his wife erin, their three yo sammy and newborn evan, and erin's family (whom i love). then, i got to see my grandmother, who is almost 90 (see pic below), and my cuz mike and his girlfriend shelaigh, who bought me lunch at cheesecake factory (see pic). i really made the rounds in a short time! it was awesome. the trip was also very purposeful in helping me to realize how i have been unmade by the trail. iow, there is much less tim because an ego or personality is needed so much less on the trail. jaz and jon thought i did well integrating back into the matrix, but i have to admit that it was difficult at times. i am now prone to long moments of just observation and silence. so hitting the trail after this weekend proved to be wonderful and challenging. i hiked only 7mi and heeded the warnings of the weather delivered by jon and kris of impending severe thunderstorms - and none to soon. only 5 minutes after arriving at the october mt shelter the hail, 2 inches of rain, very strong winds, and lightening strikes only 20 yards away started henceforth, as they say. as i was rereading "born to run," after it being mentioned 5 times to me on the trail, which i deemed to be important and no longer just coincidence, i came upon the following quote: “Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction." - william james. this so sums up thru-hiking. i also discovered thru the wonder of the internets, that sadly, the caballo blanco passed away back in march while i was in nc. this is sad as he was part of my inspiration, but his living example of authenticity will inspire me to do some ultra-distance running once i complete this current journey. 7.2mi from rt 20 in lee to october mt shelter. 1552.3mi total.









- posted using blogpress from my iphone on the appalachian trail

days 76-79 - 05/25-05-28

sorry everyone, but i have decided to enjoy the holiday weekend with family in eastern mass. so, no posts until i return to the trail on tuesday. i'll be back then, and until tuesday - i love y'all and stay golden!

day 75 - 05/24

awesome day of hiking and i was probably energized by knowing that i get to see friends and family soon! the pic below is of the footbridge over the mass pike, route i-90. this may sound silly, but this felt like quite an accomplishment because i have driven by it so many times with a longing in my heart to actually be on the footbridge having hiked 1500 miles, and i am doing it! it felt so great! i met my aunt pat shortly thereafter on route 20 in lee, ma and had a wonderful evening out to dinner with pat, brian and kris, and then getting to see my cousin marianne who is now all grown up and 18yo! aahhhh! i'm old!. they are all spoiling me so much! it is awesome to be around family. 20.7mi from eastern mt to lee, ma. 1545.1 total.

day 74 - 05/23

"sweet home . . . massachusetts!" the three pics below are of the welcome sign and then the awesome hike along the river that forms the border of ct/ma. the video is of silly me just being nostalgic and happy to be back in mass/new england. it is so beautiful. i guess the old adage "you can take the boy out of new england, but you can't take new england out of the boy" is very true! i made it into great barrington. ma early in the afternoon, enjoyed the movie "the avengers" and probably the best burger on the trail so far at "the gypsy joint," right on main street. so frickin' good! great local beer as well. then i hit the trail and finished my day by getting to the eastern mountain retreat center, where i enjoyed a nice shower so that i can smell a little better when i meet my aunt tomorrow. lol. i also enjoyed a nice glass of whiskey and the company of two hikers, one guy from germany and one from denmark, on holiday for a little hike on the appalachian rail. so fun! it is always interesting attempting to explain things as strange as thru-hiking to people who speak limited english. and i of course know only very limited german. it was funny. i kind of wish i had a video of me trying to explain things. 26.4mi from riga to eastern mt retreat. 1524.4 total.











     

day 73 - 05-22

wow! i can't believe how much more difficult the trail in new england is compared to what i have hiking since north carolina/tennessee. looking back now, i think i have a little of the blues in pa, nj, and ny just cuz it was so flat. i really, really, really enjoy climbing a good steep hill. i love it! not sure if it is just cuz i am back home in new england or what, but i feel very re-invigorated. i really hoofed it today cuz i have made plans with my aunt pat to pick me up in lee, ma on thursday afternoon. so, i hiked almost all the way thru ct today and cruised into salisbury to pick up some packages at the post office. one was my third pair of trail runners. the pic below is of my retired pair of vasque runners with exactly 722.1mi of trail on them. they were a perfect fit, but as you can see they were just about falling apart. i also got my third care package. i just want to take a moment to thank my bff, kirsten, for the first two packages. she sent me my solar charger along with all kinds of goodies, like dried mango, pistachios, and awesome organic dark chocolate for the first drop. then, when i needed a new charger (cuz the solar charger is not great and really only works as a second battery), she sent me her spare charger along with incredibly delicious, huge peanut butter cups. yummy! this third drop package was from my aunt karen and uncle john. it is unbelievable all of the things they included, but i have to say that after three straight days of rain, two new, dry pairs of thorlios socks was like finding a gold bar in the mailbox! words cannot express how appreciative i am, especially cuz no one can even imagine how stinky my socks had become. no joking - epic stink! tomorrow i hike into my home state of massachusetts! the second pic is of the view, while lying in my sleeping bag, from riga shelter! thanks karen for helping me decide - good choice! 29.8mi from stewart to riga shelter. 1498.0 total.

day 72 - 05/21

after a few days of beautiful dry weather, we back into rain again. it seems like this area needs the rain so i am happy it is actually raining. i entered connecticut today and my home region of new england. it is really funny how things change so distinctly from state to state. i guess it makes sense because most states use a natural boundary as a border, like a river or mountain ridgeline. the pic below is when i entered into ct from ny. the first area in ct is the ten mile river. so beautiful!!! i felt like i was in the west, in deep, deep winderness. i kept saying to myself - "this is connecticut!" i just could not believe how beautiful it is. i also remembered that the culture in every state and region is also different. it was so funny going into kent, ct after being down south and even in nj and ny. there is just a certain new england attitude - staid and reserved. if you are not from here i could see how one might misconstrue this very specific attitude as being snobby or cold. it just felt like home to me. go figure. 19.7mi from wiley to stewart hollow brook shelter. 1468.2 total.

day 71 - 05/20

great day! i went by nuclear (no, it's not nuculer as according to the "great" gw bush) lake and had a very refreshing swim. there was an awesome family there who gave me some refreshments and trail mix. i hoofed it another 12mi so that i could get closer to the town of kent, ct where i need to resupply. i am anticipating quite a bit of rain tomorrow so i want to be closer to town to escape a little of the wetness. i had my first mouse attack last night - see the picture below. i stupidly, and carelessly, left my food bag in my backpack cuz i am not in bear country at the moment, there was no rain in the forecast, but i didn't think a mouse would climb up the tree my hammock was attached to and rummage thru my backpack. i am just glad i left my pack open so the little bugger didn't chew thru my backpack, which i have seen happen to other hikers on the trail. luckily, he only got to eat some of my zip lock bags (hehe, cue the evil laugh sound), so i hope he enjoys pooping some plastic today. lol. unexpectedly, no more ticks even after walking thru lots of fields with high grass, go figure. so still at 15. 25.6mi from rph to wiley shelter. 1448.5 total.

- posted using blogpress from my iphone on the appalachian trail

day 70 - 05/19

nice easy day of hiking today. the weather has been so beautiful. lots of enthusiastic day hikers on the trail. i made it to the rph shelter, which is very nice, to find a large group of boy and eagle scouts already there. they were all great and shared lots of food. since the shelter is close to a road i also ordered a pizza for dinner. it was frickin' awesome. the pic below is not of a freckle, but of tick number 15. the little nymphs are what freak me out because not only are they nearly impossible to see, but they supposedly are the ones that most frequently transmit lyme disease. yay! i'm glad i noticed the little bugger. 18.8mi from greymoor to rph shelter. 1422.9 total.




- posted using blogpress from my iphone on the appalachian trail