Into Vermont and then home

Day 109 Shaker Tent Site To Cookie Lady — AT Daily Miles 21.0; AT Total Miles 1566.7

It thunder stormed or rained most of the night. Plus, it was very windy. At least my tent was secure on a wooden platform. When the weather front moved through it really cooled off making sleeping nice. In fact the high temperature for the day was only going to be in the 70s for a welcome change.

I thought the trail here in Massachusetts was very fair. I was able to get some good mileage in for a change. That’s probably a combination of the better trail and the lower temperature. The mosquitoes weren’t as bad today which made it nice also. The only negative was by mid afternoon, there were some hard rains that weren’t in the forecast and then steady drizzle the remainder of the day with strong winds. I used my umbrella often, put on my rain jacket and just kept going.

In the end, I was able to get in 21 miles and stay at an Appalachian Trail called the Cookie Lady. She is known for her hospitality, great cookies, and generosity. I only asked for a tent site and she provided a bed in an old airplane hanger. It was rustic for sure, but with the marginal weather outside I was very happy to take her kind offer.

Getting in good miles today set me up well for the next three days I hope. I may stay at a campsite that is actually in a small town in 19 miles but if the trail is as good as it was today, I’ll be tempted to go another 4 miles to the next shelter. I’m a little worried about two days from now when I go over Mount Greylock so the more I get in now the better for that day. But I need to focus on tomorrow, get a good night’s sleep, and hit the ground running.

Farmland

Cookie lady

Stream crossing

Day 110 Cookie Lady To Father Tom Campsite — AT Daily Miles 18.4; AT Total Miles 1585.1

I got a great night’s sleep in the former airplane hanger at the Cookie Lady’s place. It was strange staying in such a large building with so much stuff stored in there, but it was relatively quiet and definitely out of the rainy weather. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. It’s fun to stay in offbeat places like that and a memorable part of the trail.

The day of hiking wasn’t too hard, but it was again in the mid 80s which definitely slowed me down a little bit. I had hoped to get to the shelter in 23 miles of hiking but settled for one at just over 18 miles. Here in Massachusetts you have to stay at designated shelters and can’t just camp wherever you want. I miss stealth camping!

The cool thing about today was that I went through the town centers of both Dalton, Massachusetts and Chesire, Massachusetts. In the first one I got a good lunch and in the second I went to a pub for a great dinner. That always makes the day a winner. The scenery for the day was just a lot of hiking in the woods. At least the mosquitoes weren’t too bad today. They have made stopping even for a few minutes, almost unbearable.

My campsite was very cool. The town and a local church group have set up a large field with water, an electronics charging station, bicycles, picnic tables and a porta potty. What more could you ask for? I ended up using one of the bicycles to go a couple miles down the road to a pub for dinner.

This leaves me 33 miles to do in the next two days to get to Bennington Vermont where I’m gonna pick up my car. That’s definitely doable. Although tomorrow I’ll go over Mount Greylock, which I believe is the highest point in Massachusetts. There’s another tough climb in addition to that one tomorrow so I’ll need to earn the 16 mile day I have forecasted and can set up the 17 mile a day next.

Walk under?

Ferns!

Rocky trail

Day 111 Father Tom To Sherman Brook Campsite — AT Daily Miles 16.2;  AT Total Miles 1601.3

Not a ton of miles today, but I felt really good about the outcome. I took it easy and slow as it was hot again today and got over two mountains, including the highest point in Massachusetts. I was even able to score 2 hotdogs at the lodge at Mount Greylock and cross the 1600 mile mark for the trek.

The day started at the Father Tom campsite and I want to thank again the town of Cheshire. It was a really great site and they put a lot of thought into what hikers need.

About the first 8 miles or half the hiking for the day was mostly uphill over two mountains but it wasn’t that steep or that arduous. It was work of course but not that bad. If I had needed to get in more miles for the day, it might’ve been harder but I really only needed just over 16 to get to the next campsite. In Massachusetts you have to stay at approved sites and the next one after this is another 10 miles which would’ve been too long of a day. This worked out great.

Near the end of the day was trail magic in the form of five coolers with various treats that us hikers love. I had three or four things and then it was time for an uphill for 2 miles to the campsite. It was a pretty nice site with a privy, tent pads, and even platforms. With rain in the forecast for tonight and the experience I got setting up on a platform a couple nights ago, I went for the tent pad. It will keep me up off the ground in case the rain is even harder than expected.

So tomorrow will be about 17 miles to my pick up point. The local motel where I’m going to be staying tomorrow night provides free shuttles to us hikers. With an early start and a little bit of luck I should be there by 4 PM. It would give me time to get cleaned up and have a good dinner before a good night’s sleep. I’ll need it because it’s about a 10 hour drive back to Columbus, Ohio where I’m taking nine days off to rest and visit family. Then it’ll be the final three states to finish up the journey.

Mt. Greylock

So serene

First platform

Day 112 Sherman Brook To Bennington, VT — AT Daily Miles 17.3;  AT Total Miles 1618.0

I’ve been looking forward to today starting for a long time. I slept great listening to the rain hitting the tent during the night. It stopped in the morning just long enough for the tent to dry before packing it up. I had an extra big breakfast to eat up my food as I would not need it for almost 2 weeks and got on the trail earlier than normal. I’d have just over 17 miles to get to my shuttle pick up point for the ride into Bennington, Vermont.

Immediately, I had a long climb since the campsite was about halfway up a long steep trail. At least the morning was cool so the climb wasn’t bad at all. It was at this point that I caught up to a fellow hiker named Java. He was a really nice guy around my age and we chatted for 13 or 14 miles which made the time go by really fast. I hope to see him up the trail in the future, but with the time I’m taking off, it probably won’t happen unfortunately. Still you never know and I’ll be watching for him up in Maine.

The main thing about the trail today was it was very muddy the entire day. Vermont is nicknamed Vermud and I’m wondering for how long that’s gonna continue. Maybe the whole state or why would it have the nickname? I sure hope not. Otherwise the trail was scenic with numerous lakes, blue skies and big white fluffy clouds.

I’ll spend the night tonight in Bennington, Vermont at a motel where I’ll get cleaned up, have dinner and rent a car first thing in the morning for the 10 hour drive back home to Columbus, Ohio. I kind of look forward to the long drive since in the car, I will be sitting in air-conditioning while listening to music!

Java

Beautiful bog

Near Bennington

Days 113 – 124

The drive home actually went by really fast and I made it in a little bit over nine hours! That included a stop at McDonald’s for a second breakfast and another stop at McDonald’s for a late lunch and to gas up. I pulled in just in time for happy hour! Next up is rest, recovery, and relaxation. I’ll be off the trail for 11 days which coincidentally is the time my wife is on vacation. I sure hope I want to come back on trail to finish it up! That said, I’m really excited about New Hampshire in Maine even though I know it’s going to be really hard.

Thank you again if you are reading this. It’s been a pleasure to document my journey so far and I look forward to finishing it. Fingers crossed as always.