Treats, treats and more treats!

Day 56

We rolled out of camp early knowing treats were waiting for us. We walked the mile or so until we emerged from the woods and made our way across someone’s back yard! The trail will start to look a lot like this going forward. The owner of the yard has a garden hose out allowing hikers to refill their water if needed. We walked through North Adams and made a small pit stop at Stop and Shop to get some treats for breakfast!

It has been interesting noticing the seasons change with one border crossing.  Yesterday in Vermont it was cool, crisp, and felt like fall. Today in Massachusetts it’s hot, humid, and feels like summer complete with bugs flying into your face every few seconds. Maybe it is because we’re at lower elevation and just a little further south.  Mount Greylock is the last time we’ll be above 3000 feet until Virginia.

After leaving Stop and Shop we were ready to tackle this climb.  However, less than a half mile down the trail, trail magic.  Of course we had to stop for a soda.

On our way to the summit we enjoyed views looking over North Adams and Williamstown.  The heat was rising and we knew this was going to be a mentally challenging day as well. At the summit we enjoyed 360 degree views of Massachusetts, Vermont, New York and New Hampshire. We went up to the top of memorial. Bascom Lodge (located at the summit) was a cozy and historic looking place to hang out and beat the heat for a little bit.

The trail after the summit was a long gradual downhill.  We moved surprisingly quickly even though we felt fatigued from the heat.  We knew at the end of road (or in this case the edge of the woods), there would be ice cream.  The constant motivator. We took a much needed rest in the shade and got some ice cream from the ice cream stand in Cheshire. We ran into Skip again and headed to our camp spot for the night.

We enjoyed camping at Father Tom’s campsite (right across the street from the ice cream stand).  The site is sponsored by the town of Cheshire who were following in the late Father Tom’s footsteps of providing hospitality to the AT hikers. We step up our tent and enjoyed some of our fresh food from Stop and Shop for dinner. Almost a dozen NOBOs arrived at the site, just when we keep thinking we’ve passed the NOBO bubble (after only seeing 2 on trail today), we are proved wrong.

Upcoming weather is going to throw a wrench in our plan. We have a couple fun things on trail we are excited for but may have to make some last minute changes, weather pending. Tonight we’ll enjoy the night and make some updates.

We’re also excited to have conquered over 600 miles.  It actually looks like we have made a dent in the trail when looking at the entire map.