Mt. Greylock - On the AT with Sam 6/18/09

Sam, Sallie, and Dustin are in Massachusetts and have traversed the 3451-foot Mt. Greylock, the tallest peak in the commonwealth. This part of Massachusetts is called the "Lake Region of America." According to Sam, it should be called "Marshachusetts" since it has rained for seven of the past nine days. Not just sprinkles, mind you, but torrential downpours spiced up with the occasional 15-minutes of quarter size hail. Altogether, the experience has been "draining" to say the least.

As they sat in camp a few evenings ago, Dustin spotted a bear trotting down the trail right into their campsite. He and Sam started yelling and making noise. The bear took note of the commotion ahead and decided to retreat. Sallie never knew the bear was there, bless her heart.

The trio is averaging just under 15-miles a day still, even with the rain and mud. Hot meals are reserved for the evening since the rain makes everything, including cooking, more difficult. Pop tarts and granola bars along with peanut butter tortillas sustain the hikers during the daytime. That hot evening meal now consists of soups, rice, noodles, and instant mashed potatoes. The last couple of days however, they have enjoyed the hospitality of "trail angel" Tom LaVerdi of Dalton, Mass. Tom has fed them wonderful pasta dishes each day and then shuttled them up the trail so they could "slackpack" back to his place. Dalton, by the way, is where the special paper used in our currency is manufactured. It's a sleeply little town located halfway between Boston and New York City. Thus it is a vacation mecca for all the city dwellers who want to get out and enjoy the mountains.

Sallie, who most of the time is a fast learner, has had yet another encounter with a porcupine. This time she was impaled with over 25-quills necessitating a trip to the local animal clinic and anethesia to remove the painfull darts that were in her lips, gums, and mouth. Ouch! Poor Sal! She's recovering nicely and enjoying a couple of "zero mile" days while Sam and Dustin slackpack.

Vermont is tomorrow. It just 7-miles from Dalton. Sam says that everyone coming down the trail is calling it "Vermud" what with all of the rain falling the last week or so. That will put them about 608-miles from Mt. Katahdin, Maine. Dustin, starting from Springer Mountain, Ga. has walked over 1560-miles at this point. Way to go Dustin!

Their gear is holding up well, except for Sam's shoes. He selected Shellrock Mid Waterproof hikers manufactured by Keen. They had a good rep for trail shoes, but his have given up the ghost after less than 400-miles of trail. The soles are worn completely smooth and the fabric sides has begun to split and turn loose. I'll be in contact with Keen to see if they will live up to their warranty. More on that next post.

Next up for our trio will be the Green Mountains of Vermont and the Green Mountain National Forest of Southwestern Vermont. Until next time.

"Inch by Inch Life's a Cinch, Yard by Yard, Life is Hard!"

Kmac