Saturday (6/27) and Sunday (6/28) I stayed at Maria Macabe’s Hostel in Salisbury CT. Maria hosted hikers in her home for over 20 years. One hiker wrote this about Maria, “I’m not sure I have met anyone that sincerely loves and enjoys the hikers as much as Maria. Sadly, she passed away two years ago at the age of 94. The hostel is now run by her grandson Ed. The hostel can accommodate six hikers. My stay there was very relaxing and I enjoyed all the people I met during my two day stay.
It’s amazing how quick friendships develop between hikers. We all have a common goal, hiking the AT. I met hikers from all over the country and one visiting from England. There was Swift, Bull, Coast, Blue M&M, Breeze, Spark Plug and Too Much. There was also Doug the shuttle driver that was very helpful. He picked five of us up on Saturday and took us to the grocery store to resupply and also made a stop at McDonalds all at no charge.
Monday (6/29) I arrived back at the trail around 8:30. The closest place to camp was 14 miles up the trail. I was not sure I could do that many miles. The day started with a climb up Mount Bushnell, where I was treated to a great view of the Housatonic River valley. At the north end of Bushnell was a rocky ledge that was difficult to get down, taking precious time from my high mileage day. Part of the trail went through beautiful pine forests. Six miles into the hike I hit 500 miles. That was exciting! I came to a place where a monument was erected noting where Shay’s Rebellion occurred. The rebellion took place not long after the end of the revolutionary war. The farmer’s of Massachusetts were not happy with the taxes that were imposed. You can read more about this from the picture I included.
The day was getting late and I had about 6 more miles to go. There was a community center in the town of Barrington that offered camping. I called a shuttle driver and arranged to be picked up, but I would have to wait about 1.5 hours. As I got closer to the pickup spot, one of the guys that was at Maria’s place, Spark Plug, came up behind me and said he had a shuttle meeting him there in about ten minutes and taking him to a motel real close to the center. When the shuttle driver arrived he was happy to take me also, so I canceled the other shuttle. The center had a camping area for hikers and the restrooms were available until 8pm and again at 6 am. It was my lucky day because on Monday’s they offered a community dinner that was very good. Found a good spot to set up my tent and had a good night’s sleep.
Monday’s (6/30) plan was to hike 12 miles. I was dropped off at the trail around 8:30, a little later than I’d hoped. The day started with the trail going through farm land, a very pretty area. This particular section had limited water sources available, but at trail angel left some water st a road crossing, thank you. After a short climb I came to a spot with a beautiful view of the Housatonic River Valley. A little further up the trail I came across another nice view. I was a little less then 2.5 miles from the shelter when it started to rain. I put my rain cover over my pack but decided to wait before putting on my poncho, it makes you very hot. Just like that, the light rain turned into a downpour. I did not want to stop to get my poncho out, so I got very wet. After walking in the downpour for about a mile it stopped. I arrived at the shelter after 7 pm. About ten minutes later two other wet hikers showed up. I ate my dinner and settled in for the night. As usual I called Melodie to say goodnight. After speaking to her I started planning my hike for the next day and my phone froze up, none of the buttons were working. Nothing I could do about it so I went to sleep.
Wednesday (7/1) I woke up and checked my phone and it was still not working. I had to get to town to find a cell phone repair store. Through the use of one of the other hiker’s phone I was able to contact Joe the shuttle driver. I used his services the day before. He picked me up at a road a little over two miles from where I was and took me to the Verizon Store in Barrington Mass. A wonderful lady took care of the issue with my phone in about 15 minutes. Somehow my phone got infected by a virus and the bottons shut down. She could not find anything on the phone that caused the problem. After all of this I decided to stay in town for the night at the Travel Lodge. It’s always amazing me how things work out. I had a big hamburger for lunch then ate at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. I arranged to be picked up at 6am the next morning. In the meantime I enjoyed the soft bed.
Thursday (7/2) I got an early start on a 14 mile trip. Joe had me back on the trail by 6:30 am. The day started with a section of the trail that was easy going. The trail continued through an open meadow and then winding back into the forest. The day was getting very hot with a high of 95 forecasted. I came out to a road where a wonderful trail angel left jugs of water. Just before I arrived at the shelter I passed an old stone chimney and a monument to the old Mohhekennuck Club, which gave the land to the National Park Service in the early 1980s to form a wilderness preserve. After a very long and hot day I came to the Upper Goose Pond Cabin. There were 16 bunks in the cabin and a common room. There was also a place down at the pond for swimming. There was about 8 hikers that were spending the night. Most of them went down by the lake for a swim. I only had an enough energy left to fix dinner and set up my bunk area. The cabin was very hot until a thunderstorm came and cooled things off. I got a pretty good night’s rest.
Friday’s (7/3) plan was to hike to a blueberry farm that the owner allows camping in her yard. The owner is know as the Cookie Lady because she has cookies and a cold jar of tea for each hiker that comes by. All I have to do is hike 11 miles to get that cookie. It was another very hot day. Most of the day was spent in the forest so that did help with the heat. There were no views today along the trail. I made it to the cookie ladies house early in the afternoon. There were three other hikers already there, I had met all three of them previously. The Cookie Lady (Ruth) was not there at the time, but she left cookies and ice cold tea on the porch. The cookie was good but the cold tea was fantastic. Ruth arrived home and spent time with us talking about the farm. She was a very interesting lady. We all set up our tents and called it a day.
Saturday’s ( Happy 4th) plan was to hike to Dalton Massachusetts. The trail comes out of the woods and passes through the Main Street of Dalton. Not long after you come out of the woods the AT passes right by Tom’s house. Tom had been welcoming hikers to his home for 47 years. He lets hikers camp in his yard and has water and snacks for those who are just passing by.
The temperatures were down a little and there was a nice breeze blowing for most the day. Early into my hike I climbed up Warner Hill and at the top there was a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains. Directly to the north is Greylock Mountain, the highest point in Massachusetts. I will have the pleasure of going over Greylock in a few days. The trail passed through lots of pine forests, but there was a lot more rock hopping then the previous day. After a little over 10 miles I arrived at Tom’s house.
I walked to the front door and rang the bell. Tom came to the door and I asked if I could camp in his yard for the night. He said I was welcome to and then we sat on the porch and talked a while. Tom is 85 years old and spent his career in the grocery store business. Earlier he had hotdogs and burgers for hikers that passed by. He had some food left and offered to fix me a plate. I could not refused that, out he came with a big tray with three hotdogs, chips and macaroni salad and of course cold coke to wash it down. I had an ice cream sandwich for dessert. I asked him what was the biggest difference between yesterday’s hikers in to today’s. His answer was that as equipment became lighter the door was open for more people to be able to hike long distances. He said it hadn’t been many years ago that the average pack was 60 to 70 pounds. That’s heavy. I sat up my tent in his back yard and crawled in. There were a lot of fireworks going off and i didn’t get to sleep until after midnight.
Sunday (7/5) I woke up and had plans to connect with a shuttle driver to get a ride to Pittsfield Mass. I needed to go there to pick up a couple of prescriptions and to resupply. I planned to rest until Tuesday. Tom brought me coffee and a muffin. I asked if he knew any shuttles drivers that I could call. He volunteered to take me. What a guy. He also will be picking me up Tuesday and returning me to his house where I will continue my hike. He asked for nothing from hikers for his services but he will take a donation. In the meantime I will be enjoying myself taking it easy. Happy trails!
Leave a Reply