Days 2-5, CT to MA Moving Along the Trail
Today was one of those odd beginning days. I got up really early and walked to Falls Village, Connecticut. In my trail guide it had said that at a hydroelectric plant on the Housatonic River there was an outdoor plug and outdoor shower… Being a hiker of long distance I was a bit skeptical about whether this would actually exist. Amazingly it did and I took my first very early break to eat my breakfast while having my phone plugged in. This is akin to winning the lottery on the Appalachian Trail. After I finished charging, I got up and started towards the waterfall that you see above . I hadn't gone two-tenths of a mile when I ran into another hiker. We spoke for a few minutes and then both went our separate ways. Not 30 seconds later he shouts "Which way you going?" I say "northbound (NOBO)". A stream of expletives later and I realize he's just walked 3 miles in the wrong direction. Every hiker has the fear of doing it, especially in the morning. I have this obsessive habit as I enter my sleeping area, and right before bed I say, "Right in, right out." or "Left in, left out." so that in the morning I'll remember which way to turn on the trail.
Later in the day I walked through this beautiful field known as Rands View. I think I'm so entranced with fields because field environments disappear at an alarming rate in our section of the North East. Way too easy to build on! Also the hiking in the section was reasonably easy if not incredibly buggy.
I can't stop taking pictures of the amazing infrastructure that there is on the Appalachian Trail. Remember it is the largest single volunteer organization in the world! The vast majority of the trail work is all done by volunteers. They build stairs like this as well as moving around countless numbers of enormous stones, making it easier for the rest of us to go through.
I know I'm not the best at taking selfies but I haven't really been running into very many other hikers and certainly not at a place I'd want my photo taken. So here I am crossing 1500 miles on the trail. That means that there's about 680 left to go. Later on today I do find out that my book is a bit off but that's what you get for using a guide book from 2014.
Here I am at Connecticut's highest point, Bear Mountain. The plaque that you can see in the photo reads like this, This monument marks the highest ground in Connecticut 2534 feet above the sea. Built AD1885 Owen Travis Mason. It's amazing how many highest peaks you just mosey across on the Appalachian Trail.
I have to say I had a heck of a Friday. Of course I picked the perpetually rainy day to have to go over 3 mountains: Bear Mt., Mt. Race and Mt. Everett. I knew it was going to be a heck of a day but I'm not sure I was entirely prepared for the nearly continuous uphill and downhill on rocks. Now I know that it may not look too bad but it's super slippery and wet and at a lot of points I had to do all hands and all feet scrambling.
On sections like this I would throw my poles ahead of me then clamber down and pick them up. I hate rain but I hate rain on mossy rocks even more.
The amazing thing is I didn't fall trip or do anything bad on the difficult stuff. I was rethinking a route down a difficult pass when I crossed an almost flat rock and did this to my right leg. Luckily it's just a surface wound and I didn't break any of my gear which is my worst nightmare... well right after breaking a leg I guess.
It's always exciting when you exit your first stage of the trip. Bye bye Connecticut, thanks for all the rain and rocks.
Hello Massachusetts, what do you say we leave all of the mosquitoes, rain and rocks in Connecticut?
Amazingly Massachusetts seemed to have heard my cry as the clouds melted away and my next day was beautiful and mostly sunny. I believe that this is the view at Jug End. Even though so many of the views may look alike I always enjoy seeing the beautiful mountains out in the distance.
You suddenly stumble across history all over the place on this trail even if you're not looking for it. Just in case any of you need to brush up on your US history, here's a short explanation of Shay's Rebellion. A group of protestors, led by Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays, began a 6 month rebellion by taking over the Court of Common Pleas in Northampton; the goal was to prevent the trial and imprisonment of debt-ridden citizens. As you can see the rebellion didn't last and this was where the last battle took place.
The area is surrounded by farmers' fields and I chose to camp in one of them.
As you can see from the view of my tent everything looks idyllic by day but annoyingly it decided to rain just on my field all night. I know this because in the morning all of the surrounding fields were perfectly dry! Also at just around 3:30 in the morning I heard a snorting and pawing outside my tent. I stayed very very quiet and I'm fairly certain it was a deer, but then again I didn't see it.
Finally we're on the day that I'm actually writing this blog, which is Sunday June 23rd. I included this photograph because I loved all of the ferns in the valley with the sheer rock walls. It reminded me so much of places that we'd seen out West. Sometimes I really miss living in that old camper van.
I don't put in a whole lot of road crossings but this was just one more example of the crazy things that you see on the AT. Yes we're heading up to Benedict Pond but take a look at the sign on the left… It's the birthplace of W.E.B. Du Bois!! Quick history lesson again: William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, author, editor and so much more. There really is too much to say about his role in bringing forth the rights of African Americans in America. You'll just have to go on line and read about him yourself.
There's a lot of right-of-ways in Massachusetts. What I mean by that is that the Appalachian Trail has bought a small swath of land from farmers and put the trail between 2 farms. It is in areas like this that hikers need to be the most respectful. You can see that I'm looking across a farmer's field right towards their Homestead. It is only because of their kindness that I don't have to go a long way around on a road to get between national and state lands. I guess I can get on my soapbox for a moment and say whenever you're in any natural place, leave no trace.
I had no idea that Massachusetts had so many bodies of water! This one is called Knee Deep Pond. Part of me wanted to get in and see if it lived up to its name but I get to be in a hotel tonight so I'm pushing on.
I crossed a long boardwalk area that was possibly the scariest I've ever been on. It was about 3/4 of a mile long and not entirely anchored to the wetland below. It rocked around quite a bit as I walked and I kept feeling as though I was just about to fall in. On the boardwalk I crossed a winding stream several times and had to use my poles to vault across mud pits. I've gotta say that hotel is sounding pretty awesome.
I came upon this chimney when I was walking around Upper Goose Pond today. Luckily there is a plaque that told me about the land I was crossing. It read: Near this site on the shores of Upper Goose Pond stood the club. The club was incorporated in 1909 and for 72 years served to provide the membership with good fellowship and fond memories. In 1981 the club converted its lands to National Park Service and provided the Appalachian Mountain Club with a gift that would assure that these lands would remain a wilderness preserve.
Again I say that Appalachian Trail hikers are so beholden to the land we walk across because this trail would seriously not exist in its contiguous format if it were not for the donations of amazing private citizens and clubs.
As you can see I take a lot more photos when it's sunny out! When it's torrenting down rain I'm too terrified to pull out my cell phone camera lest I get any water in the charging port. I don't exactly carry around extra dry rice to get it working again. But perhaps I should. Here's just one more piece of the Appalachian Trail that you rarely see. This allowed me to get across the Interstate I90 in Massachusetts.
Oh yes I forgot to mention that I'm in an area called the Berkshires. It's something that I had heard of but never visited. I have to say if you're ever inclined to take a vacation in Massachusetts I would seriously consider this forested area as a place to go.
Also if you're looking for a super inexpensive but lovely hotel to stay at, you can find the motel in the picture above just outside of Lee, Massachusetts. It's called the Berkshire Lakeside Lodge and everyone is so friendly and accommodating.
It's situated right on this gorgeous Lake and they give you canoes and kayaks and Johnny boats to take out if you want. Sadly I had way too much to do to take advantage of it, but I did get a shower, wash my clothes (in the sink sadly:( )and had a real peach from the breakfast room!! Well it's about 7 o'clock which is hiker midnight so I'm going to sign off. Back to the real world, I mean the Trail, tomorrow.
