Day 7/April 7 -- rain, rain and more rain

Miles hiked: 9.77

Starting location: Goose Pond Road, Tyringham, MA

Ending location: County Road, Becket, MA

Elevation gain: 1,965'

Rather than snow, today's weather featured rain, not much when I started, but it picked up considerably in the afternoon. As long as I have a good waterproof jacket, I'm perfectly happy to hike in the rain, although one does have to realize that everything is slippery and potentially harmful.

A new pair of trail shoes that I purchased recently, the adidas Terrex X-King, was a big help with traction today. The shoes are made with the same rubber that Continental Tire uses for its mountain bike line. These stick like glue on wet rocks; wet boards and roots--not quite so well.

Here's a video of me climbing what could be a slippery stone ledge, but was no problem in the X-Kings:

With no one to hike with, the only diversions are the sights along the way. Here's a beech tree that the beavers are working on; the rain just colors the work perfectly:

That was next to Finerty Pond, which is probably one of the cleanest ponds around and certainly a fine place for a swim on a thru hike--just not today.

Shortly after I passed the pond, I had to stop and tie my shoes and being the lazybones that I am, I found a rock to put my foot on, which put my nose a close enough to see this:

That looks better than many salads I've been served in restaurants. 

A lot of the woods in October Mountain State Forest are wet--bogs, ponds, beaver ponds, swamps, and streams. This one even had some mini waterfalls:

And this was today's attempt to keep my feet dry--it worked for a number of hours, but not for the entire four hours:

Tomorrow a friend will let me wear either his Gore-Tex socks, or some vapor barrier socks. Those might be a good addition to the pack at various times during the hike.

Route from my Suunto.

Day 6/April 6 -- what I missed yesterday, I got today

Miles hiked: 7.35 miles

Starting location: Jerusalem Road, Tyringham, MA

Ending location: Goose Pond Road, Tyringham, MA

Elevation gain: 2,014'

I was pretty sore and tired after yesterday's hike, so I chose to keep it short today, hoping that the body will like a little less stress. I actually felt pretty good while hiking, much to my surprise.

The only notable climb today was from Main Road in Tyringham up to Baldy Mountain. When I crossed Main Road, I noticed that the large boot prints that I had been following were gone and now there was just one set of prints--someone hiking in a running shoe of some sort.

Of course, with nothing else to focus on, I immediately started trying to match the stride of that hiker, which was close to mine, but just different enough to force me to hike my own hike. :-) Still, my competitive instincts kicked in and I was soon trying to outdistance the stride of my invisible hiking companion. And then it dawned on me--the only person this could be was Iceberg, whom I met yesterday while I was hiking south through Beartown.

And yesterday, I failed to get his real name and contact info, not to mention that I didn't even take a photo. If I was right, maybe I could catch up to Iceberg? So I pressed a bit even though I couldn't tell if the tracks were new or old. 

Well, about a mile from where I planned to stop, who did I see, sitting in the snow, taking a break? Yup, Iceberg:

He was fine with having his picture taken and after chatting for a while, he agreed to hike out with me to my car. Well, maybe I was in a virtual race with him before, trying to match his strides, but now I was racing--racing to keep up with him! LOL

Finally, I asked him if he always hiked that fast and he said on good trails he likes to walk along at three miles per hour, but he takes a lot of breaks, so that he averages closer to 2 to 2.5 miles per hour. He graciously offered to slow down, but I was getting used to the pace, so on we went.

Iceberg, whose real name if Rahil Patel, is a student at Columbia University and is taking a year off to hike the trail. He's majoring in statistics and hopes to eventually get a job with a software company, or perhaps with an investment bank. I offered my unsolicited advice, of course. 

Before we got to my car, I suggested that I'd be glad to bring him some lunch at the crossing on Route 20. That was over four miles away, so that would give me time to go home, eat, get him his food and drive it out. He asked for something warm. LOL 

Turns out that he doesn't carry a stove, all his food is dry, mainly a lot of energy bars, so I'm sure that a warm meal was a welcome change. I brought him spaghetti and meat balls, along with a salad and a cup of hot coffee. He showed up within 5-7 minutes after I arrived at the At on Route 20. Yeah, he said he hustled--nothing like something warm waiting for you at the end. 

I really enjoy talking with the thru hikers that have been on the trail for a while--they are a fountain of great ideas. Thanks for sharing, Rahil.

Route from my Suunto. 

Day 5/April 5 -- another day in the snow, but brilliant for a change

Miles hiked: 9.50

Starting location: Jerusalem Road, Tyringham, MA

Ending location: Lake Buel Road, Great Barrington, MA

Elevation gain: 2,221'

A cold start to the hike, 25°F, but it was above freezing by the end of the day. Plenty of sunshine and the crystals in the snow were sparkling--it was beautiful in the woods.

I'm not much of a naturalist, so I can't identify which animal made these tracks. Can anyone help? One thing was for sure, they seemed to enjoy traveling down the trail, often two or three abreast! Whatever it is, it seems to have a long tail. 

For most of the day, I would not see anyone, so I amused myself with what I could see.

Beartown State Forest is a rugged place with lots of wildlife, especially beavers, who have a masterpiece here: 

This is a massive pond, damned at the southern end by the usual small logs, branches, leaves, etc., but it also has a fallen tree perfectly placed on top of the damn. The only way for that to have gotten there was for the beavers to drop it precisely there. They are truly amazing engineers.

The view from South Mt. Wilcox includes the Catskills in the distance.

The only other hiker I met today was Iceberg, heading north as I was heading south. He started last September and only needs to get to New Hampshire to complete his thru hike. Alas, stupid me failed to take his photo, duh.

By the end of the hike, I was pretty bushed. I think two days of hiking in the snow, plus the cumulative miles are taking their toll. Perhaps it is time to cut back a bit on the daily mileage to let the body recover.

Route from my Suunto.

Day 4/April 4 -- hiking in 4-9" of snow is fun, but tiring

Miles hiked: 12.1

Starting location: Lake Buel Road, Great Barrington, MA

Ending location: Jug End Road, Egremont, MA

Elevation gain: 1,480'

Back home in Lee, I'm now able to continue hiking on the AT by doing a series of day hikes. I will still carry my pack, but obviously I won't need all my gear, so the pack will be considerably lighter.

Today I decided to hike near Great Barrington because that's where Colette works, and she agreed to pick me up when I was done.

The terrain today was fairly benign, no big killer hills to deal with, but with snow accumulation of anywhere from 4" up to 9" in some areas, the footing was very uneven, making it a bit more work. The best thing I did today was to bring along some hiking poles, which I usually try to avoid at all costs. Today, though, they were the ticket--especially useful on the downhills where I would probe first to see if my intended landing zone was good or not. By doing so I avoided what certainly would have been some crash landings.

A very welcome set of steps on the descent off of East Mountain.

A real test of your vision--can you spot why I took this photo? Maybe another one, taken a bit closer with a different angle will help?

Hopefully, you should have figured it out by now. If not, here's a hint: the white dot!

A losing battle, but they really had no choice but to fight the system, imo. This monument can be seen on the Sheffield-Egremont Road in South Egremont. 

Route from my Suunto. Unfortunately, I forgot to lock the buttons and the recording was paused for some time. Total time from Lake Buel Road to Jug End Road was six hours and ten minutes.

Day 3/April 3 -- well that didn't take long: my first Zero

Miles hiked: Zero

I spent the night after Day 2 in the RPH Shelter, which was fine, save for one mouse that tried to get into my bag. The wind was howling, but it was calm inside the shelter, the only problem was that the overnight temperature dropped to 30°F. While I have a 20°F sleeping bag and wore as much clothing as I had, including a light down jacket, it wasn't enough. I was cold all night and could not sleep. Around 4:50 a.m., I decided I had enough and would take Colette up on her offer to come and pick me up any time. I would call her in the morning.

She had had a fairly difficult ride, because there was snow on the ground as she left, and she did not have her winter tires anymore.  But by 9:30, I was in her car, heading back to Lee.

My decision was made after a lot of thought on why my lower body was warm, but my arms were freezing. My conclusion was that the Polartec Power Dry tights that I wore were considerably better at trapping a layer of warm air than the thin Merino wool top that I had.

I really didn't want to spend another night out with that clothing, especially since the forecast called for even colder overnight lows.

Once home, after my shower and my huge bowl of oatmeal, it was shopping time and we went out and found a nice, thick Mammut Thermal Top with Polartec Thermal Pro, and it was on sale, too! This is just the updated version of the Power Dry line, so I'm hoping it will suffice. I'll test it out in the upcoming nights, on my front porch, since I'm staying at home for the next week and will just do day hikes on the AT, using our home as the base and Colette as my chauffeur!

Day 2/April 2 -- it was all about the RPH Shelter

Miles hiked: 11.4

Starting location: Ridge about 1.6 miles north of S Highland Road

Ending location: RPH Shelter in Hopewell Junction, New York

Elevation gain: 2,087'

When I woke up this morning, I had no idea where I would stop for the day. But after a phone call with Colette, who told me that high winds and much colder temperatures were on the way, I decided to open up the Guthook app and take a look at the options.

The only reasonable choice was to get to the RPH shelter, which would yield a hike of just over 11 miles; any thoughts of going to the next shelter were dismissed when the app said it was another nine miles--way too many miles for Day 2.

One of the wet lowlands that I passed through was a riot of green, these thorn bushes rule!

After I passed Route 301 and entered Fahnestock State Park, I eventually came to this section of the AT. I was just blown away by all the work that had gone into creating that embankment, which was at least 20' in its highest section. That took a lot of man hours, for sure. I recognized it as some sort of quarry or mining road, but it was only later that I was told that it was a road used by oxen to carry the iron ore out to another unloading location. 

Much of Putnam County was rich in minerals, especially iron ore. Here's a good article if you'd like to read more. I'm certainly happy to walk on these historic trails.

When I got to the RPH Shelter, there was a large crew of volunteers working around, and in, the shelter. It was their official shelter opening day. The inside was being swept, the bunk beds wiped down with Lysol and the nearby grounds were being cleared of invasive vines. 

And there was a thru hiker there--Handmade. He was taking a Zero to help clear the vines and brush, after having spent the night before with one of the volunteers. He started about 30 miles north of Waynesboro, Virginia and it had taken him 41 days to get to Hopewell Junction. Handmade, the name, he told me came from the fact that he made his own pack. Ah, nice, I figured it was probably a lightweight pack, since he also said he had done 18 miles the day before. In a later conversation, I was curious how much his pack weighed and was floored to hear that it was about 40-50 pounds, depending on how much water and food he had. WTF? 

So I asked what he made the pack from and he said it was real Old Skool--wood! He had a lot of clothing, two knives, one a Bowie, etc.--it all added up. Really, and you can do 18 miles a day? He fessed up that he was averaging about 12-13 mile. So, that's what a strapping 24-year-old can do, and survive on the AT. LOL

Handmade, on the right, talking with another volunteer at the RPH Shelter, which, btw, has one of the cleanest, at least for now, privies on the AT and sports this nice tribute plague inside it:

And the obligatory mileage marker sign:

Route from my Suunto.

Day 1/April 1 -- lots of little surprises

Miles hiked: 12.71

Starting location: Route 9W, Garrison, New York

Ending location: Ridgeline north of S Highland Road, Putnam Valley, New York

Climb: 3,327'

Fortunately, my friend Bruce Shenker, from Canaan, New York, was able to join me for my first day on the AT; he stayed with me for just over 11 miles where we reached S Highland Road. Then he nicely drove me to the nearest gas station where he bought me some Gatorade and an ice cream bar. And then drove me back to the trail. 

There were a few surprises on Day 1: First, the predicted rain and thunderstorms never happened. Second, we were plagued with black flies from mile 6 to 11. Third, carrying 25 pounds on your back makes for a very slow pace. Fourth, we had the fortune to meet Mark, from Garrison, who was doing a shakedown hike and will start his SOBO leg from Garrison next week; I should be seeing him in May, when I'll be heading NOBO from Waynesboro, Virginia. And, finally, finding a campsite on top of the rocky, mountain laurel infested ridge lines is not an easy job.

There weren't any views on Day 1, due to the low cloud cover, but these stone walls were some consolation.

The best spot that I could find along the ridge line. Not quite as flat as I would have liked, but OK. Terrible job of pitching the tent, the fact that I was missing a stake didn't help. 

My self-made shower: Plastic cap into which I drilled a bunch of 1mm diameter holes. When screwed on the smartwater bottle, you can control the rate of flow by varying the squeezing pressure. 

Overall, the day went just fine, but, truth be told, I was exhausted by the time I had the tent set up around 3:30 p.m. It isn't just the distance that was involved, I'm sure part of it was just the stress before starting and the emotional stress of leaving Colette behind.

Route from my Suunto watch.