Heat Wave in Massachusetts

When my 5am alarm went off on Saturday June 30th I could see a red and orange sky to my right. I went to get my food bag from the bear box and continued up to Riga Shelter (AT mile 1504.1) to watch the rest of the sunrise. It was one of the best I had seen in a long time and I was excited to start the day - only a few miles and a climb up Bear Mountain until I crossed into Massachusetts. 

I was on the trail at 5:40AM and got the climb up Bear Mountain quickly. The view at the top opened up, it was still early enough that all the colors from the sunrise hadn't completely faded away yet. There was a giant pile of rocks at the summit where some weekend hikers were enjoying the view - I sat up there and ate a breakfast of poptarts.

The climb down was a steep rock scramble. It was very slow but didn't last long and at the bottom I crossed into Massachusetts, my 11th state. The trail continued descending into Sages Ravine where I hiked along the stream in a pine forest with mossy rocks and logs and found many swimming holes - too bad it was early and not warm enough to want to take a dip.

Starting the climb up Mt Race I instantly felt the temperature rise. The climb was about 2 miles and only about 735' but I felt like I had never climbed a mountain before. The Mid-Atlantic had left me soft. The view at the top opened up along rock ledges to a view of the east. Walking along the ledges was slow and I took a snack break at the top. Bird and Strider caught up to me and soon they were out of sight. There was only 1.7 miles between the top of Mt Race and the top of Mt Everett - we had a feeling like the next climb would be more challenging.

The climb down Mt Race was steep with rock slabs. Once at the bottom there was only 0.7 miles and 650' to the top of Everett. It as steep and rocky, with wooden steps screwed into the rock face. There wasn't much of a view from the top so I didn't stop to rest and continued down another rocky descent.

After climbing up and over Bear Mountain, Mt Race, and Mt Everett the hardest part of our day was over. We only had 9 miles to hike to get to town - we were planning on hitching into Great Barrington, MA to resupply and stay at the next shelter north of town. Of those miles, 4.5 were descending and the remaining 4.5 miles were flat-ish. The flat part was through a boggy forest with lots of mud, standing water, and mosquitoes. We hiked the 4.5 miles together and got to US 7 just after lunch after 17.6 miles that day. The second car that passed us picked us up. The driver asked about our hike and couldn't help but remind us how bad we smelled.

Strider read through the guide book about Great Barrington and saw that we could tent behind the community center for free and use the facilities for $5. We hadn't hiked our intended amount of miles but we all decided we wouldn't mind taking a short day, even though that would put us further behind Coors. The original plan was to get to Bennington, VT by the evening of July 3rd. Now we we're aiming to arrive the night of the 4th. 

Bird and I decided to take advantage of the pool. I thought maybe it would be a nice change to swim some laps! But when I got out to the pool deck and saw a sign for 'Therapy Pool' that's where we sat for the next hour. It was nice to soak our tired muscles in the hot water. Afterwards I did my best to wash my hiking clothes in the shower. The scale in the locker room showed that I had lost more weight so when we resupplied at the Price Chopper I bought extra snacks. We bought enough food for the next two days in to Dalton, MA.

We got dropped off at a McDonald's, right next to a Price Chopper. We took over a corner table and ate lots of food and charged our devices and used the WiFi for over an hour. We got lots of strange looks, I'm sure we smelled pretty bad.

It was a very warm night and we were expecting several hot days in a row - high 90s. We got a ride back to the trail on Sunday July 1st from a shuttle driver named Joe. He is busy all summer long shuttling hikers back and forth to the trail and always takes a picture of who he drops off and posts it to Instagram - it's a good way to keep track of thru hikers nearby.

We were hiking by 6:45AM with a long day ahead of us. There was a short, flat section followed by a 3 mile steep climb. It was early in the day but I was completely soaked by the time I got to the top. The trail passed an ice gulch, no ice in it - shocker. We had hiked less than 8 miles by 10am - we had gotten a late start and the temperature rose quickly. It was hot, sweaty, and buggy. I was itchy and chaffing in unfortunate places. My dress was completely soaked.

There was a water cache at MA Route 23 even though there were a lot of good water sources. I was thankful though, because I was trying to drink more than usual. We took a break at the hottest part of the day - a family set up a road side trail stand next to their house filled with snacks, a mini fridge of cold drinks, and even a charging cable. Bird, Strider, and I sat down around 2:30PM and stayed until about 4 - we still had 8.1 miles to go. I really struggled those last few miles.

After a long day of hiking a big lake came into view - Upper Goose Pond. A half mile side trail led to a big enclosed 2 story cabin. There are caretakers at the shelter (AT mile 1549.2) who make pancake breakfast every morning for hikers. The first thing I did when I got there was jumped in the lake to rinse/cool off. It was too hot to sleep in the shelter, too hot even in my tent. We were all exhausted from the 27.5 miles that day and hoped that this would be our longest day, possibly for the rest of the hike.

Monday July 2nd was going to be another long (and hot) day so I got up at 5AM and was hiking by 5:35. I didn't even wait for the caretakers to make pancakes. I could tell it was going to be a long day within the first mile. My legs just did not want to go uphill. It took awhile for the guys to catch me, I could tell everyone was having a rough day. Cobwebs, gnats, and mosquitoes were a constant battle. The trail climbed Becket Mountain - a worthless climb - then stayed up on the ridge for most of the morning. I had crossed the Massachusetts Turnpike and could hear it the next 2 miles. The terrain wasn't terribly difficult but I was really struggling. 

I was very depleted from yesterday. I stopped at October Mountain Shelter, 8.8 miles in, for a break - it was 10AM and the three of us got there pretty much the same time. Strider had to make it to Dalton (another 11.6 miles) by 4PM to get to the Post Office where his new shoes and socks were waiting so he hiked quickly into town.

There weren't many good water sources over the next stretch. We found several empty trail magic coolers from Commander - the same ex-thru hiker who left trail magic in the Roller Coaster in Northern Virginia. Very nice of him, but I unfortunately I got to each of them too late. Bird and I stopped at Kay Wood Shelter for water, 3 miles south of town. I felt like a zombie walking through the woods. My hips were rubbed raw and my mouth was dry. The descent into Dalton wasn't bad but I was hot and thirsty. I found Bird sitting under a tree at the start of the road walk through town. We walked together through the neighborhood and found Strider at the Sweet Pea Ice Cream shop around 3:30PM. The three of us ate ice cream and used WiFi and sat in front of the fan. There was a shuttle that would take us to Walmart so we could resupply but the round-trip would have taken too long so we decided to walk further into town to the Cumberland Farms gas station. The plan was to pick up enough food for the rest of the day and stop at the Dollar General in Cheshire the next morning. We ate pizza and drank cold soda for another hour with Bourbon Bob, who we had seen on and off since Pennsylvania.

I was the last one to get back on the trail at 5PM. There was about another mile through town to walk - hot with little shade. I arrived at Crystal Mountain Campsite (AT mile 1574.5) at 6:50PM. I was hot, exhausted, and sat trying to catch my breath for the next 30 minutes. The 25.3 miles in the heat had completely worn me out. I sat at the picnic table with Bird, Strider, Bourbon Bob, and Science Guy - I wasn't even in the mood to eat anything. Another thru hiker sat down at the table, her name was Pizza.

Pizza is a smart and hilarious 20 year old who started her hike in February and is starting school on the 12th of August. She has a strict deadline and since we had similar goal end dates she decided to stick with us for awhile. 

The next morning, Tuesday July 3rd - day 85 on the trail! - I decided to turn off both of my alarms and let myself sleep in, slightly. I got up at 5:30AM and ate breakfast before leaving camp since I was hungry from not eating dinner. I was on the trail at 6:30 and was in good spirits since we had a short day! The other thru hikers at the campsite had already left so I didn't have to break cobwebs that morning. Strider and Bird were still in their tents when I left. It was 4.5 easy miles into Cheshire where there was a Dunkin Donuts 0.1 miles off trail. The trail dumps you right out of the woods and walks through a neighborhood for about half a mile. At MA Route 8 the Dollar General was in sight. Across the street was a gas station where the Dunkin Donuts was located, which is where I headed first at around 8:30AM. I found Pizza and Bourbon Bob inside enjoying breakfast. I had a large iced coffee and a breakfast sandwich, charged my phone and chatted for awhile. Bourbon Bob is a school teacher from Georgia who carries a handle of Jim Beam with him at all times. He has hiked the whole trail so far on less than $650. He's very... resourceful. He walked out of Dunkin Donuts with a free iced coffee. 

At 9:30AM I walked down to the Dollar General and found Strider and Bird sitting outside. I yelled 'Birdie!' and he shot me a glare. Strider explained to me that he could not find his wallet. He had called the Cumberland Farms we stopped at yesterday, but it wasn't there. He feared that he accidentally left it at the campsite, 4.5 miles south of town. Thinking he had a long day ahead of him backtracking to the last campsite he stormed back down the trail. I started thinking of the options if he didn't end up finding it - we were a team, I had hiked more miles with Bird than anyone else and I wasn't going to let his hike end because of this. But not 15 minutes later he walked back into the Dollar General parking lot, yelling 'the trail provides!'. A thru hiker named Lost Boy had found it sitting in the middle of the trail and had picked it up. Crisis averted - and we have now instituted wallet checks after every stop. 

The only big climb that day was up Mt Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts. We started the climb at 10:30am - thankfully it wasn't as hot as it had been the past two days but I was still drenched. By 11:30 the steepest part of the climb was behind us. No one was in a hurry. Strider and Bird stopped at the shelter half way up for a snack break but I actually felt stronger as I climbed so I didn't stop. The climb was about 7.5 miles and there was about a mile stretch towards the top where the trail flattened out, even had a little bit of downhill. 

At the top I went into the Lodge where I found Pizza and Bourbon Bob. Strider and Bird arrived a short time later and tried to stream the World Cup game on the free WiFi. I checked out the War Memorial Tower with views of Mt Everett to the South and the Green Mountains in Vermont to the north. It was a little before 2PM when I got to the top and didn't leave until around 4:30 - only having 3.5 miles to go and it was all downhill. We camped at Wilbur Clearing Shelter (AT mile 1590.3) after hiking only 15.8 miles that day.

On Wednesday July 4th I tried to let myself sleep in but only made it to 5:30AM before getting up. Left camp at 6:15 and was moving slow, still feeling sluggish. Only 0.3 miles to Mt Prospect with nice views, I could see clouds below me. The trail continued down a painful descent (hard on the knees) before climbing up the ridge to the Massachusetts/Vermont border. But first we got to enjoy a climb up a 'Rock Garden' which was really just a steep pile of rocks. 

I got to Vermont before 10am - the AT and the Vermont Long Trail coincide for the next 105.2 miles. Bird caught up to me and we took a lunch break at the Seth Warner Shelter, 9.9 miles in and only had 8.5 miles to go. I was really looking forward to the rest the next day. I was trying my best to eat and drink more but I was never able to keep up. 

Congdon Shelter, 17.1 miles in, was right on trail so we took a long break, it was only 3PM. Since the 4 of us (Strider, Bird, Pizza, and myself) didn't want to pay for a hotel for two nights we decided we would camp just outside of town and hike in early the next morning. At 4:30 we left Congdon Shelter and hiked another 2.5 miles to Harmon Hill, which offered views of Bennington, VT. We would be heading there the next morning - Coors had arrived there the evening before to meet his girlfriend. 

It was a clear, warm evening. We set up tents and stayed up late, hoping for views of 4th of July fireworks.