This morning I saw my first bear of the hike! He was walking across the trail and then looking through the plants, probably looking for breakfast. The wind has been howling all day, so I don’t think he ever heard or smelled us nearby. We both backed away slowly and waited until the bear had moved on. I wish I had gotten a picture!
Later in the day I nearly stepped on a chipmunk in the middle of the trail and it moved slightly then stopped moving. I honestly thought it was dying, laying there with its’ eyes half closed and not moving. I was trying to muster up the courage to put it out of its misery (I don’t think I even could) when it looked up real quick then scurried into a hole it was laying on top of! I guess I spooked it coming into or out of its hole! Man, that chipmunk doesn’t know how lucky it is!
We summited Mount Greylock this morning, but we weren’t able to see the view because of thick fog and some misty rain. There is a 93-foot tall Massachusetts War Veterans Memorial at the summit with a spiral staircase to the top. It looked otherworldly in the fog!
Tonight we’re camping in the backyard of an awesome trail angels home in Dalton, MA. Tom Levardi has been letting hikers tent in his yard for free for 40 years! One day he was hiking and a thru-hiker was trying to figure out where he was going to stay the night. The only lodging in town was out of his price range. Tom told him he could set up his tent in the backyard. The next day when Tom got home from work there were 3 more thru-hikers waiting to ask if they could tent there too. And he’s been hosting hikers ever since! It occurred to me that we are like stray cats, you feed one of us and they tell their friends and next thing you know there’s a pack of feral cats at your door every morning. At least we’re grateful strays!
-Kylie “Sprinkles”
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