Chris’s phone went kaput but he’ll have a new one shortly! Then he can update y’all on his thoughts and feelings and experiences ?
Welcome to New York ?
Kent, CT
This town has such a stepford wives, etiquette school vibe about it. Everything is so expensive, but the people have been nice so that’s cool. We’re eating Chinese food in front of the (currently closed) welcome center right now then going up to the shelter to set up camp super late tonight. 8pm is past my bed time these days!
-Sprinkles
Bad Day
Today sucked. First full day in a new state and I can’t wait to be done with it. It was rainy and the rocks were slick and I felt wornout from the time I woke up. The terrain was a rollercoaster of steep short ascents and descents with nothing much to look at. I just was not having a good time. Ready to start over again tomorrow
– Sprinkles
700 Miles!
And we’re in Connecticut!
Upper Goose Pond
Today I got stung by a yellow jacket. Man it hurt like hell, I definitely cried like a little kid for a minute. Not my proudest moment. On the plus side, it did distract me from my knee that’s been aching on and off since Katahdin!
We also did our second 20 mile day in a row, but this time we didn’t even get started until 10:45 am. We made it to Upper Goose Pond cabin just before sunset. I’ll be sleeping on a bunk with a mattress inside of a building with 4 walls tonight! There’s a volunteer caretaker here who makes pancakes and coffee in the morning. There’s also canoes you can take out on the pond but we have another 20+ miler tomorrow so don’t think we’ll get a chance this time around. Time to sleep!
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-Kylie “Sprinkles”
Encounters with Nature
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”
Greylock
Today we started our climb of Mt. Greylock, the last big climb we’ll have for a long while. We got a late start leaving town so we stopped at a shelter about 2.5 miles and 1500 feet into the climb. So far it’s been pleasant, mostly soft dirt trail and switchbacks, a stark contrast to the vertical rock slabs of early on in Maine and New Hampshire. The only unpleasant part of today’s hike has been the excess food weight I’m carrying. 600 miles in and I still haven’t figured out the food resupplies!
Tomorrow we’ll climb another 1500 feet over 3 miles or so, then it’ll be smooth sailing to Great Barrington where we’ll be spending a little time hanging out with Chris’s childhood friend. We’ll be passing through Connecticut next, then New York soon! I wish we had time and budgetary flexibility to spend a day or two in NYC, since Chris has never been, but it’s looking like that will have to be a trip for another day.
Looks like we’ll have the shelter to ourselves tonight. It will be nice not having to be quiet while packing up in the morning. We have a 20+ mile day tomorrow so gotta get up early!
-Kylie “Sprinkles”
Out With the Old…
I got new shoes!
And a new tarp!
I have a hard time believing how much I enjoy just sleeping on a groundsheet and sleep pad with no bug net. It helps that it’s already getting cold at night, so the bugs are minimal. I tried to set the tarp up in storm mode last night because we were expecting bad weather, but it only sprinkled a little. I’m partly grateful for that but I do need to test my set up sometime! Anyways, it is past my bedtime!
-Kylie “Sprinkles”
Vermud?
Caught the most beautiful sunrise this morning from the Kid Gore shelter. Despite the muddy terrain, Vermont has been very good to us! We’ve been getting trail magic around every corner. I have a variety of instant coffee packets to try and a new Mountain House meal thanks to the kindness of section hikers. I love this state! Well, time to hike!-Kylie