Trail Notes – June 26

Yes, it is 3:15 am, but I am awake and magically have the 3G network, so here goes. 🙂

I made it to the top of Mt. Greylock all right. Actually, the long, slow climb to gain elevation was harder than the actual summitting. It smelled like Christmas though – lots of dusty, sunbaked pine forest, I went through a lot of water! At the top, there is Bascom Lodge, and I milled about for a while, drinking drink and resting the feet. Interesting bit of trivia – the top of Greylock looks like a whale from a distance, and that was what inspired Melville to write Moby Dick. I could have stayed in their bunkroom for $35, but… no.

I’d originally toyed with the idea of stealth camping near Williamstown, 6 miles from Greylock, but the climb took longer than planned, and I stayed at the top too long. I settled for the shelter 3 miles past instead, after a climb and descent of Mt. Williams as well, and am tented up.

Tomorrow (technically today), I WILL CROSS INTO VERMONT! Happy happy! I want to put as many miles in today that I can, so will start out extra early. That is the plan! Tonight I will probably camp somewhere along the trail between shelters. One is 10 miles, the next 17. I want to get as close to Bennington as I can.

Then I may take a couple days off. One, certainly, with family; maybe one or two at a hostel. My feet are amazingly swollen, and I want to let them recover a bit. They don’t hurt, but they are very very swollen. And it will give me time to plot logistics – how to see other family in Vermont, and the time scale for getting to and tackling the Whites. I’ve officially finished 1/4 of the trail, btw. 🙂 I feel pretty good about that, and now I have my trail legs, I will crank out mileage much better.

These feet. They need to get with the program. And I need to get some more sleep before the bird chorus alarm clock goes off in 90 min.

I hike on!