Day 112: Love that dirty water

Hiked 25.4 miles, staying at the Days Inn in Great Barrington, MA.

I got up nice and really today.  The heat index was supposed to be over 100 today and I wanted to crank out a few miles before it got really hot.  I passed Obie, Red Knees, Srocket and a little bit later Monk, Booboo and Cash, still in their tents.  Apparently they didn't make it that much further than I did last night.

Morning view from my tent

1500 miles!

Danno, OB and I pose for a 1500 mile photo

The first few miles was flattish down to Salisbury, Connecticut and I burned through the miles quickly.  I didn't bother going into town.  After town was a series of big climbs.  As I was leaving Salisbury I ran into a familiar face but it took me awhile to figure out who it was.  He had the same reaction and we both awkwardly stared at each other for a few minutes until I realized it was OB!  The last time I saw him was climbing Roan Mountain in Tennessee!  He is hiking with a guy named Danno now.  I leapfrogged all day with them and it was awesome catching up.

Paused to enjoy the view behind me as I climbed Bear Mountain

OB and Danno climbing up Bear Mountain

Today was a day of milestones.  We crossed 1500 miles today.  As you may have gathered from the title of the post, we crossed into Massachusetts today.  We climbed above 2000 feet for the first time in almost 500 miles.  The high fives just kept coming.  The first mountain we climbed was named Bear Mountain and has a big stone pile on top that you can climb.  As OB, Danno and I were relaxing there Dip'n'sip and Newton walked up and I got to have a nice little reunion with them.

The stone tower on top of Bear Mountain

I've reached the top!

All day I was motivated to keep moving.  Hotdog drove out from Boston to do trail magic and I knew she was doing that just on the other side of Mount Everett.  I might have thought about taking a swim in Sages Ravine which was a really nice looking river but Gatorade sounded even better.  On top of Race Mountain there was a nice long ridge walk with a sweeping view.  There were also tons of blueberry bushes with enormous ripe blueberries.  I stopped to pick a bunch.

View from the stone pile atop Bear Mountain

To the right of the above photo

Panorama from the top of Bear Mountain

Mt Everett was by far our hardest climb we've seen in a long time gaining 700 feet elevation in .6 miles.  It was a tough boulder scramble but I really enjoyed it.  The whole day today I felt like I was finally hiking in the mountains again.  Tough climbs with great views was the theme for the day.  It was hot today but there was also a great breeze that made it so much better.

9 AM photo

Crossing into Massachusetts!

View from Race Mountain

Panorama from the ridge walk along Race Mountain

I got to Guilder Park early afternoon and there was Hotdog!  It was so awesome to see her again and she put on quite the spread of trail magic.  Trail magic from thru hikers is always really good because they know exactly what we crave.  After talking with her a while it sounds like getting off trail was the best thing for her and although I'm bummed she isn't still hiking with us it sounds like she has no regrets about her decision which is the important part.  I hung out there for a long time.  I met a few new hikers there including Mallet, The Dude, Holler, Stripe, and Fis.  I also got to have a reunion with Why Not!

Walking the ridge on Race Mountain

Walking the ridge on Race Mountain

Walking the ridge on Race Mountain

On top of Everett Mountain

To the right of the above photo

Monk, Why Not and I decided spur of the moment to do an extra 9 miles to Great Barrington tonight.  After saying goodbye to Hotdog we headed out.  There was a very steep descent in the middle but overall the terrain was pretty nice.  We passed through swampy area and the bugs came back out for the last 5 miles or so.  This was frustrating but it kept is moving despite being tired and we made great time.  We also passed Shay's rebellion monument which if you remember your history lessons was a farmers rebellion against taxes that happened right after the Revolutionary War.

Trail Magic!

Budweiser, chips and fruit snacks, lunch of champions!

Hot Dog!

We hitched into town and found a room for the three of us at the Days Inn.  After making ourselves moderately presentable we headed downtown for dinner.  The reunions today continued when we ran into Oreo and Quahog who I haven't seen since Woods Hole hostel!  They were there with Trooper and M80.  We had our Massachusetts beer tonight!  I haven't been hiking with Why Not since Delaware Water Gap so I missed the last three states, so it was as real treat, thank you again David!  After ice cream all of us were ready to call it a day though and headed back to the motel with full stomachs and called it a night.

View from Jug End

Both Monk and I stopped to enjoy the view at Jug End

Monument to Shay's Rebellion