AT Days 100 to 109 - Through Mud, Storms, and Magic: A Soaked but Smiling Journey Across Massachusetts and Into Vermont

Day 100

Fearing potential bad weather and wanting not to feel rushed, Instigator and I awoke fairly early, in an attempt to summit the two peaks of the day, before the forecasted rain blew in. The morning was ridiculously humid, and unfortunately, we couldn’t see a thing from the top of Mt. Race. At the peak, we ran into Scratch and Slinky, and then all of us continued to Mt. Everett. After an incredibly sweaty climb, we took a short break up there, and then we were surprised to see Wizard had caught up with us, with the Kiwis and Masochist not far behind. We then all checked out Gilder Pond before splitting up at Route 7, where Masochist, Instigator, and I caught a ride into town from Pokey the trail angel. The three of us went to a Price Chopper to resupply, and then Instigator and I said goodbye to Masochist as he was going on ahead the next day while we were taking our zero. He has a date he needs to end by, and he also enjoys hiking longer days that we can no longer maintain at this point. Meanwhile, Instigator and I have been hurting for quite a while, so we have been taking it easier. We’ll miss him quite a bit, but we’re hopeful we’ll see him again before the end of the trail, and spend time with him after! After Price Chopper, Instigator and I checked into our hotel, knocked out laundry and other chores, and then called it an early night.

Day 101

We started our zero by lazily sleeping in, before heading to the hotel lobby for Belgian waffles and hot cocoa. After that, we watched TV for a bit on the Chromecast before heading to brunch with Scratch and Slinky. Instigator and I had not had brunch in ages, so we went all in and ordered bulk mimosas and large portions of chicken and waffles for the table. After our brunch, we walked around a bit and checked out a dispensary built inside of a gorgeous old church, since it was a novelty to most of us, as we are from states where it isn’t legal. Slinky and Scratch then headed out towards the trail, and Instigator and I returned to the room and took a long nap. Unfortunately, the local movie theater had closed down, which threw a wrench into our plans for the day. To make up for it, we hit up a grocery store for snacks and had our own movie night at the hotel, where we watched Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, before crashing for another early night. It was wonderful to finally have a true zero where we didn’t have to do any chores!

Day 102

Coming off of our zero, we slept in late and then headed down the road to Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast, as the hotel was out of most of its breakfast items. On the way back, I took pictures of a few more gorgeous older buildings in town, then we went back and relaxed until checkout. Bambi met us at our hotel, and then Pokey came and drove us back to the trail. We cranked out a few miles and then encountered trail magic early on in the day. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay to enjoy it as we were racing the weather to beat a major thunderstorm bearing down on us. We made it up the climb and a few miles across the ridge line before the storm caught us. We were still 2 miles away from the shelter when it caught us, so we ended up getting completely soaked. Once we arrived, I checked the updated forecast and noticed that more weather was inbound, so we made the call to stop at Tom Leonard Shelter. Band after band of strong wind, rain, lightning, and hail battered the shelter throughout the day and late into the night, but we stayed nice and dry in the loft of the shelter.

Day 103

Last night was fairly sleepless as it kept cycling between quiet shelter to heavy rain and hail hammering the tin roof. At some point, though, I passed out for a while until I woke up around 5 am to more rain and people packing up. Begrudgingly, Instigator and I packed up, and when the rain stopped, we headed out. The trail for the first few miles was composed mainly of slabs of granite and thick roots, so it was incredibly slippery. Thankfully, the rain finally broke, and to our delight, the little orange newts had popped up everywhere! It then sprinkled on and off until around noon when the sun broke through the clouds. From then on, it was pretty easy cruising, and I even got to pet a cow at a farm we passed! As the miles wore on (because we had to do extra because of the weather), we started to really feel our injuries kicking in. Thankfully, a little past 6 pm, we rolled into the Upper Goose Pond Cabin and managed to snag the two last available bunks for the night. We were both beat from our long day and fairly sleepless night, so it was straight to bed after dinner! 

Day 104

We started the day by sleeping in for the famous pancakes at Upper Goose Pond Cabin, provided by the wonderful caretaker! After breakfast, we headed out with Bambi and Bad Bat, the latter of whom we had just met. Fueled by sugar and strong black coffee (in Instigator and Bambi’s case), we quickly covered miles over the relatively easy grade and terrain of this section of the trail. Along the way, we traded trail stories and observed that a few of the little orange newts were hanging out, but not nearly as many as after the rain. We passed a weird, clear-cut section of forest and numerous swamps, but otherwise did not see much of note. From our quick progress, we made it to the Cookie Lady 2.0’s house a bit after lunch, where her husband treated us to a heaping plate of fresh chocolate chip cookies and homemade lemonade with hibiscus. We also got to meet Bonnie, their absolutely adorable and friendly puppy! After our stop off, our group split: Bambi walked on ahead, and Bad Bat went into town. Once we were ready, Instigator and I headed out on our own to hike the last 6.5 miles. We kept our accelerated pace to beat the impending rain, and we were actually successful this time! Along the way, we didn’t see much, but we did spot a new snake variety we hadn’t seen before. Though I cannot quite recall what it looked like, just that it was different. At Kay Wood Shelter, we caught up with Bambi and then tucked in for an early night of heavy rainfall, eager for our travel day tomorrow to Martha’s Vineyard!

Day 105

We woke up early once again, this time because another hiker yelled to his friend at 5 am… Bambi was pissed and rightfully chewed him out. The three of us then set out for Dalton and had breakfast together at the Juice N’ Java Coffeehouse. Instigator and I then said our goodbyes to Bambi, and grabbed a hitch into Pittsfield to pick up some beach essentials (like sandals). Unfortunately, it wasn’t until we were wrapping up our Walmart trip that we realized we had gotten the Greyhound schedule mixed up, and that we had missed our bus… Scrambling for a fix, I found a cheap rental car, but we had to wait for it to be cleaned before we could take it. I took advantage of this free time to hit up the first Friendly’s restaurant that I’d seen since I was 5 years old. Apparently, there are still a few left in the small towns of the Northeast! Once the car was ready, we drove across Massachusetts, dropped the car off at Boston Logan Airport, and barely caught our bus to Woods Hole. We thought we were out of the woods, but then our bus hit a major traffic snag while crossing the Cape Cod Canal. Apparently, there had been a major accident, and both bridges were backed up for hours. We were beginning to consider getting out and walking when the traffic finally started to move. Once we arrived in Woods Hole, we caught the second to last ferry of the day out to Vineyard Haven. We could finally breathe a sigh of relief. On board, there was a woman with a loose pet bird, so I opted to ride on the front of the boat. After the hot bus and humid trail, the cool, moist air of the ocean felt absolutely wonderful, and the surrounding views of the islands and Cape Cod at sunset were gorgeous. Once our boat docked, we de-boarded, and still “trail-fresh,” I met Instigator’s Dad and youngest brother. They greeted us with large burritos and then drove us to the house everyone was staying at, where I got to meet all of Instigator’s family for the first time. What a wonderful way to make a first impression! 

Since Martha’s Vineyard is not part of the trail, I decided not to include my journal entries as part of our AT hike. We stayed there for a week, resting, eating, and enjoying the perfect weather on the Vineyard before heading back to Pittsfield and resuming the trail.

 Day 106

Our travel day from Martha’s Vineyard back to Pittsfield, MA, yesterday had consumed most of our day. That, combined with the terrible weather when we arrived, led us to splurge on a hotel for the night. As per usual, Instigator and I did our normal late sleep in at the Econo Lodge before heading out into town for a few pre-trail chores. Mainly, she went to Dick's Sporting Goods and got the best foot care advice we’ve received on the trail (along with a new set of specialty insoles), and I nabbed us some thick bags to layer into our shoes for the inevitable mud. Afterwards, we hit up Kelly’s Diner and shot the breeze with many of the locals there. Unexpectedly, a kind older couple covered our meal for us, and then a wonderful gentleman gave us a lift to the trailhead. As soon as we hopped out, the heavens opened up and it began to rain quite heavily. Since it was incredibly muggy, Instigator said screw it and just got soaked. Until we started climbing, I kept my rain jacket on in an attempt to stay dry. However, once we started climbing, I made the call to take off my sun hoodie, wrapped it in my rain jacket, and hiked shirtless. Because the weather was keeping the bugs at bay, it was honestly pretty nice! We continued trudging in the rain until we hit Cheshire, where thankfully, the rain abated. We took a short snack break there at a bench, admired the “famous” Cheshire cheese wheel and snowplow, and then continued on. The rain stopped, but the remaining 5ish miles were essentially uphill, through a running river. The bags did a great job of keeping our feet dry, though, and in no time at all, we made it to the Mark Noepel Shelter. I never thought I’d say this, but I have missed my ramen!

Day 107

It rained all night, as expected, but it thankfully cleared up by the time we woke up. We packed up quickly to make the most of the good weather and headed out for the summit of Mt. Greylock. Immediately, we ran into a completely washed-out trail that was again essentially a running river over slick rock. As a result, our pace suffered, and it took us nearly 2 hours to do 3 miles. When we reached the summit, we were greeted by a brief, partially open view of the surrounding area, which quickly changed to a sea of clouds beneath us. With the blue sky above and the ocean of clouds all around us, the summit became an island in the sky, the monument serving as a lighthouse. Fearful of the oncoming weather, we did not linger at the top for long. Due to the washed-out conditions, we took our time, slowly descending to the town of Greylock, where we encountered our first trail magic of the day, coolers in a park full of snacks and drinks! After a brief lunch, we noticed some menacing oncoming clouds, so we hustled back to the trail in an attempt to complete our climb before the storm hit. Thankfully, the uphill wasn’t washed out, but it was incredibly buggy, so we made quick time up it. At the top, we hit the 1600mi marker, and shortly after that, we hit the Massachusetts / Vermont border! Instigator is finally home! Hilariously, right as we reached the border, the storm hit us, and we were pelted with rain and small hail. Once again, I opted to hike shirtless as the bugs seemed to abate with the rain. Unfortunately, the trail conditions were horrendous, which completely killed our pace. Generally, we do about 2-2.5 miles per hour, but today we were struggling even to hit 2mph. We encountered more trail magic in the form of water jugs, and then Gatorade and Rice Crispy treats from a wonderful gentleman from Ohio. Not long after, we finally rolled into the New Seth Warner Shelter around 7:30 pm. It had taken us 13 hours (with breaks) to do 19mi, when we can usually do 20ish miles in around 10 hours (with breaks). Arriving so late and moving so slowly in terrible conditions was completely demoralizing. It’s raining again as I type this, and I am acutely aware that we will need to adjust our goals to account for the weather and rapidly degrading trail conditions.

Day 108

Again, it rained all night, and unfortunately, sleep was hard to come by due to some pretty noisy shelter companions (severe night terrors?). When I did find it, I was awoken early by someone’s alarm going off at 4:30 am. Instigator and I lay there for a bit before packing up, having breakfast, and heading out right before 6 am. Thankfully, it wasn’t raining, but the trail was still a deep river of rutted out mud, roots, and swollen streams. Sadly, both of my plastic bags sprang leaks, so both of my socks ended up getting soaked. Eventually, we made it to the top of Harmon Hill, where we had a quick snack and a break before braving the slippery waterfall that was the disheveled rock staircase down to Route 9. By the time we made it down, it was already nearly 1 pm. We had done only 8 miles in 6 hours. After taking half an hour to dry our feet out, we started the slog up the climb and were immediately greeted by thunder and lightning. Shortly thereafter, it began to pour heavily on us, and when I checked the forecast, there was a severe thunderstorm warning. We then hustled to the Melville Nauheim Shelter around 2:30 pm. There, we sat for hours as the storm raged on, pelting our shelter with hail and huge raindrops. We were worried about our feet becoming macerated from the flooded trail, the next shelter being potentially full in the severe thunderstorm, and fearful that we could not safely tent in the weather. So, demoralized, we decided to stop for the day and read. As I write this, it is about 9 pm, and the weather is still horrendous. It sucks, but I think we made the right call, especially because the next bit of trail is at the top of the mountain. Hopefully, we can find some better trail soon and regain our former pace!

Day 109

We ended up having the shelter all to ourselves, as no one stopped in all night. Thankfully, the shelter did not leak, even though it was battered by wind and heavy rain all night. Instigator and I slept peacefully through the night, and due to our early stop, we were able to get on trail early. As we expected, the trail was completely underwater, and progress was slow. We climbed up to the Goddard Shelter and stopped in for a snack and a foot drying break. We had been forced to ford Hell Hollow Brook along the way, which the recent rains had greatly swollen, so our shoes were soaked. While at the shelter, we met a Long Trail hiker headed to the same shelter, so we chatted for a bit. After our break, we scampered up the last few steps to Glastenbury Mountain, where we sadly had no view due to the fire tower being closed and the summit being below the treeline. We then continued our slog downhill on slick stones until we reached Kid Gore Shelter, where we stopped for lunch and to, again, try and dry our feet out. As we were expecting rain, we made it a short lunch, and sure enough, about 15 minutes later, we were hammered by a torrential downpour that lasted nearly the rest of the day. The trail, already flooded, turned into a flowing river that at times reached calves. Needless to say, rock hopping was long past a viable option. As we neared our goal, Story Spring Shelter, we had to wade through knee-deep water due to an overflowing pond. When we finally reached the shelter, we were both completely drenched and drained. After a fairly quiet dinner, we wrung out our socks, and I promptly passed out. Fingers crossed for drier weather, but the forecast does not look promising.