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Dear family and friends,
I'm now in Dalton Mass., about 25 A.T. miles from Vermont. We are in a beautiful
part of the world - mountains, rivers, lovely New England towns. The weather
has been generally good, with much-appreciated below average temperatures. The
small states rapidly traversed make it feel like we are moving along toward
Mt. Katahdin.
After leaving Kent CT I walked back up into hilly and rocky terrain, staying
at the ominously named Pine Swamp Brook Lean-to. It rained hard that day, one
of the deluges that has plagued the East in recent weeks, and I was looking
forward to a dry night in the shelter. We'd been in our sleeping bags about
15 minutes when constant harrassment by mosquitos forced Austin and I to jump
up simultaneously and set up our tents. After that we got a peaceful if damp
night's sleep.
The next day I walked into Salisbury CT. Salisbury is a postcard-perfect New
England town complete with Main Street shops and white church steeples. Cassie,
a good friend from Ann Arbor, had forwarded one of these emails to her Dad Rod
who lives near Salisbury. He emailed me and graciously invited me to stay with
him and his wife Anne when I was in the area. Rod picked me up in Salisbury,
somehow identifying me as a hiker (this is a joke - hikers are quite distinctive
once you know what to look for). Rod and Anne treated me to a splendid meal
of steak, potatoes, green beans, and Australian wine. Also got a shower and
a bed. Quite a reception for someone you've never met! Rod regaled me with stories
of his ancestors and decendents and we had a fine conversation.
The trail from Salisbury CT to Great Barrington MA was one of the most scenic
sections so far. From Salisbury the trail ascends Lions Head, with fine views
to the south and east. Then up to Bear Mtn., the highest peak within CT, with
splendid panoramic views of the Catskills to the west and mountains all around.
The trail then dips into Sages Ravine with a perfect mountain stream tumbling
through pools, waterfalls, and chasms as it bounces down the mountain. Rod told
me he used to take his family here every year for swimming. Then across the
CT-MA border and up Mt. Everett, 2602 ft., with views of Mt. Greylock to the
north. The air was very clear that day after the rain and I'm guessing we could
see 80 miles or so.
Coming down from Mt. Everett the next day I descended into a valley between
the southern Taconic range and the Berkshires to the north. It was in a deep
hemlock forest that the mosquitos attacked in force. We had bugs in NJ, NY,
and CT, but nothing like this! I carried my trekking poles in one hand so I
could use the other to swat and brush off mosquitos, walking as fast as I could.
Finally I gave up and stopped to put on bug repellent. That's when the 200 mosquitos
who were racing behind me caught up. Twirling my arms like a windmill and dancing
from foot to foot while trying to open my pack and retrieve the bug spray, I
would have been a comical sight had anyone else been there. The bug spray did
deter 90% of the monsters for about an hour, long enough to get to the next
road. Other hikers had similar experiences in MA, the trail registers are full
of stories and complaints about mosquitos.
Spent a night in Great Barrington, another nice town, then walked three days
to Dalton. I'm taking a zero day here in Dalton before heading up Mt. Greylock
tomorrow and into Vermont the next day. Mt. Greylock is the highest point in
MA and the first 3000 ft. mountain since Virginia.
The Agony of Defeet
My old leather boots, which brought me so much happiness when they arrived in
PA, turned on me two days before the Delaware Water Gap. First a painful blister
developed on my right heel, then a couple of days later on my left heel. A deluge
in NJ turned the Gortex-lined boots into walking water bags that stayed wet
for 2 days, until dried at my sister's house with a boot dryer. The next day
a circle of smaller blisters developed around the central blister on my right
heel. By this time I could only hobble up hills, wincing with every step, as
my blisters pressed against the back of the boots on the uphill.
Mercifully my sister Sue took me to the Campmor store in Paramus NJ and I bought
my 5th pair of shoes for this trip, Merrill Chameleon Ventilators. These are
trail shoes, similar to the trail runners I started the trip with but with a
thick rubber Vibram sole for better rock protection. The blister problem disappeared
immediately, for which I'm very grateful. But now I'm back to the ache and shooting
pains in the balls of my feet. I've concluded that it is not possible for me
to walk 2000 miles with happy feet and have resigned myself to some discomfort.
Looking forward to hiking with my boys Dan and Ben August 13-18, and to my trip
home August 18-25. Then the final push to Mt. Katahdin, with an expected finish
date of Sep 30. Anyone want to summit Katahdin with me?
That's all for now.
Best wishes from the trail,
Raven