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[Editor's note: My comments are in square brackets - Wendy]
June 7, 2001 - Limestone Spring Shelter
Miles: 22.3 Time 12.25 hr
Snakes: 3
One of the snakes was a rattlesnake. He was right in the middle of the trail and rattled loudly at me as I approached. I watched him for a short time, then, giving him a couple of feet leeway, I went around him. As I went around, he kept an eye on me but he didn't readjust his position, so that by the time I was "behind" him, he couldn't see me and I could no longer see his head. He continued to hold his rattle in the air and shook it vigorously.
I went into Falls Village in the midafternoon to pick up my mail drop. It consisted of my regular stuff and a letter about compost. [I'll have to plead guilty here. Have you any idea how fascinating composting is? Wait till I tell you about my ongoing compost experiment. OK, OK, it's been a little boring around here lately...].
The shelter is occupied by two guys who have been making a lot of noise (mostly loud talk) for over two hours, so I have camped a short distance away.
June 8, 2001 - Glen Brook Lean To
Miles: 17.6 Time: 11.5 hr
Snakes: 1
Just as I was about to go to sleep last night (8:50PM), a bunch of kids and their counselor(s) showed up and began making dinner and setting camp. So, I packed up and moved even further from the shelter (probably far enough to violate the "camp only at established sites" rule).
This morning I went into Salisbury (very nice little town) to resupply and thus complement the misplaced Falls Village mail drop. I stopped on the Race Mountain ledges to eat some of my newly acquired grub and admire a 120-degree view of the countryside. It was there that I saw the snake. At first, because of the pattern, I thought it was a copperhead, but it was clearly non-venomous. It slithered away before I could make a closer examination.
I didn't see anybody all day until I reached the summit of Mt. Everett. About a dozen day hikers were there, some climbing the (unsafe, according to the sign) fire tower.
I have completed CT and I am about seven miles into MA.
June 9, 2001 - Mt. Wilcox North Shelter
Miles: 21.4 Time: 11.5 hr
Flowers: Devil's Paintbrush, Bunchberry
Even with the weekend approaching I had my choice of shelter space and camp sites last night. There was nobody but me at Glen Brook. Such was not the case tonight. The shelter is occupied by some teenage (maybe? they act it, anyway) overnighters but I have a good camp site.
Today I happened upon a gouse doing her "hurt birdy" act. I went instead in the direction she had come from and must have gotten close to the nest or young because she came rushing back, cut me off, and stood in front of me all puffed up, tail feathers fanned, and hissing.
June 10, 2001 - October Mountain Shelter
Miles: 22.8 Time: 12.25 hr
Some pretty country today with ponds (lakes!) and tall mature hemlock groves. I haven't seen a thruhiker in a couple of days. "Shamus" stays about a day ahead as does FL to Canada hiker "Johnny Looksee". There are 3-4 others about 3 days ahead. At the shelter tonight are four southbound and one northbound section hikers.
June 11, 2001 - Mark Noepel Lean To
Miles: 25.5 Time: 13 hr
The sky was overcast this morning and it rained on and off most of the day, starting midmorning. It cleared just enough in the late afternoon for me to get something of a view of the Hoosic River valley from the Cobbles. (Why is it in New England that little streams are called "rivers" but huge lakes are called "ponds"?) It then became very dark and thunder started to boom. I made it to the shelter just as the deluge began.
There are two northbound section hiikers here and, reportedly, there is a visiting porkie every night. The shelter ceertainly looks it. Every surface has been chewed upon.
June 12, 2001 - Seth Warner Shelter
Miles: 16.5 Time: 11 hr
Snakes: 1
I may have "met" my first southbound thruhikers yesterday evening. Last night just at dark two guys with a dog arrived and, fairly quietly, ate and got settled in the shelter. I found out today from a section hiker that two guys and a dog are the first southbounders.
I resupplied today at a grocery store a few tenths of a mile west of the trail on Rt. 2. First, just for fun of course, I turned the wrong way and walked half way to North Adams and back.
There are a lot of people here this evening - eight the last time I looked, and I've been camped out of sight of most of the area for an hour, so more may have shown up since.
I'm out of Massachusetts and into Vermont. The AT coincides with the Long Trail here and I suspect that that accounts at least partially for the crowd. There wasn't much of a view from the ledges in the Greylock area due to the fog, but by afternoon it had finally cleared, and I got a good view back towards Greylock from "Eph's Lookout".
June 13, 2001 - Glastenbury Mountain
Miles: 21.9 Time: 12 hr
Birds seen (s) and heard (h): White Throated Sparrow (h)
For most of the morning I followed moose tracks and moose scat along the trail. I stopped at several ponds and carefully scanned the shores but, alas, no moose were found. There was something swimming in one of the ponds and I assume it was a beaver although it was too far away to really tell.
The Goddard Shelter was occupied by two guys and a dog and one of the guys was smoking in the shelter and had that horrible sounding smoker's cough. (You would think smokers would get a hint from that.) There was no camping allowed in the immediate area, so I just went on a few tenths of a mile to the top of Glastenbury Mountain. I found a very nice spot with white trillium growing all around.
June 14, 2001 - Winhall River
Miles: 21.1 Time: 12.5 hr
Snakes: 1
Today I met the same two section hikers that I had stayed with at Mark Noepel the other night. They are doing a sort of mini-flip-flop with Mass Rt. 2 in the middle. They tell me that one of the two hikers that came in late that night was a woman so they probably weren't the southbound thruhikers. Whether I've seen any southbounders or even whether there have been any yet remains a mystery. Nobody is signing the registers ME to GA.
I met Gary, the GMC caretaker atop Stratton Mt. today. He came rushing out of the caretaker cabin to introduce himself just as I passed. After introductions, the conversation went something like:
Gary: "You can sit here on the rock bench or you can climb the fire tower if you like. The (black) flies don't bother you so much up there."
Me: "I think I'll just sit on the bench a few moments and have a snack."
Gary (yelling to somebody in the cabin): "He's just going to sit a few moments and eat".
Female voice from cabin: "OK, good."
I sort of felt like the GMC police were going to haul me away if I made a false move.
I found an electric lantern at my camp site last night. It had a slider which served to both turn it on and off and to adjust the focus of the lens from a beam to wide angle. It used 4 D-cells. It was quite bright and I used it for the evening. I was tempted to keep it but it weighs 832 pounds.
June 15, 2001 - Lost Pond Shelter
Miles: 22.9 Time: 12.5 hr
Milestone: 3/4 of the AT
Snakes: 1 (TBI)
There's a little stream here but no pond. I guess it's still lost.
The USFS was apparently launching some sort of assault on Bromley Mountain. I passed two rangers on the way up one side and met three more going down the other side.
The weather has been hot and humid the last few days. The trail passes over a number of high peaks but all the views are very hazy due to the humidity.
June 16, 2001 - Clarendon Shelter
Miles: 18.5 Time: 11.75 hr
I arrived here at about 5:30PM and found the shelter empty. It's now 8:30 and still empty. I haven't decided yet whether to use the shelter or sleep out. Rain was predicted for today but it never happened.
I took advantage of the relatively early arrival and empty shelter to take a sponge bath and rinse my clothes. My clothes are all nylon so they usually rinse pretty clean, but this time they looked pretty much the same before and after. Perhaps there's a filth threshhold beyond which there is no return.
A couple of women on a day hike stopped by and we chatted for a while. They left me about 3/4 bag of cheese pretzels, most of which I've eaten already. I introduced one of them to dried banana chips and I think I may have a convert.
I hid my pack near Clarendon Gorge and walked a mile down to Clarendon General Store to successfully supplement my food supply so it will last to Hanover. Had some more "Cherry Garcia".
A breeze has sprung up and it's clouding over. I think I'll use the shelter.
June 17, 2001 - Near Stony Brook Shelter
Miles: 25.2 Time: 13.75 hr
Birds: Pine Siskin
It did rain last night. It also rained all morning and was misting or foggy most of the afternoon, so there was nothing much to see or do except walk. I didn't even see any other hikers until late afternoon when a group of 3 and then a pair passed me while I was sitting having a snack. The thru-hikers in front of me have clumped up and are traveling in a group of about seven.
I've pitched the tent this evening but I think the rain has ended.
June 18, 2001 - Thistle Hill Shelter
Miles: 21.5 Time: 11.75 hr
The rain had ended and today was slightly cooler and a lot less humid.
It turns out that some of the hikers that passed me yesterday afternoon are thruhikers that I thought were in front of me. The pair were Trapper and Oakie. I apparently passed them when they went into town. The trio is Teaman who was joined by his 14 year old son at Sherburne Pass. They stopped at Gifford Woods so I am now ahead of them. I am also now ahead of Shamus who I have been one day behind all the way from Delaware Water Gap. He has gone into town for a day off. Here at the shelter this evening are Flagman and Johnny Looksee. So, after having not seen a thruhiker since the last shelter in NY, I am suddenly surroounded by them. Also here at the shelter is a nest in the rafters with two baby Phoebes. Mom and Dad (? another Phoebe, anyway) are feeding them regularly.