June 10, 2018
Destination: Seth Warner Shelter
Today’s Miles: 21.40
Start Location: Cheshire, MA, (Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Mile 1578.8)
Trip Miles: 1600.20
I woke up damp. I tented without my rain fly because it was a clear night.
I like to look at the stars and it is also quicker to get going in the morning. I guess we had a lot of moisture in the air overnight because my sleeping bag had a ton of condensation on it, as did my tent in general. Transformer camped there as well and had the same experience.
We hiked out at about 6:30. The church was locked so we decided to walk up the trail and duck in the gas station with the Dunkin Donuts to use the “privy.” I went up to order a small coffee and the gentleman behind the counter said he had accidentally made two unnecessary coffees and offered them to me for free. Awesome!! Of course, I bought a blueberry donut and gave one of the coffees to Transformer. It was a good start to the day.
We climbed Mt Greylock, Massachusetts’ highest peak. It has a cool tower at the top and with the clear day we got great views. We stopped by the lodge restaurant to get some food, but they were between shifts. However, the lady there was really nice and gave us some leftover blueberry muffins for free. Score!
I hung back to dry my gear in the sun and Transformer moved on. Once dry, I took off and hiked solidly until the road crossing for Williamstown. It was a cute little spot and the trail entered a neighborhood before it hit the main road. I headed west off trail to a Stop N’ Shop and ran back into Transformer there. We had both decided to do a bigger resupply there to get us to Killington. After shopping I ate a salad and a fruit bowl I had gotten. On the way in a local had tipped me off that there was a cool trail we could hike back to the AT instead of a road walk, so we took our chances. It was a great walk with a suspension bridge and some trail art.
On the way to the shelter we left MA and entered Vermont. It felt great! I loved MA, but was excited to be in Vermont. Like Connecticut, it was my first time to Vermont. When we got to the shelter we met 4 or 5 people on day one of their thru hikes of the Vermont Long Trail. That was really fun! I helped one girl hang her bear bag because she had never done it.
I was grateful for such a full day and some great trail magic today! It was enjoyable hiking with Transformer, and I was grateful to make it to another state on my journey north.
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