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Day 87-14 Miles today from Tom Lavardis Backyard Dalton to Mark Noepel Shelter, 3,500 Feet Up, 2,000 Feet down, 1,590 AT Mile Marker (MM)

Town Morning

Woke up at 5:00 as soon as the sun started breaking up the night sky. It was raining and expected to stop raining in about an hour so I decided to take my time getting ready this morning.

Tom made some boiled eggs and sat them out on the porch for the hikers so I stopped there first and ate a couple of eggs. I took my time wandering through town on the AT.

I stopped at the gas station and took a hiker trash bath in their bathroom of the important parts of my body. I’ve been sweating for several days and haven’t had a chance to really bathe so that made me feel better.

I grabbed a large dark coffee, loaded it with cream and sugar, got a banana, and a bacon egg and cheese sandwich. Then I sat outside the gas station enjoying my breakfast. Many people were coming and going and they were very kind asking me about my hike.

Losing the Way

It seemed like it took a while to wander through town and finally get back into the woods on the other side of town. I have about 14 miles and 3,500 ft of elevation to the Mark Noeble shelter today about 3/4 up Mount Greylock. It’s still saddens me to not have Knockerz with me.

With my mind wandering I missed the turnout and ended up walking down the road. Instead of backtracking I took a blue blaze back to the Appalachian Trail. I was following the white blazes again but the trail started look looking less and less traveled.

The trail was obviously rerouted because I could tell there had not been anybody trampling on this section of the AT in a while. The white blazers were still very clear on the trees however.

I hated to do it but I knew I needed to turn around so I turned around and backtracked. I then found where the trail had been rerouted. That started a long climb up to North Mountain. This was just a teaser of the climb to come up, Mount Greylock.

Soaked with Sweat

This morning I put on my damp hiking shirt, tights, socks, and shorts. It wasn’t long before it all turned into a soaking wet with sweat outfit again. The bugs are so bad I have to wear my buff to keep the bugs out of my ears and the black flies from dive bombing my head. This just adds to the heat and misery.

It is still much cooler than it was just a few weeks ago and definitely cooler than it is back home down south. I suspect the temperatures are somewhere in the 80s. But it feels hot.

The difference is you can feel a coolness in the breeze. A couple of weeks ago when the temperatures were triple digits the hot the breeze felt hot on top of the already oppressive heat. It was kind of like being in front of humid heater blowing hot air in an already hot environment. Now however the breeze is a cooler breeze. I can tell I am now up North.

My First Sobo Hiker

I ran into my first Sobo, Ragland from North Carolina. He told me he did the 100 miles wilderness in 6 days with fresh legs. We both enjoyed swapping stories because we both hadn’t talked to anybody in a while. It felt good to have a little bit of conversation with another human being.

I then ran into Whitesnake, a young man I had met about a thousand miles ago. He and I hiked together up and over the Cobbles down into the town of Cheshire.

We blew through the town of Cheshire. It was nice to have conversation with someone and have somebody that I could keep pace with. It is definitely different when you are hiking on your own. There is no one to keep pace with other than your own pace whatever that may be. And of course the conversations get old real quick inside your head.

A Big Climb

After Cheshire I told Whitesnake I would not be able to keep up with his young legs climbing Mount Greylock so we parted ways. But it was only 12:00 and I had already blown through over 9 miles. It was only 4.4 miles to the Mark Noble shelter but it was a long hard climb up Mount Greylock.

After climbing a steep section through a patch of woods I came into an open field. I love the open fields.

The trail continued a long climb up Greylock Mountain.

By 4:00 p.m. I had reached the shelter. I really wanted to hike further but my only option was a private room at the lodge 3 miles ahead for $165 for the night. So I came down to the shelter and got out my wet tent and ground cloth and hung them out to dry. I was carrying probably two extra pounds of water on my tent from this morning. The logistics for tomorrow kind of suck with the spacing of the camping and shelters I’m really hoping to get out of Massachusetts and into Vermont tomorrow. Massachusetts has been the end of two hikes for Knockerz.

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13.9 Miles
From Crabtree ranger station (mile 767.5+1.2, elev 10642)
To trail camp on lake (mile 756.8, elev 10958)
Climb 2633
Descend 2325

I’ll admit I’m apprehensive about today. My foot seems more sore than yesterday. Fortunately, applying pressure to the bottom of the foot is not painful.

I’m also sad. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to return, when, and if I should do something else if I’m able. Those answers will come in time. Today’s focus has to be on just getting myself off trail. I should clean and rebandage my foot before heading out this morning.

Spoke with Ranger Colin on trail. I told him that I didn’t anticipate needing any help, but wanted him to be aware of my circumstances. He thinks PCT to Cottonwood is safest choice for me to self-evac. It might seen hot/dry climbing from Rock Creek. Says he will be in the ranger cabin tonight.

Hikers crossing Rock Creek seen very averse to wet feet. I’ve only seen 2 wet foot crossings (one with bare feet) and 4 did log crossing. I didn’t see many unbuckledc hip/sternum straps as is recommended for crossings.

Saw Taylor at Rock Creek for the first time since PVC. She said she thinks about expression I related about not trading her trek for a cheeseburger. It was useful to me as well, trying to stay in the moment and not miss nice/beautiful things because I was too focused on my foot.

There was a stunningly beautiful waterfall on Rock Creek (about mile 761.2) between the crossing and the ranger cabin.

Philippine(so?) and her friend (who I last saw at the 1000 km marker) saw me taking my break. They asked to use footage of me playing guitar at the 1000km marker in a PCT documentary about mind & body. They also asked if there was anything they could do to help me with my foot (volunteered the help).

They also mentioned a pretty lake 0.5m ahead. I saw it and decided I had hiked far enough. It is very shallow, like it will dry up later in the summer. But it has lots of interesting rocks sticking up and I can look across it at the really vertical rock faces I had been admiring. I think it is one of the most incredible views I have had on trail.

I never would have camped here and seen this spectacular place had I not hurt my foot. I also never would have seen the waterfall I saw earlier. Both of them would make good spots for a shorter loop trip around Cottonwood Pass. We could spend night 1 here at the lake, night 2 at the waterfall, and night 3 up Rock Creek somewhere. It would make for an unbelievable short loop that others – without hiker legs – could do and enjoy.

The frogs are periodically making noise and then going silent. Besides that, I hear birds, an occasional squirrel, and sometimes the breeze (which has been mostly calm… certainly not cold).

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any product or service you purchase using the links in the articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price as they would otherwise, and your purchase helps to support The Trek’s ongoing goal to serve you quality backpacking advice and information. Thanks for your support!

To learn more, please visit the About This Site page.