#25 Kent to Great Barrington

8/4: It rained a lot overnight. Sunshine, Ptter, and I taught Super how to play Euchre, and as soon as the game ended, it started to downpour. I ran to the privy and then to my tent, and my rain jacket was already soaked. Luckily most of my stuff was inside the tent, but I could feel water collecting underneath and the condensation was making the floor wet. But I fell asleep, and the rain stopped going so hard. None of my essential items got wet, and when I woke up, it was sunny. I got a late start because I procrastinated packing up my wet tent, but I made it on trail and started hiking. The inclines were ok because my legs were feeling rejuvenated after the zero, but the downhills were slippery and steep. I stopped at Caleb’s Peak for a break to massage my feet and let the sun dry the rocks I was about to go down. And indeed, they went down. It was a slow trek down the steep rock stairs. I had to sit and scoot multiple times to reach the next foothold, and the impact was tough on my knees. But I made it down! That was for sure the toughest part of the day. The trail followed a river, and it was so peaceful walking by the running water on flat ground. I ran into some trail magic and stayed to talk to a woman who was planning a thru hike next year! I answered all of her questions about gear and what to expect, and it was cool seeing someone who was in my position a year ago- scared but excited. The last leg of the trail for the day was a lot of ups and downs, and I made it to camp around with a couple of hours before dark, going 14ish miles in total. There was a privy, except whoever built it decided that walls were overrated, but it made for a great place to use the restroom.

I made a dehydrated rice and beans meal and some ramen for extra carbs and calories. Because I added tuna to the rice, I ate about 1,100 calories and 50 grams of protein! Hopefully that will give me fuel for tomorrow to hike hard and not slip on rocks.

8/5: I caught the sunrise through the trees in the morning, and that was a great way to wake up. Then I started hiking and I was back on the grind. It was a slow morning, and it took me a bit to warm up. I’ve resigned myself to the idea that gradual ups and downs will not exist for the rest of the trail, so it shouldn’t be news that it was steep, and yet there I was, aghast. I took a break at an old road to eat a protein bar before continuing on my quest for the cafe that was right off trail. By 1:30, I found it! I walked down a road for a bit and sat next to Otter, Sunshine, and No Collar. I ate a chocolate milkshake, a jerk chicken sandwich, fries, and a cranberry muffin. Plus, I got to charge my devices! It was all delicious food, and I was very full. I took a blue blaze trail back to the AT, which is a little risky for me because I didn’t know where it went exactly, but I got there! Every uphill was a battle because I ate so much food and was ready for a nap. I finally made it and had to walk about a half a mile down a sometimes steep trail to get to the shelter area, where I set up my tent to get away from the mosquitoes. Otter was kind enough to lend me some mashed potatoes and tuna for dinner so I wouldn’t have to resupply tomorrow, so I was grateful for the dinner. Then I snuggled into bed, happy that the nights were cooler so I could use my sleeping quilt to keep warm again.

8/6: It was a beautiful morning! I was feeling good, and I knew that even though I had a long day ahead of me, if I stayed focused and kept up a good pace, I could make it to the shelter with time to spare. Then I passed some day hikers who asked if I was going southbound. I checked the map and realized that I had been walking downhill in the wrong direction for 1.3 miles. My 18 mile day just turned into a 20 mile day. Some expletives may have been dropped while I walked back uphill to the shelter I had just left, but I made it, and then I started hiking north. I had a few tall and steep mountains to climb, and of course, I had to inch my way down the rocks to get down from the mountains. I passed the 1,500 mile mark! And other hikers took my picture with the marker so it wasn’t a weird selfie! It was a long and exhausting day. I stopped and took some breaks, but I knew I had to keep them short if I was red to make it to Mt Everett, which is the last mountain before the shelter, before sunset. I snagged blueberries on the trail when I could, and that helped keep my spirits up. I climbed on top of Mt Race at around 6:30 and there was a gorgeous ridge walk and I got panoramic views while I walked. It took my breath away whenever I looked up.

I ended up not making it to the campsite, but soon after the MA border, I camped at a campsite a bit off trail. Unfortunately there wasn’t any water, so I ate dry ramen and a lot of peanut butter. Otter ended up at the same campsite, so we commiserated together and then went to outer tents to sleep.

8/7: I got up early and tackled that mountain! On the way up though, the mountain tackled me. It was steep with a lot of wet rock slabs and I had to be careful about my footing. Just as I was struggling to the top and catching my breath, I peaked over at a viewpoint and it was so gorgeous! I was above the cloud line and I stared at a wall of clouds kissed by the sunlight on top. It was like looking out of the window on an airplane.

What a treat to start the day! The hike down wasn’t nearly as bad, and there was a water cache that a trail angel left at the bottom of the mountain, so I filled up on water before Great Barrington. It was downhill from there, and I didn’t have to scoot on nearly as many rocks as I’d assumed. I made it into town and got a hitch from a really nice woman and we had a great conversation, and she told me all the good places to eat in town. Originally, since I was going to meet my mom and Jack about 20 miles ahead of the city, I was going to keep hiking. But then it rained, and I decided to crash in a room with Otter, Sunshine, and Super and slackpack the 20 miles tomorrow. We did laundry and went to the brewery for dinner where we ordered wayyyy too many appetizers and could barely finish our dinners. Afterwards, I was really sleepy from all the food, but I went to resupply at a grocery store for the next day, and after that, I went to bed as quick as I could to get some shut eye before a long mile day tomorrow.

8/8: I got up super early and dropped a garbage bag of all of my belongings that I didn’t need for a slackpack at the community fitness center. They let me shove it in a locker, and I am forever grateful for hiker friendly establishments like that community center. Then I happened to be in the right place at the right time to get a ride from Joe, a trail angel who gives rides to hikers. So I got to trail pretty early! And it was a beautiful and cool morning. I hiked quick because I had 20.7 miles to complete before I got to a road where my mom and Jack would pick me up and stay with me at a motel for a few days. I was so excited! Since it rained the night before, a lot of orange salamanders were out on the trail, and that was fun. I stopped for water about 8 miles in where Joe said in the car that he left a water cache, so I filled up without the filtering. I listened to a few podcasts and Chance the Rapper’s new album for the first time. One of the podcasts was about hagfish, and I learned a lot of cool things about them, like that they display handedness and have a preference towards coiling a certain direction. The trail was great for a long hike! There weren’t too many hills and the ground was covered in pine needles so my feet were cushioned. Massachusetts has been covered in hemlock forests, so it’s been beautiful hiking. I stopped for a quick lunch and ate a high calorie protein bar with other snacks. I reached my last mountain peak at around 4:50 and headed down a couple of miles to meet up with my parents. Except they were at a closer road because my mom couldn’t wait to see me!

She gave me homemade snickerdoodles and we hiked the last mile together. Then we headed back into Great Barrington and had a delicious meal at Cafe Adam before going to bed (a real bed!) excited for the hike tomorrow.

So we just finished our first day of slackpacking! The trail wasn’t too bad and my mom and Jack did great! I pointed out many salamanders, and many photo attempts followed as the salamanders tried to run away. We stopped and ate lunch at a cabin that houses hikers and we hung out on the dock and ate fresh fruit and sandwiches. I’m happy to see my mom and get spoiled a little bit with town food and a bunch of slackpacking. Hopefully I’ll still be able to lift my pack after they leave!

Happy trails :)