Day 108
Dalton, MA - Mile 1565 - Jul 18th, 2015
Day 108
Mile 1544
It has been a wild couple of days.
I made it to Falls Village on Monday, but had to ford the Housatonic River to get there, as the bridge to town was under renovation and no longer spanning the river. It was a nice challenge. No problems.
I made it across and stumbled into a bit of a ghost town. The only restaurant was closed, so I headed to the post office to see if my package was there. To my surprise, it was.
I ate a bunch of the snacks and headed down to the package store for a few cold beers. 1$ each. Right out of the cooler. That's all there was to do in town. Drink. I decided that Falls Village wasn't worth hanging out in, so three beers deep, I decided to hike 7 more miles to Salisbury, Connecticut.
I went back to the river just a bit upstream from my first crossing, thinking I could perhaps cross the river by rock hopping and not take my shoes and socks off. Big mistake. The first rock I touched, I slipped on. Fell in the damn river. I stood up immediately and grabbed my phone from my right front pocket. I dried it on my shirt and thanked it for being so reliable. I busted my thigh pretty good during the fall. See below. Probably my worst injury yet. I trudged straight to the other side of the river, took off all my gear and dried it on a nice sunny rock for two hours.
I made it to Salisbury by 7 pm, although nothing was open. I kept walking and found a map of the area on the ground. I saw that Lakeview, CN was very close by and had a pizza joint.
I got there by 9pm and got a pitcher and a pizza for 16 bucks. I thought I was in heaven. On the back side of the pizza place was a laundromat. What a perfect spot to get a charge on my phone and get a load in.
I plugged in my phone and went back to my pizza. Twenty minutes later, I went to check on my phone, but it was gone. Someone swiped my beat up, cracked, memory filled iPhone 4! Son of a gun! I called the cops, but they reassured me that they would never find the culprit. That crimes like these are just logged and reported. They did drive me around a bit looking for a car I had seen around the time of thievery. That was pretty cool. Was like an episode of COPS. They asked me if I needed a ride to the trail head. I said sure. It was nearing 1am.
They wished me well as I departed. I hiked maybe 3 miles before finding a nice rock to sleep on. I slept maybe 2 hours of the night. The mosquitos were buzzing and biting all night. There is a new challenge on the trail: Not letting the mosquitoes drive you insane. It's crazy. In certain sections, you can have 30-40 mosquitoes on or following you. It is extremely frustrating. No amount of deet or eucalyptus oil can deter them. Don't EVER stop moving. Never.
So after a miserable night of sleep, I pushed on the next day, trying to get to a Verizon store in Great Barrington, MA. I made it there by 4 pm and told them my story. They gave me a new phone, restored most of my songs and pictures, transferred all my contacts over and lowered my monthly bill by 8$. I'm all set up. I should honestly thank the dirtbag who stole that piece of garbage. He forced me to upgrade my plan, my gear, my life. I was overdue.
So, I took an easy day on Wednesday. Nothing crazy. 13 miles. I stopped at the North Wilcox shelter. I had the shelter all to myself. It was super nice to spread out. I got a fire going and enjoyed a nice quiet night alone. I finally got some good rest. I awoke to a large pile of bear scat maybe 20 yards from the shelter. I kept my head up most of the morning, but everything progressed nicely. The weather was great, the trail beautiful and moderate. I was really enjoying the day until the bees came buzzing about. I was walking along a makeshift boardwalk, when I saw a piece of paper on the footbridge. I picked it up and saw it was an old bank statement. I questioned how it got there, when I saw there was writing on the other side... I read: "bees under boards, RUN!"
By the time I finished reading it, they were on me. I jumped in hysteria and Rafiki got caught in my legs and split/cracked right in the center. I skipped and ran the rest of the dock to get away from the bees. I had been tagged three times, but I was fine. Rafiki had my full attention. I questioned his fortitude, but he shook his head and said nothing. Enough said... He has the heart of a hundred lions.
Anyways, just after the fiasco was a bit of trail magic. A cold, black cherry soda and an apple were waiting for me just 100 yards from the sting operation. It put a smile on my face. You have to take the good with the bad. The highs with the lows.
About two miles later, I sat down for a break and some water. I noticed one of my Nalgene bottles was missing! Damn it! It had to happen in that single moment, where I jumped from the bees. It probably came out when Rafiki almost tripped me and fell into the swampy Massachusetts
mud.
Aye dios mio!
Oh well. Been through this before...
I hiked 5 miles on to the Upper Goose Pond Cabin. It's a fully enclosed cabin with a caretaker and 12 bunk beds. I might go for a swim in the morning and apparently we can sign out the canoe or kayaks for free. I may even be able to locate a fishing pole. Oh, and free pancakes and coffee in the morning! Ha ha. And someone just mentioned that there's a Nalgene bottle in the Hiker Box! Haha.
It's like being Even Steven. Everything is in perfect balance.
45 days left.
Marching on. Hell or high water.
Day 109
Rafiki is fine. He has strength beyond measure.
I am well. I bailed on the kayak and swimming and pushed on after a delicious breakfast and fresh coffee. I have some zeroes left, they just reside in Maine. It was the easiest 20 mile day yet. I hit trail magic again. Trail magic gold. Two black cherry sodas. The same guys from yesterday. This time they invited me back to their cabin, along with two other hikers. Got a shower, went to dinner and now drinking beer on the porch.
I'll say it again, hikers are the best people on the planet. Trail Angels are needed. We probably wouldn't make it to Katahdin if it weren't for them.
I'm fat and happy in Dalton, MA.
Should be in Vermont by Sunday.
A big thanks to Rob Bird for allowing me into his world.
Cheers
Jason
Dalton, MA - Mile 1565 - Jul 18th, 2015