7/13 Day 105
Stealth camp-Dalton, MA
Total miles: 25
It's been a really long day. By far the most eventful part of the day has been meeting Rob Bird and his van Casper. We met Rob 3-miles before entering town. He was posted up on the side of the road giving out free sodas and fruit. From the moment we met him, he was nothing but smiles and full of happiness. As we trekked on towards town, he gave us some advice on where to eat and stay. As Dawn, Lucky B, and myself started down the final descent it began to rain. Which was fine, we only had to walk a little ways through town and we would all be enjoying a warm dry hotel room. Those pleasant thoughts were far from reality. We made it to the hotel and by that time we were soaked to the bone. The hotel had no vacancies. My heart sank. I was having flashbacks of Greenwood, NY, when out of no where came Rob and his van. He saved the day and gave us a place to stay. First, he took us to an all you can eat Buffett, then we went back to his place. We took hot showers and slept in such a wonderful bed! Fewer things are sweeter than listening to rain hit the roof and knowing you don't have to pack up a wet tent in the morning.
7/14 Day 106
Dalton, MA-MT Greylock
Total miles: 17.2
We woke around 6:30 a.m., and sat on the front porch with Rob sipping coffee. This guy has done everything, from police officer to studio recording artist. As much as we enjoyed hanging out with Rob, the trail still needed to be hiked. But not before we stopped at Walmart and grabbed some McDonalds for breakfast. I was also able to affix two new pole tips onto my trekking poles. The other set had literally been worn down to nubs. We finally started hiking around 10:30 a.m. Two small climbs later and we were in the town of Cheshire, MA which conveniently had a ice cream stand along the trail. After lunch and some ice cream we began out ascent to Mt. Greylock. The climb wasn't nearly as hard as anticipated and we were greeted with crisp breezes, a duck pond, and an amazing war memorial. It's been closed all year for renovations, but we met a friendly park ranger who let us in so we could get even better views from the top. He even gave us permission to sleep in the Thunderbolt Hut. It's a hut normally for emergency use only, but it is fully equipped for an over night stay. It was the ideal place to sleep. Not only was it fully enclosed but it also let us stay on top of the Mountain to watch the sunset. As we watched the sunset dip beneath the horizon, everything was perfect. Dawn and I held hands as we walked back to our hut and settled in for a cool, comfortable nights sleep.
Rob and his van
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