I’ve now walked 570 miles, over 1/4 of the trail! From where I started, at the West Virginia and Maryland border, which is slightly south of the trail’s halfway point, I am nearly halfway to the northern terminus on Mt. Katahdin in Maine.
The trail through Connecticut and Massachusetts has been relatively level without any steep climbs. My guide book says of Massachusetts, “Water and mosquitoes seem to be everywhere — be warned!” The mosquitoes have not been bad. Not compared to New Jersey. Though the few that are out are notably large — an adaptation I’ve observed allows them to hunt even in moderate downpours of rain. Their favorite tactic is to land just above the elbows, which are shielded from the rain as I hike with my trekking poles. I’ve developed a habit of slapping my elbows periodically, whether I actually feel anything or not.
One amusing behavior of all the mosquitoes so far is that they seem to be more attracted to the sweat-soaked belt of my backpack than to my skin. I can set my pack down and watch them swarm it, landing like little oil rigs on the belt repeatedly plunging their needle into the fabric, shifting over a millimeter and trying again, never finding the capillaries they are looking for, and never giving up. They are amazing machines of nature, but also rather dimwitted.
Water, true to my guidebook, is everywhere. The trail is about one-third ankle-deep mud, one-third ankle-deep water (covering ankle-deep mud), and one-third pleasant, soft, pine-needle and leaf covered. The trail name for Vermont, the next state I will hike through, is “Vermud,” so I’m not expecting the mud to subside any time soon. The weather forecast, at least, looks like much less rain than last week.
I went almost six weeks without losing anything. And then in the span of a few days I broke my backpack, lost my toilet paper (left it in a privy, I suppose), soap (left it near a water spigot, I think), my Leatherman scissors multi-tool (left it in the last shelter I stayed in), and wore a hole in one of my socks so big that all of my toes stick out. The loss of toilet paper was maybe especially inconvenient. For two days I used pages from my little notepad. At one point during that time I was lucky enough to be near a campsite with “privy” right when I needed it, so I wouldn’t have to use the woods. When I got to the camp site and followed the signs to the toilet, that’s exactly what it was: a toilet mounted on a box out in the middle of the woods with no walls or anything. Still better than nothing.
I’ve made a luxurious time of Massachusetts. I was almost out of food and had already walked 15 miles when I reached Hwy 7, which I walked along for two miles to a grocery store in the town of Great Barrington. When I got to the grocery store I was wet and muddy and decided it didn’t sound like much fun to turn around and walk another 4 miles or so and set up my tent in the rain (assuming I could even find a good spot), so I just kept on walking until I got to a Travelodge motel!
A few days later I reached the town of Dalton where there is a man named Thomas Levardi who lets hikers sleep in his house and do laundry and take showers, for free. When I was there with four other hikers, he made us all ice cream sundaes. I slept on a mattress in his basement. One of the hikers I met there, Charlie
[I ended up summiting Katahdin the same day as Charlie]
from Bristol, UK, is thru-hiking the trail for the third time. He’s also hiked the Pacific Crest Trail twice, the Continental Divide Trail (hiked it once, bicycled it once), and once bicycled from Anchorage, Alaska, to Tierra del Fuego. One of those guys.
On Tuesday I reached Williamstown, where I still am today. I split an inexpensive hotel room with Prescott
[I probably saw more of Prescott on the trail than any other single hiker as our schedules would occasionally sync up all the way into Maine. Unfortunately I lost his contact info when the Denver police confiscated my backpack at Occupy Denver; Prescott, if you ever read this, get in touch!]
, another hiker I met at Thomas Levardi’s house, for two nights and took my first zero day in which I made no progress on the trail! I ordered a new backpack from REI and my mom shipped it here ahead of me, so I took the day to repack and resupply. I actually spent most of Wednesday riding buses around the Berkshires trying to find a store that sold little Leatherman multi-tools. I finally ended up at the Berkshire Mall where I found both a bit of culture shock and an Eastern Mountain Sports that had the same model tool I had lost (and on sale!). My new pack is larger than my last one, with more pockets, and it weighs less. I am excited about hiking with it.
I’m writing in a coffee shop on the Williams College campus. The art institute here is currently exhibiting paintings by the impressionist and anarchist, Camille Pissarro. I wanted to take a look, but, much as it would be for the peasants that he painted, it was a bit too expensive for me.
Before I leave town I need to buy groceries. The next grocery store within walking distance of the trail is 6 days ahead (good thing I got the new pack, because I could not fit that much food in my old one!). There is a Wild Oats market in town, so I might be able to get some quinoa
[I ended up going to a different grocery store, so I never got quinoa until Hanover]
! S told me that is good hiking food. Though I may just by 6 days worth of Pop-Tarts. My favorite feature of the new pack is that it has pockets on the hip belt in which I can store Pop-Tarts (and orange smoothie flavored PowerBars) and EAT WHILE I HIKE. The future is now.
Diode