Day 111: Dalton and Cheshire

Day 111

Kay Wood shelter to Mark Noepel Shelter
Miles Hiked: 16.7

AT milage: 1584.8

This morning I woke up and my back was hurting a bit. Then I realized I had rolled off my sleeping pad and was sleeping on the ground all night. It was 6am and I laid in my sleeping bag until 6:30. Now that it’s slightly chilly when I wake up in the morning it’s easier for me to be lazy about getting out of my tent. I didn’t plan to hike far today anyways so it didn’t matter.

After three miles of hiking we walked into the town of Dalton, Massachusetts. We passed a local trail angels house named Tom. We met him yesterday at the cookie ladies house because he was helping her out by driving her to the store. When we walked by, Tom was sitting outside sharing breakfast with the hikers that camped in his yard. He recognized Flamingo and I from yesterday and invited us to have a doughnut. We stopped for a little bit and chatted with him before we headed further down the trail and into town to get smoothies at a local breakfast place.

At Juice and Java I got a bagel and a mango smoothie. Then I filled up my waters and bought some chocolate milk at the gas station across the street. It seems like this is the first new England town I’ve stopped into that has reasonable prices. I sent some post cards out to family members and said goodbye to Flamingo for a few days because he is taking a zero tomorrow and staying in town for two nights.

Back on the trail I continued the short roadwalk through the rest of town before heading up the mountain. I had to go 9 more miles before the trail hit yet another town! I was surprised to be walking straight through two towns recently. I thought PA might be the last time the trail would do that, I was wrong. Right before reaching the town of Cheshire,MA I stopped at a viewpoint called Cheshire Cobble. There was a great view of Mount Greylock which I will be climbing tomorrow. At the view was a couple with a Weiner dog. I was so excited to see the dog because I have two Weiner dogs at home that I miss very much. I found out that the dog goes hiking all the time including up mount Greylock! I had to get a picture of it before I left.

Eventually I hit the town of Cheshire, MA on the trail. There was an icecream store a few feet off the trail at the junction of the AT and a local bike path that was extremely busy on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. I stopped for some ice cream and ended up staying way longer than planned. Some locals that were in the middle of their bike rides started talking to me including one who just finished the AT a year or two ago. It was nice to talk to them, but sometimes I feel so fatigued I just don’t feel like explaining for what feels like the 100th time that no I don’t carry a stove or that yes it’s possible to hike 2,000 miles on the AT in a pair of sandals if you want to ( I’ve seen many people do it). I was at the ice cream store for maybe two to three hours. At least my feet were getting a break.

After the ice cream shop I headed to the dollar general to resupply my food for the next five days. Next I started climbing up mount Greylock to the shelter I planned to camp at for the night. Mount Greylock is the highest point in Massachusetts and has a beautiful war memorial on top. I can’t wait to see it tomorrow morning.

Happy Trails!