My kind of town, Williamstown is

Mark Noepel Lean-to to Williamstown The Mountain Goat: 10 miles

The shelter bunk was hard as nails and I slept in many positions without ever finding satisfaction. I need a pad if I plan on sleeping in shelters on a regular basis. I managed to get out of bed and get packed up before the Scarlet Seven (-3) left. Actually, they waited for me is more like it. We hustled up the mountain to Greylock and it was cool. Greylock is the highest mountain in Massachusetts and also the highest mountain anywhere around so the view was cool. There was an amazing War Memorial up there. I wanted to get in to town so I kept pushing. I got to Mt Williams and noticed that the numbers of the elevation, 2951, add up to 17, my lucky number! How cool is that? The climb down was steep and my feet felt fine. Maybe the Dr. Scholl’s things are actually working. My knees took a pounding though and they are still killing me now as I write. We finally got in to Williamstown and the Scarlet Seven (-3) headed to North Adams and me and Indy hitched a ride in to town to pick up stuff at the post office and the outfitter (new trekking pole parts, a USB cable so I can upload pics and my new pack) We hung out at the outfitters and Kimberly gave us a ride to the Laundromat. It was extra awesome for her to do that. I’m sure we didn’t smell the best. We laundered, fed and resupplied in the same parking lot and just when it looked like it would be really tough to hitch back, a bus came along and picked us up! It was awesome. They just pulled right over and picked us up! I found out that they do that sort of thing herein the Berkshires. NICE! We got back and went to the Williams Inn, a very nice place where we really didn’t belong; however, they offer showers and Jacuzzi for only 6 bucks for hikers! SWEET! The soap was Bayberry scented and I smelled wonderful for the first time in a long time; the Jacuzzi soothed my weary muscles and the pool refreshed my senses with a cool awakening. We walked out of there Kings in heart and mind. On the way back to the Outfitter, whose backyard we are camping in, we ran into a group of kids playing some bluegrass. It was reminiscent of Gatlinburg and we stopped to get a little ice cream and listen. It was cool. Some students from an academy on the other side of the mountain were singing multiple harmony tunes and concluded with the Old Crow Medicine Show Tune, “Rock Me.” Rolex would have loved it. I keep running into that song on this trip. We dropped our stuff at the outfitter and went across the street to hang out at the bar and blog and post. I finally have some connection!! I’m sleeping out in the middle of the grass and stuff tonight, no tent, just a sleeping bag and the stars. I hope it doesn’t rain! Tomorrow is my Birthday and I plan on Walking into Vermont as long as this knee doesn’t give me a problem. It started acting up when I was at the grocery store. It’s been giving me a lot of pain. I took two Tylenol and some ice cream; that ought to help J

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Escape from Dalton

Flag and the Blaze in Dalton

Dalton Massachusetts to Mark Noepel Lean-to: 14 miles

I slept on the floor in the basement again and I got up even later this time. I had some good dreams though. It was cold last night. I sleep so much better when it’s cold; as long as I have sufficient covers. By the time I got out of there the Scarlet Seven (-3) were already gone except for Croc Hunter who had to go to the library. I slid down to the breakfast place and got more breakfast sandwiches. God O love the East Coast for their sandwiches! They have Kaiser rolls and man they are the best roll for sandwiches on the planet. It’s so nice to go to a place and not get freaking Sourdough everywhere. The only reason people even eat sourdough is because they have never had a real Italian roll or a Kaiser Roll. Sourdough is great for hard pretzels; but as a bread, it sucks the big one! Two Sandwiches and an orange Juice later I went back to the house and took about two hours to pack up all my stuff. I’m feeling all depressed cause everyone is in front of me by at least a day. I really need to get going or I’ll never make it up that hill. I finally knuckled down and packed it up. I really need to do some laundry. The amenities in Dalton were very difficult to use due to the distances involved. It sucks to have to walk everywhere just to get laundry done at one place and a shower at another place and groceries somewhere else and a shower is here and the cell phone only works over there and the internet only works at the library and the Post office is on the other side of town, blah blah. I know it’s annoying to listen to me gripe but imagine having to go through it every time you run out of food an you have to come into a town. Every once in a while everything works and it’s all at the same place; but, that hasn’t happened since the Mayor’s house in Unionville. Hopefully everything will be closer in Williamstown. I’ll skip the laundry and the posting until then unless I can get some Internet while I’m at a shelter. I walked through town and there was this little guy on the sidewalk selling pink lemonade. His name was Jack and his dad was filming so I had to get some of course. It was a quarter a cup and he played the harmonica and this funky little spinny top toy thing while you drank your lemonade. It was pretty cool. I filmed it and then BSd with him and his parents for a while. Man I’m terrible at getting on the trail. We’re considering renaming my trail name to “Still Here.” I got on the trail about 1130 and my body was grumpy. It must be from the crappy food I ate; when am I going to learn? Movie Popcorn and McDonalds do not make for a good hiking day the next day/ It was all I could do to keep going. I felt like a slug but eventually my system cleared out and I got up to a good pace. I knew the Scarlet Seven (-3) were going to be at the shelter right before the summit and I figured I might stop there. You’re not supposed to camp at the summit right now but I wanted to pull a stealth camp up there and film the sunset. When I got the shelter I had other ideas and I decided to stay there. Those guys built the biggest fire I have ever seen in a three foot fire pit. They piled HUGE logs on it and it’ll still be burning in the morning I am sure. I’m typing right now and am the last one up and it’s still going strong. All coals though, no flames. It looks like I’ll get into Williamstown on schedule tomorrow. It’s going to be cool to be in a town with my name. Maybe they’ll let me take over for a while. Right before I get in to town I’ll be climbing over Mt. Williams. That ought to be cool. I’ll have to get a picture of me on my mountain. My back is starting to hurt from sleeping on the floor and typing at this picnic table. I gotta go to bed. Have a good one. It looks like I have some service here but I don’t think I’m going to post cause I need some sleep. Well, maybe…

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1