Begin: Day 55 (Friday, June 14) Becket, MA
End: Day 62 (Friday, June 21) Manchester, VT
Biggest Trail Miles in a day this period: 19
Total Trail Miles Hiked: 631.6
This past week, we completed the part of the Appalachian Trail that traverses the Berkshire Mountains and have now entered the Green Mountains.
Our hiking photos by state:
Photos corresponding to this week’s post can be found in the MA & VT folders.
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DAY 55 - Friday, June 14
Another impromptu long day
Start: Berkshire Lakeside Lodge, MA - 1557.3
End: Dalton, MA - 1576.3
Miles: 19.0
Ascent: 2850 | Descent: 3074
Highest Peak: Becket Mtn, elev. 2176’
The forecast called for a rainy day and we started the day thinking we would do a 16-mile hike, with a bailout point 10 miles in. By noon, the worst of the rain was over and we had reached the Cookie Lady’s blueberry farm, which was the first camping option. Ruth “Cookie Lady 2.0” served us hibiscus tea and chocolate chip cookies, while we chatted with her, her husband, and other hikers making this a really nice lunch break.
Feeling rested and encouraged by the option of a meal from a restaurant and sleeping in another bed, we hiked past the shelter at the 16-mile point and we pushed on to the town of Dalton, making it a 19-mile day. The rain returned towards the end of the hike. It makes everything really pretty, but the ground, especially the rocks, becomes very slippery. Feeling quite tired from another long day, I got a little careless and had a pretty good fall. Luckily it appears that the only damage may be bruising. I will say that my burger and beer that evening was absolutely delicious and worth the long day.
DAY 56 - Saturday, June 15
8-weeks complete on a Zero day
Start: Dalton, MA - 1576.3
End: Dalton, MA - 1576.3
Miles: 0.0
After doing laundry, we took a local bus to Walmart with Yogi. All three of us were disappointed that the Walmart did not have any produce. Afterwards, I cut Trail Horse’s hair without clippers, using only tiny scissors in the motel parking lot while hanging out with Yogi. It was an odd, but nice day.
Today happens to wraps up our eighth week on the trail. Since we hope to finish the trail in 6 months, that would be 33% of our desired completion time. However, we have 25% of the trail completed. Hopefully we can make up some of the schedule on the southern part of the hike, which should be easier than the northern portion.
DAY 57 - Sunday, June 16
Continuing our hike through the Berkshires
Start: Dalton, MA - 1576.3
End: Noepel Shelter Campsite, MA - 1590.0
Miles: 13.7
Ascent: 3432 | Descent: 1899
We had breakfast at a coffee shop in Dalton before hitting the trail. About 9 miles north, the trail passed through Cheshire where we ate sandwiches and ice cream for lunch. The hike after lunch was up hill all 5.5 miles to the next shelter & tent site. We were pretty tired, possibly due to the large climbs of the day.
DAY 58 - Monday, June 17
Thankful for simple trail magic
Start: Noepel Shelter Campsite, MA - 1590.0
End: Sherman Brook Campsite, MA - 1601.3
Miles: 11.3
Ascent: 2439 | Descent: 3713
Highest Peak: Mt Greylock elevation 3,489’
Today’s hike consisted of a lot of climbing and descending over a few mountain summits. In fact today we finally reached elevation 3,000 when we crossed over Saddle Ball Mtn. just before Mt. Greylock.
Both of us were feeling a bit fatigued, which we attribute to not eating enough food. So we felt rather disappointed that the lodge on top of Mt. Greylock is closed on Mondays.
Our next food plan was to hike six miles down to North Adams for a large lunch. This we did accomplish, but it took us much longer and anticipated to get off the mountain. I was exhausted when we reached the highway around 2 pm and was very pleased when a man picking up another hiker offered to drive us to the grocery store.
While sitting on some picnic benches across the street from the grocery store, eating a lot of food, we had a surprise when thru-hiker Sully and his girlfriend walked up. They saw Yogi turning from the sidewalk to the picnic tables and came over to say hello. Sully’s girlfriend drove up frim Virginia to hang out and support his hike for a few days. After hanging out with them, they gave us a ride back to the trailhead. It was so nice to see Sully again. This was the trail magic we needed after a rather grueling day.
DAY 59 - Tuesday, June 18
New state: Vermont
Start: Sherman Brook Campsite, MA - 1601.3
End: Catamount Inn, Bennington, VT - 1618.0
Miles: 16.7
Ascent: 3411 | Descent: 3454
Our short hike between the campsite and the Vermont border was rather steep giving us a tough start for the day (and making us glad for stopping when we did yesterday). We decided to go for a 16-17 mile day, thinking the ascent/ descent for the overall distance may be bearable. One thing that made the hike tougher was that we needed to reach VT Hwy 9 by 6 pm in order to get a free ride into town from the trailhead. I was exhausted once I got down from the mountain, but pizza for dinner and a bed to sleeping are rather nice.
DAY 60 - Wednesday, June 19
600 miles complete!
Start: Bennington, VT - 1618.0
End: Kid Gore Shelter Tentsite, VT - 1632.4
Miles: 14.4
Ascent: 3944 | Descent: 2515
Highest Peak: Glastenbury Mtn, elev. 3,749’
Another sad morning saying goodbye to one of our original trail family. Yogi wanted to take a day off and felt that Trail Horse and I may be pushing longer days than he desires.
Our shuttle dropped the two of us at the trailhead. We have found Vermont to be beautiful, yet the climbs have been pleantiful. Today we reached reached 600 miles from the start of our hike in Harpers Ferry. We are now closer to Mt Katadin than Harpers Ferry!
We have met several people thru-hiking the Long Trail. It starts on the AT at the MA-VT stateline and shares the trail with the AT for 105 miles, until the AT turns east towards NH. The Long Trail continues north to Canada, and is known to be a very remote wilderness trail. As soon as we crossed the border into VT we noticed an extra level of ruggedness on the trail.
DAY 61 - Thursday , June 20
Stratton Mountain
Start: Kid Gore Shelter Tentsite, VT - 1632.4
End: Stratton Pond Shelter tentsite, VT - 1647.4
Miles: 15.0
Ascent: 3033 | Descent: 3190
Highest Peak: Stratton Mtn, elev. 3,939’
Left Kid Gore Shelter early in the morning to hike in very humid conditions. After lunch we had a long climb up to the top of Stratton, where there is an open observation tower at the top. There was a good breeze once we climbed above the treeline and were rewarded with some awesome 360-degree views. We managed to hike down the mountain, and mostly set up our tent, before a big thunderstorm arrived.
DAY 62 - Friday, June 21
Green Mountains
Start: Stratton Pond Shelter tentsite, VT - 1647.4
End: VT 11 Pinnacle Lodge - 1658.1
Miles: 10.7
Ascent: 1070 | Descent: 1852
I believe we entered the Green Mountains on Wednesday. Today makes four days in the Greens and I must say they are aptly named. I have resisted taking a million photos. 😁
It was an easier and shorter day of hiking, although last night’s storm made the terrain slippery. The hike started off with a short detour to view Stratton Pond before 7 am. Then we took a short break around 10 am to look at a nice view down into the town of Manchester. Due to the threat of more rain, we skipped lunch and pushed on through to Vermont Hwy 11, then, a half-mile, uphill road walk to a lodge. I was quite tired when we arrived at 1 pm, and I have realized how much I don’t like “pushing on through”.
Now that we are here we will eat a great deli sandwich for lunch, shower, do laundry, and purchase more food for the next several days.
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