Hello, Massachusetts
You must know that I am still being emotionally rattled by the storm that hit two nights ago. It was a beast that rattled the trail and the region beyond comprehension. It was a storm that rattled me to my core, and most likely will for quite a while.
There was no storm to fend off last night, and camp shores went as they should. I was on trail at 6:30AM.
The first part of the morning was spent marching to the summit of Bear Mountain, which is the highest point in all of Massachustts. The summit had a view of the surrounding ridge lines from a rock pile constructed on top to recognize this land mass as the highest point in the state.
About one mile later as I traveled along the shore of Sage's Ravine I was greeted with a sign that stated: "Welcome To Massachusetts". I spent the first ten years of my life in this state, so it felt like I was home when I crossed the border, which represents the start of my 11th state on trail.
The summit of Race Mountain offered views of the eastern ridge lines and gave me a glimpse of Mount Everett, where I would soon be.
The climb up Mount Everett was a classic New England climb, meaning it was straight up on a rock face. I had a blast cutting up this rock face, it made me realize I'm truly home. The summit had no views, so I descended straight down to Guilder Pond, where I had lunch with Sinker.
From there it was cruise control to US route 7. There were some bumps along the way, but most of them had views so it was worth it. Once in the valley I cruised along, although the 8/10ths between MA route 41 and south Egremont Road must have been the national headquarters for The Mosquito Action Committee, because I was practically forced to spring this section to avoid them. If I stopped once, even for a second, I was immediately swarmed by hundreds of mosquitoes.
Once I rolled into route 7, I hithced into Great Barrington where I hit the post office to discover my mail was not there. I called dad and he said according to his tracking number it was waiting for me there. My dad gave me the tracking number and I will bring it to the post office tomorrow morning to clean up the mess.
Tonight I am staying with Kathy and Dave. This couple takes hikers in by word of mouth and gives us a place to stay for the night. When I arrived Kathy gave me a tour of her enormous house. I owe them a huge thanks for taking me in for the night.
After showering and making some phone calls, I began the tedious process of updating my journal, which I will hopefully complete tomorrow.
I am completely exhausted.
Good night and good luck.
Kirby
Addendum added 7/29/08: This would be the last time I see Sinker, he left trail for a day to receive treatment for Giardia and never caught up.
Ga>ME 2008.
