Day 142
Start: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
End: Levardi’s, Dalton, MA
Miles Hiked: 20.4
Miles on AT: 1576.1
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Today, I was on a mission. It was Friday and I had to be in the next next town, Cheshire, by Saturday at noon in order to pick up a package from the post office. That meant I would need to get to Dalton by tonight so that I only had a few miles to hike in the morning.
I wanted to leave the cabin early, but the company was too good. I was one of the first to get chocolate chip pancakes bright and early at 6:45 am and, boy, were they good! Vlobster, the caretaker, made pancakes for everyone that wanted one (some even had seconds). I chatted with everyone this morning, telling my story and listening to theirs. I loved the energy of the group and was sad to have to leave so early.
But, off I hiked, leaving around 8:15 am, not exactly early, but early enough. After crossing over the Massachusetts Turnpike and heading into the woods, I passed the group of Yale students taking a water break and made my way to the top of Beckett Mountain. I signed the log book and spotted a few familiar names ahead of me.
The terrain today wasn’t going to be too bad. There were a few ups and downs, but nothing major. The day mostly passed uneventfully. On the bright side, I did stop by the Cookie Lady and eat a few mini chocolate chip cookies, but I didn’t get to taste her famous hibiscus tea; oh, well.
After sitting on the porch for a while, I finally left around 3:30 pm. I still had about 9 miles to hike, so it was going to be a late day. I also couldn’t push myself to move super quickly because I would get nerve pain if I did, so I just kept a moderate steady pace.
After a few small climbs, I finally started the descent into Dalton. My plan was to stay at Tom Levardi’s house and tent on his lawn. He is a famous trail angel who has been hosting hikers for decades. When I got to the information board at the Dalton trailhead, I saw that the town had even put on an event a few weeks ago to celebrate all the work he had done for hikers.
When I got to his place, it seemed pretty quiet. There were no tents up, but when I rang the doorbell, he welcomed me and gave me the rundown. Apparently, a large group had been there the night before, but I was the only hiker tonight.
After setting up my tent, I ran over to the sandwich shop before they closed so I could get a sandwich for dinner and another one to carry for tomorrow. With that done, I rolled into my tent and was more than ready for bed. I had gotten into town right at sunset and hadn’t really had time to decompress from the day. Now, warm in my tent, I was grateful to be lying down. Before I knew it, I was off to dreamland.
And that’s day 142.
A version of this post originally appeared on TheTrek.co.