Massachusetts

It’s been chilly in the mornings so I have a hard time getting out of my sleeping bag. When I finally made it out of my tent today, I found masses of earthworms underneath everything: my shoes, my pack, my tent. Gross. I had to spend some time cleaning slime off a few things before I could pack up and go.

I ran into Smiley and Lost n Found a few miles in and hiked with them most of the day. I had planned on reaching Great Barrington tonight but after talking with them, decided to nero in tomorrow instead so I’d have time to check out the town instead of arriving too late to do anything. It’s supposed to be a cool place.

We soon passed the 1,500 mile mark of the trail, and then entered Massachusetts, the 11th state of the trail. Only three more states to go! (The hardest ones.) Massachusetts is gorgeous so far. It started with a long walk along cascades and waterfalls and has had some nice, easy trail as well. I went over a few bigger mountains today: Bear Mountain, Mount Race, Mount Everett, and Mount Bushnell. There were a few steep climbs and great views all day long.

I stopped to camp after 18 miles since it was starting to get dark and I don’t have a working headlamp at the moment. It’s a nice, level area on soft pine needles. I do have one tiny LED light that I can read with for a while, borrowed from Jungle Jym, and I’m carrying an actual book at the moment, borrowed from Rainbow Bright.