T+46 Fight for every inch

T+46 (July 14, 2020)

Navigation Report:
Start Point: Wilbur Clearing Shelter (mile 15924)
Target Destination: Seth Warner Shelter (mile 16023)

Travel Log:
9:20 Break Camp (mile 1592.4)
9:30 Back on the AT
9:35 Mount Prospect Ledge (mile 1592.7)
10:35-10:45 Paull Brook (mile 1594.4)
10:45 Pattinson Rd. (mile 1594.5)
11:10 Williamstown, MA (mile 1595.4)
MISSED Eph's Lookout (mile 1598.6)
4:00 Unknown Lookout (?? mile; on bad weather trail)
5:10 MA / VT border (mile 1599.5)
7:05 Seth Warner shelter (mile 1602.3)

Daily Mileage = 9.9
Total Mileage = 453.1

Commander’s Report:
Today was one of those days that felt like I was fighting myself and the world to get anything accomplished. The paper cuts started early when I forgot to take toilet paper with me to the privy. (Don't worry, I realized this BEFORE doing my business.) Things really picked up in town though.

The problem, as usual, being internet access. I got the resupply done quickly and then attempted to upload a couple of blog posts. Poor internet put an end to that. I managed to get one post uploaded in 3 hours. Most annoying was the fact that every pic I uploaded was displayed upside down by default (a common glitch with poor internet connection). This necessitates an extra minute or two of right the ship for each picture and it was a pic heavy post.

During that time a small storm passed through This presaged a change in the weather as after that a series of storms passed through and this went on all afternoon. So much for the last forecast I saw for the day: Sunny with 10% chance of rain. 

Thus, I ended up hiking from town up to elevation in the rain. In a world's first, I actually used a bypass trail. I approached Eph's lookout during a thunderstorm, so I took the prudent approach: actually using the bad weather bypass.

In the end, I got to my intended destination in one piece and accomplished most of the things I needed to do today. So, a successful day in spite of everything. Do I meet the qualifications for the perseverance Merit Badge yet?

Now that I've spent my word quota on griping, let's get to the hike. Right after rejoining the AT is Mount Prospect Ledge. Pretty decent views considering the weather. Surprisingly. I didn't pick up on the high probability of showers from these clouds. There was similar clouds yesterday and they went away in the late morning and never returned. I assumed the same thing would happen today.

Nothing of note to report about the walk into town. It’s a steep downhill to get off the mountain, which only ended after getting into town proper.

I went to Stop and Shop in Williamstown (0.7 miles from the trail) to do the resupply. That part was super easy.

On the way out of town, the AT crosses the Hoosic River. I thought it deserved a couple of pictures.

​Initially, the ascent was going well. I made it up about 1400' without stopping for a break before hearing thunder and stopping to prep for rain. I got geared up and the bag repacked without getting wet, but I never did manage to get back in the groove the whole rest of the way to the shelter.

As I said previously, I took the site trail instead of traversing Eph's lookout in the thunderstorm. Therefore, I didn't expect to get any views. Instead, about 0.1 mile before the Bad Weather trail rejoins the AT is a nice view point. The views are of a sea of trees, but it beats the view from within the sea. 

​Less than a mile north of where I rejoined the AT is the MA / VT border. That means another state is behind me, and only 3 more remain ahead (VT, NH, ME).

​A mile or so into VT and the trail passes this beauty of a boulder. This beast marked the transition into a region with many such glacially deposited boulders.

​I struggled the last couple of miles into camp, but made it. 7 PM is significantly later than I would prefer to roll into camp, but I managed to get pretty much all of the post-hike chores done. It just meant that I got to bed later than usual.

I wanted to end with this:

It's a very young adult frog approximately 1/2" in length. Little froggies were all over the trail this AM, and some were 1/4" in length or smaller. I'm sure at least one was a victim to my boots, in spite of my Best attempts to avoid them. Sorry little guys!