A family friend treats me to an amazing weekend in Boston before I get back out on the Appalachian Trail and enter Vermont.

Enjoy reading my latest journal entry as I backpack the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. If you missed it, here are my previous entries and videos from the trail.

DAY 101

After a wonderful night’s sleep at Lynn and Keith’s home, I enjoyed bacon and eggs for breakfast and relaxed. Then, Lynn and I drove into Cambridge, MA, to meet up with her daughter Kirsten for lunch. Then they went off to see a show while I wandered around the Harvard campus.

After admiring the collegiate buildings, I moseyed down into Boston before Lynn and Kirsten met up with me again. We went to a nearby brewery for appetizers and beers before heading back to Lynn’s home in North Andover, MA.

It was nice to see Harvard and have a chill day off the trail.

Day’s Mileage: 0.0

Total Miles Hiked: 1,578.6

Remaining Miles: 621.1

DAY 102

After breakfast, Lynn and I drove to downtown Boston for the pride parade. We found a great spot to watch and it was a fun time. Perhaps the funniest thing to me was seeing the Wells Fargo wagon coming down the street (a la The Music Man musical). Elizabeth Warren was marching and the Red Sox mascot was there as well as drag queens, politicians, churches, schools, businesses, etc. It was great to see such an inclusive parade.

Lynn had to leave the parade early so I was left on my own for the afternoon. I met up with her son, Matt and his friends after the parade. We went to a bar for drinks that eventually kicked everyone out for a private event except for us. We ended up watching an exclusive drag show for multiple bachelorette parties and dancing a lot.

Afterward, it was only 10pm so we walked around the city and stumbled onto an outdoor dance party. We joined in before realizing it was a youth pride event!

We quickly left after that realization and went to a gay bar where we danced and drank the night away.

Day’s Mileage: 0.0

Total Miles Hiked: 1,578.6

Remaining Miles: 621.1

DAY 103

Still in downtown Boston, I went with Matt and his girlfriend, Annie, to brunch and then to a Red Sox game. They lost to the Chicago White Sox. Back at Lynn and Keith’s home we had dinner and watched the Tony Awards.

Day’s Mileage: 0.0

Total Miles Hiked: 1,578.6

Remaining Miles: 621.1

DAY 104

I had stayed up too late and wished I could have slept in all day. Instead I packed my bag and Lynn and I headed off toward the trail, 2.5 hours away.

We stopped at Dunkin Donuts and REI. I purchased some bug spray and swapped some gear out at the latter. Back in Dalton, MA, I bid Lynn goodbye. She and Keith were the most gracious and generous hosts. They fed and housed me, offered me their Red Sox seats, showed me around Boston and Cambridge, etc. By the end of my long weekend with them I felt like one of the family. It’s truly touching how many great people I have met and amazing places I’ve visited because of this hike. What a journey. I can only hope I will see Lynn, Keith, and their family again one day.

Back on the trail the terrain seemed easy. There were steep sections on my guide but it didn’t seem that bad as I hiked. My trail legs came back to me pretty quickly despite my long weekend absence.

The weather was warm and sunny. Unfortunately I left my hat and sunglasses with Annie back in Boston. Hopefully they could be mailed to me soon. I walked through the town of Cheshire and stopped to get dinner. The small ice cream snack bar was cash only so I had to walk over half a mile to an ATM. On the way back I ran into Gandalf the Grey. I hadn’t seen him since I was hiking with Sticks and Jon the Baptist back in Tennessee. He planned to summit Katahdin (the northern terminus of the trail) at the end of July with his family. He’s got a lot of time to kill so he’s hiking low mileage days. It was tempting to join him tenting out at a church nearby but I wanted to get farther.

I returned with cash in hand to Diane’s Twist for ice cream and a tuna sandwich. Afterward I hit the trail just after six and headed up into the mountains. It was supposed to be a steep climb from what the locals say. I must be a seasoned hiker, hardened from Georgia and the Smokies because it didn’t seem that bad. The evening was beautiful and I didn’t sweat that much.

I arrived at the shelter but there were at least eight people spread out in tents and in the shelter. It was dusk and they were all in bed. I really didn’t feel like dealing with people, especially that many. I couldn’t find any available tent sites so I left.

Though it was already dark I continued on. After about half a mile I found a clearing in the trees. It wasn’t really a clearing so much as a grove of pines where their acidic needles had kept the underbrush low. I was wearing my bandana as a headband and shoved my phone between it and my forehead with the flashlight turned on to make a ghetto headlamp. I pitched my tent and reflected on my day.

It is nice to be back on the trail. The comforts of ‘real life’ are so quick to take me out of my element here. I like the simplicity of hiking and the peacefulness. I find it funny the lengths I took just to avoid being around others at the shelter. There was room in the shelter but instead I pitched a tent in the dark in not the most ideal location. With about 40 days left of my hike, I’m finding myself not wanting it to end.

Day’s Mileage: 14.5

Total Miles Hiked: 1,593.1

Remaining Miles: 606.6

DAY 105

After Boston I realized I need to reconnect back with nature. The first half of this hike was fun and exciting and new. But halfway through I proved myself physically adept, and now it has become a mental game. The rain and rocks of Pennsylvania tested my resolve and I’ve found myself craving distractions on my phone to pass the time. I’ll read the news, text, listen to music or audiobooks, etc. But now that I only have five weeks left, I want to get back to just me and my thoughts and the challenge of entertaining myself each day. I haven’t been hiking with anyone and there aren’t many people on the trail at the moment. So I’m trying to keep my phone off and my thoughts in the present.

It smelled like Christmas when I woke up. My tent was underneath some fir trees and as I hiked onward, the smell continued. It wasn’t long before I arrived at the summit of Mt. Greylock.

Mt. Greylock is the highest peak in Massachusetts. There was a lodge at the top but it appeared to be closed. I filled up my water bottles from the spigot. A large tower was built on the summit in honor of the fallen soldiers of the state. I walked up the stairs inside to the top. The 360° view was incredible. I could see the Catskills, the Adirondacks, the Green Mountains of Vermont, and some peaks in New Hampshire.

The trail continued downward from the summit and was a real knee killer. At the bottom was the road into North Adams and Williamstown, MA. A man named Jared gave me a ride into town. He had attempted a thru-hike in 1989 but had to leave the trail after he injured his ankle. His trail name was Thin Man. Now he likes to help out hikers and let them couch-surf at his home.

He drove me to the post office where I picked up a replacement part for my Katadyn BeFree water filtration system. Then we went to a sandwich shop where each sandwich is named after a famous person who’d eaten there. I had the Justin Long and he had the Neil Patrick Harris. We talked about the trail over lunch and then went to the grocery store for resupply.

I thanked Jared and was back on the trail around 3pm. It was a long climb back up into the mountains but it didn’t seem so bad when I reached the top. I passed four other hikers who were having a much tougher time. I wondered why there were so many hikers all of a sudden. I asked them where they were headed and they all were hiking the Long Trail. This trail travels the length of Vermont, starting at the border of Massachusetts and Vermont but shares the AT for the first 100 miles. They were all headed up the mountain to the border where the trail starts at the stateline.

Sure enough, a little ways along the mountain ridge I crossed the border into Vermont. Three states left to go! The mosquitos picked up and were super annoying. I finally set my pack down and put on some picaridin bug spray. Why was I carrying it around if I was too lazy to use it? It was extremely effective.

I walked until I hit a shelter. I checked in to use the privy and see if anyone I knew was there. I ran into Charlie Horse who I had met in the Smokies and last saw in Hot Springs, NC. It was good to see him but I hiked on. I wanted to go a little bit further and be alone.

I found a tiny campsite a mile past the shelter and made camp. It was quiet and breezy. I took inventory of my food and found I had at least ten instant potato packets. Most of these were leftovers from my cousin Noah, aka Gel, who hiked with me in Maryland. I also still had some noodle side dishes that Michael had given me back in the Smokies. I realized I need to stop carrying this extra weight and eat! I better get used to potatoes.

Day’s Mileage: 17.3

Total Miles Hiked: 1,510.4

Remaining Miles: 589.3

Daily Average: 15.3

THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES

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