When I arrived at camp last night, I was exhausted. The climb and miles kicked my booty. So I made haste with getting my tent set up, ate and crawled into my bag. And then it rained. I have to say that I am getting pretty good at setting up this tent of mine. The fact that it rained for close to an hour, yet I was nice, dry and warm inside my little place called paradise!

Around 11pm, I heard a scratchy at the side of my tent. It wasn’t a bear, and it wasn’t a mouse. The two intruders I would’ve expected. It was a raccoon. That little bandit wanted inside with me. I remember Mooch telling me about the raccoon that he had to fend off when it tried grabbing his food bag and taking off with it! I was having no part of that. I asked the little Bandit that she is, go away. I guess she didn’t hear me so I had to tell her again with a big swat at my tent and then, she understood. She left and I heard no more of her scratching.

Before the birds started squawking, I was up. I really want to get to town and get my food bag. I’m down to oatmeal with dried bananas, yuck, some coffee and two dehydrated dinners. I have one beef stick for lunch and a handful of jelly belly’s. That’s good planning on my part. I packed up my wet tent and was on trail before 6am.

The morning walk was glorious. No one but me and the Lord this morning. I didn’t even need to slay spider webs. I guess they don’t spin their countless webs when it rains. That was a pleasant surprise.

The saddest part of today is I’m leaving my most favorite state of all, Connecticut. I crossed over Sages Ravine Brook, and there was the sign. Welcome to Massachusetts. I considered turning around and just hiking back and forth in Connecticut, like a yo-yo. But that would never serve me and I’d never reach Katahdin. So I reluctantly moved north and entered new territory.

The first few steps were lined with ferns and seemed much like my favorite place. But that all changed very quickly. The blaze sent me to the left and up a rocky path towards Mt. Race. As I was climbing up the ledges, I could hear someone approaching from behind. Imagine that, a fellow hiker caught up with me.

Roddy, aka Roderick is a local. He likes backpacking and comes out as often as he can. He was doing a section and just so happened to camp at the same place as I did. Roddy knows the area but hasn’t hiked the north end of Mt. Race and Everett. Lucky for me, he knows where the best overlooks are located. He escorted me along the ledges, pointing out certain peaks, and sharing his knowledge of the plants, trees and flora along the way.

We reached the south end of the open ridge on Mount Race. For the next half a mile, there were spectacular views to the east, south, and north from the peak. On a clear day which we had today, we could see Mount Greylock to the north, which is located at the far northern end of this state. It was stunning!

The next grueling climb was Mount Everett. Yesterday I wrote that Mt Race and Everett were a ski area. I was so wrong. Sorry about that if you already started planning your next ski getaway. These are mountains with ledges. And there’s no skiing, just hiking. Both are less than 3000’ tall but seem much bigger.

Once atop Mt. Everett, we stopped for some snacks. I could’ve eaten a side of beef, but settled for a handful of nuts. There were four cement footings that Roddy said used to be a fire lookout tower. It would’ve been one incredible place to view the surrounding landscape.

The downhill was the typical. One scary step after another, with an occasional butt slide because my legs are quite long enough to take the next giant leap. Before long, I was back on level ground with dirt, not rocks, under foot.

Roddy made it down and was waiting for his ride. A Trail Angel “Father Time” was parked on the roadway. He had sodas, apples and every type of junk food a stinky hiker would devour. After drinking an iced cold tea, Fritos and an apple, I was quite content. Ends up that Father Time is friends with Out & Back and Chance. He came earlier and took them into town for breakfast. After talking for a bit, I asked the question? Any chance you can give me a ride to Great Barrington? Father Time was happy to help and before I knew it, I was checking into Quality Inn. Roddy had already lined up a ride back to his car so we said goodbye. What a great hiking partner he was today.

Great Barrington is a nice little town. The hotel is situated right on Main Street, a few blocks from the Post Office. I offloaded my pack, took a shower and put on my somewhat clean Town Dress. Lucky for me the Post Office has normal hours and I picked up my resupply box. I emptied the priority box, then loaded my daypack with my next weeks food. After all that, I proceeded to find real food. There was a great outdoor Mexican Restaurant which fit the bill. I ordered Chicken Tortilla Soup with Avocado and a Beer. And of course, chips and salsa. Perfect combination.

After my early dinner, I headed to the city park where they had live music on Wednesdays. Yeah for me. I saw an older gentleman sitting on a park bench and sat down with him. Ben is a local and he likes coming down to the park. He asks me if I’m from around here and tell him I’m hiking the AT. He’s fascinated and tells me about the one time he backpacked in Nepal. We have that in common. Great starter.

After about an hour of riveting conversation and sharing our faith in Jesus, I decided it was time to head back to my home for the night. I have chores to do like laundry, restocking my food bag, and getting some much needed rest. Hopefully I won’t have any critters trying to get into my room tonight. I’m going to have Norman stand guard. It’s time that he starts pulling his fair share.