Late Starts & Big Miles on the AT

This morning I slept in the room until around 6:30 AM. Then I rolled back over for another 20 or so minutes before finally getting up. After that, I quickly packed my things. Then headed over to the continental breakfast to see what they had. I was pleasantly surprised that it was actually a pretty solid spread.

Continental breakfast!

I grabbed a couple of muffins for the road, made a hot mocha, and ate some toast with butter and jelly and some sausage links. I brought everything back to the room and ate pretty quickly. Then we were ready to roll and walk down the road to attempt to get a hitch. Of course though, it’s Easter day! So I will be curious to see how much traffic is on the road and how long it takes us to get a ride.

Standing out alongside the road it was windy and cold. We got a ride within the first five or so minutes, but initially I was a little concerned. The woman who picked us up apparently does so frequently when the bubble comes through. She was really nice and is actually going to glacier national park this summer for a long backpacking trip. We talked briefly about that as she drove us the 3 miles or so down the road.

Stairs galore today!

Once she dropped us off we got moving. It looks like there’s going to be a lot of elevation games today. And I remember Massachusetts being pretty rocky and rooty. While I walked I did a bit of loose planning for the next few days. As of today, I don’t really have any concrete plans for this next week. There are a bunch of different places where you can possibly stop off to resupply. The trail goes right through one or two towns in Massachusetts. And I’ve had a few people reach out wanting to support me or bring trail magic in Vermont.

The trail was covered in rocks and roots today.

After a couple miles of leisurely walking the first climb of the day again. It was actually ridiculously steep and kind of caught me off guard. But I just took my time and kept pushing through. Then once the trail leveled out a bit and I used the next hour or so to create a few different plans and possible scenarios. I looked at the upcoming mileage between different town stops, did some hypothetical math, and things like that. I just wanted to have an idea of which towns were in reach for particular days. I personally love to end a day in town when possible. That way you can sleep in town and enjoy all the comforts of town. But you still get a full day of hiking in.

Walking across a long foot bridge this afternoon.

I always feel a lot better about my plans once I start to do this exercise. When I started to tweak the numbers around I saw a few possible options unfolding before me. It definitely looks possible to stay in Bennington, Vermont in a few days. I’ll get there in about three days if I average about 30 miles a day. But before we leave Massachusetts, we’re going to pass through Williamstown. The town isn’t anything particularly special, but for some reason it’s nostalgic for me. I stayed in this town in 2022 when I was doing a shakedown hike on the Appalachian Trail in preparation for the Pacific crest trail. Then I stayed there in 2023 with Sweet Pea. We got into town super late but just in time to grab dinner and retreat to the room for the night.

If it were a little bit later in the year, this area would be blooming!

Williamstown is about 70 miles from Great Barrington. So obviously the mileage isn’t an ideal spread. But when I was looking at the map for today, the only possible shelter options are 28 miles into the day and 36 miles into the day. I got walking today a little after 8 AM this morning. Which means I could still probably get to camp just after dark even if I did 36 miles.

The trail went past this small pond.

And if I did 36 miles today and about 35 miles tomorrow, then I could actually stay in Williamstown tomorrow night. I realize those are too pretty big days. But I know there will be some gradual terrain tomorrow before the trail passes through Dalton, Massachusetts. Tomorrow I will also have to climb Mount Greylock. Which wasn’t the worst climb, but is pretty long. Then I recall the descent coming off of there as being fairly steep before you drop into Williamstown.

It was an absolutely perfect day on trail.

After the initial climb out of town today, the trail just rolled up and down for a couple of hours. Then it descended down to another road before the next stretch of climbing started. This next climb was going to be a tiered climb that went on for about five or so miles. But the trail would bring you up, then flatten out or go down, then bring you back up again. It actually wound up being a really great climb that I didn’t mind too much. And if I did wind up doing 36 miles for the day, I only had about three more climbs left. And each of those was only between a half mile and a mile and a half long. I think as long as my body feels good like usual over the course of the day I’ll probably wind up doing that.

Climbing up onto this wide open hill, which had a bench on top!

Lately I’ve also been thinking about some other things while walking. I know I mentioned it really briefly a few blog posts ago, but my soul has just been screaming at me lately to take some time to myself. I really can’t explain exactly why. But as you can imagine, it can be a lot spending the majority of your time with someone else. It’s comparable to living with someone else in many ways. And I think it’s healthy and important to spend time by yourself in every “living” situation.

These signs reminded me of some of the ski areas on the PCT and CDT.

Over the last week I’ve been hiking by myself as much as I can during the day. It’s been a nice way to try to regain some personal time with myself. But now, the idea of getting into Williamstown in two days and being able to get a room to myself sounds pretty darn good. I’ve had a private room at a couple hostels this year. Then was in a separate room at the apartment style rental in Pawling, New York. But I haven’t actually had a motel room to myself this entire year. Every day for the last 110 days I’ve been hiking about 27 miles per day. That’s just the average! Over the last 3.5 months I’ve only taken 5 zero days and probably as many or more “shorter days”. All of that takes its toll on your mind and your body. And what I need now more than ever is some time alone.

Walking along upper goose pond early this evening.

There’s just this wonderful, recharging, peace that I find when I’m alone. I feel more grounded mentally and more connected to the trail. Some of my favorite times while thru hiking have been the times I spent by myself. And at the same time, I also really enjoy hiking with other people. But right now it just feels like it’s time for a change, honestly. The key to hiking in a tramily or with partners, in my opinion, is truly listening to your heart. I love hiking on my own, so if I’m going to hike with someone else then it needs to add to my joy and experience everyday. If and when that isn’t the case anymore, then it might be time to reassess. 

Things are changing but I feel light and easy. Sometimes change is a really good thing.

I continued going along the trail which had a lot of ups and downs. I actually ran into a trail runner going southbound who knew my buddy, Tail Wind. I met Tail Wind on the AT in 2023 and we’ve been in contact about possibly meeting up while I’m passing through Massachusetts or New Hampshire. So it was cool to hear his name and hear that he had shown my videos to some friends, like this trail runner. That guy was super stoked to meet me and was just excited about the whole thing.

I wound up passing by a couple of shelters in this next section. And then pretty much got up to the top of the rolling ascent. Then I would just be riding along the ridge for the next few miles before dropping down once more. From there I would have one short, but seemingly steep, climb. Then later on would have one more climb before passing by upper goose pond shelter. That shelter is so ridiculously nice. It was pretty tempting initially to end the day there. But honestly, at this point, I think it’s way more tempting to push out two really big days and stay in town tomorrow night.

By this time, I had about 15 miles to go for the day. The weather was absolutely perfect and I was feeling really good. It’s funny, but lately when I’ve been hiking alone, I haven’t even been listening to music or podcast. I definitely put them on occasionally or listen to music. But I’ve really just been enjoying time by myself with my thoughts. I feel like all of the time alone is just helping me to realign myself and it’s been making me really happy. At the end of the day that’s really all that you can do or hope for.

Typically when I’m on trail I really just use my happiness as a moderator for my choices. If hiking with other people makes me even happier than I normally am, then that’s what I’ll do! But if the time comes that I think I’d be happier by myself than with somebody else, then it might be time to set out on my own once more. Though it doesn’t make that decision any easier.

When I got to the junction for goose pond shelter, I saw a sign up stating that it was closed still for the season. Which made it a pretty easy decision to go further. It was also only just after 5 PM. So there was plenty of time for me to go another 7 or 8 miles for the day. I would probably still get to the next shelter right around the time that it got dark. If I kept it moving pretty quickly, I probably would only have to walk in the dark for a short while.

The trail goes right over the pike on this overpass.

The trail for the rest of the day was really nice and I actually made great time. There was a super short climb after I passed the junction for goose pond shelter. Then the trail leveled out and eventually descended down to the next road. There was one final climb for the day which was only a mile or so long. Then I just had to do some short rolling hills to get to the next shelter. For the last few miles of the day, I picked up the pace just a little bit. Usually I just cruise at around 3 mph. That’s the most sustainable speed for me and something that I can do all day long. Even a day like today where I went for 36 miles, I never sat down once. If I go any faster than that, it’s really not sustainable for me.

Going a little bit quicker for the last hour meant that I shaved off some time. So I knew I would only be walking in the dark for maybe 10 or 15 minutes. You gotta love that. Just as it got dark I got to the last water source for the day. Then filled up and headed to the shelter. Punisher was inside when I got there and so were a few section hikers. But there was plenty of room for me to get set up inside. I think that this might be the last night that Punisher and I camp together and hike together for at least a little while. I really want to branch off and just do my own thing for a bit, and I think that’s what’s going to make me the most happy. It’s been a great last couple of months and we’ve hiked so many miles together. I just think it’s time for a new chapter.

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