August 29th, 2018, Massachusetts
There were about 15 Smith College students camping at the tent site last night. I had read in the trail app comments that the bear box lid was bent and mice could get in. There were some large rocks next to the box that had been used to help keep the lid down tight. I discussed this with the ladies at camp and put my stuff in the box.
The Smith students were preparing for orientation hiking trips that they were leading next week; each would have up to 7 new students on a backpacking trip. They were having a great time but quieted down around 9pm. Then it rained a bit overnight and there was a flurry of bright headlamp activity, tent setting up and adjusting, clothes gathering, etc. The next morning I asked how they fared in the rain and one said they ended up with five girls in their 3-person tent. It wasn’t supposed to rain and I think there were more people than spaces inside tents. Given that a 3-person tent is usually about right for two people, I’m sure they were crowded.
When I went to the bear box I found that mice had succeeded in getting into the box. They had nibbled a few bags, including mine. They didn’t get to my food but had made a 1 inch hole before giving up. I had to repair my bag with a patch. Again, so far, hanging my food has been reliable. But you are encouraged to use these bear boxes at the shelters and tent sites because the bears can’t get into them.
So, after the excitement of the morning I headed out for an almost 5-mile hike into Dalton. I decided to go to Walmart first—about 1.5 miles further, then spend the afternoon at the community center where they offered showers and a place to charge my phone and power bank. Also, with 90 degree weather expected, I thought it best to be hanging out indoors rather than walking back and forth to Walmart.
The community center had nice showers and provided shampoo/soap and a towel. They allowed hikers to use the facility for a donation. After getting cleaned up I went across the street to the local burrito place while waiting on my power bank to charge. It can take up to 6 hours to go from empty to full so I wasn’t likely to get a full charge. This is one down side of minimizing “zero” days. I’m going to have to figure out how to manage that—or start spending more time in town.
After a mind numbing wait, I was charged to over 3/4 full and it was about time to go. I had already read several 1980s National Geographic Magazines cover to cover. I must say, those do stand the test of time—still just as fascinating as when they were new.
So, it was time to go and I wanted to eat something else for dinner before making the 4 mile walk out of town and to the next shelter. On the way I stopped at Angelina’s Subs and ordered some food. They offered WiFi—which reminded me that I hadn’t had time to upload entries and photos to this blog. That also takes a good amount of time in town—wherever I can get power and WiFi. So I hung out at Angelina’s for a couple more hours and got caught up. Luckily they weren’t too busy and didn’t mind.
Finally, I headed out of town—on a full stomach and with five more days of food in my pack. The day was still hot and I was glad it was just another few miles to the shelter.
When I arrived there were just two others there. They had a fire going and I stopped to say hello. Both men were French, on from near Paris and the other from western France. This was their second day hiking and they were on a 35-day trip. They had hoped to reach Mt. Katahdin but, at this point, realized that they might not make it that far. They said they were used to hiking in Europe where you don’t need to carry a tent and much food. You can stay at the hiking huts with bunks, dinner, and breakfast, and have a very light load to carry during the day. They said this type of hike required more logistics planning. But they seemed happy to be here and were looking forward to their trip.