Dirty Girl Hikes

“And a coffee to go please.”

Acts of service are my love language, and this morning I brought Tater breakfast in bed. I was absolutely determined to give her an undisturbed morning after the previous day with the camp kids. She woke to blueberry pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs with maple syrup… Also ketchup… Because she’s weird like that. Is this a West coast thing?

She slept in til ten, then we did our usual pack, clean, vacate magic trick. We hopped the BRTA bus back to Lee, Mass and the drive was wonderfully scenic. New England homes are so ornate and unique. I’ve come to really enjoy the architecture up here.

We were dropped at the Berkshire Premium Outlets. A few rain clouds prompted us to repack some gear, and then we headed on. We hitched exactly were we had a few days before, and got a ride with a Navy vet back to trail. He was a very nice man, though quiet.

We had planned for a sixteen today, but when we made it to October Mountain Shelter, our gumption quickly vanished. Smooth, Coolwhip, and Cool Cucumber were all there, along with two ladies doing a section hike. We had met them outside of Benedict Pond.

The news of the day was the water source, reddened with tannins and not very appetizing to look at. Tater and I would have to get water here regardless of whether we pushed on or not. Being back with our only real trail fam so far though, we decided to stay.

I had packed out lunch meat, cheese, and rolls, along with half a pound of pineapple. The spread was decadent. This is how pro’s eat after town!

We caught up on all the trail gossip. The guys and their stay at Upper Goose Pond. Apparently the coffee poured freely, and the pancakes were plentiful. Best of all Coolwhip had a fire going now, and the smoke was blowing all the damned mosquitos away. Mass is such a buggy state!

When I approached and threw on a few more twigs, Cool Cucumber said:

“There is a saying from the middle ages. Those who sustain and maintain something are every bit as valuable as those who create something. This is a virtue I wish our modern society would value again.”

I really love that guy. What an onion, the layers continue!

Smooth had us giggling with his smooth anecdotes, and Coolwhip impressed Tater and I both with his undeniable game. One of the two lady section hikers began to laugh at his banter. Within the hour he had her number. If Tater and I heard correctly, he was busy showing her his tent later that night.

Two couples came in just before nightfall, along with Fox, a solo section hiker from Pennsylvania.

Tater and I would later dub the two couples “The Noobs” but they’d grow on us in the coming days.

Taking the short day was a good call for morale. Plus, Taters knee was acting up a bit. We could always push a bigger day tomorrow.