Hey guys, a more detailed post will be coming in the following days. For now I just wanted to let everyone know that I summited Mt. Greylock, and entered Vermont yesterday.

I’m currently 46(ish) miles south of Manchester Center, where I will hopefully be staying at the Green Mountain House for a night. Yesterday I said goodbye (for now) to Jelly and her adorable adventure pup, Mabel. They both hopped ahead to the Maine Junction, in pursuit of their second to last section of trail.

As soon as I made the decision to let go of trying to keep up with others, and resolved to hike solo, both Jelly and Crotchidile came back into my trail life. Additionally, I met a badass ultra-lighter named Sage, and he are hopefully destined to become good friends.

More on the Great Barrington – North adventurers to come. For now, I have thirteen more miles to hike. I’m aiming for the Goddard Shelter tonight.

I’m at the McDonalds in Great Barrington, MA, drinking coffee and doing a little mission planning. This is a particularly robust town, with many hiker friendly food and lodging options, so it’s an attractive place to take a zero day.

In addition to all of the greasy McDoubles I could ever desire, there is also a Subway on the south end of town. For lodging, the Berkshire Regional Community Center allows tenting behind their building. Additionally, for a mere $7, hikers can have full use of their facility for the day. This includes showers and the pool. A veritable stinky hiker oasis!

Mission planning typically includes making a grocery list, tailored to conditions and the miles until the next resupply. Generally for me, fifteen miles equals one full day of food. If the next resupply is forty five miles out, that’s three day’s with. The tendency for hikers is to overpack their fears. I always buy too much food, because running out is my biggest worry out here.

Conditions affect the grocery list too. In summer heat I load up on Propel powder, because electrolyte replacement becomes paramount. In colder weather, I will always carry out at least eight ounces of cheese, which is unmatched in its calorie to weight ratio. Summer sausage and precooked bacon are also winter staples.

Another great aspect of Great Barrington, is that there is both a Marshall’s and a Good Will here. About a hundred miles ago, I split one pair of men’s running shorts, right down the rear seam. It’s gone from a one inch tear to three inches in that time. Thankfully I wear liner shorts, so the mooning has been kept to a minimum.

Woman’s running shorts have been a game changer for me. Thanks to Neemor’s YouTube channel for that recommendation. They’re light, they breath well, and the shorter length allows more leg movement, which wards off splitting butt seams. I’m hoping to find another pair today, as my men’s shorts are pretty worn out anyway. They’re not worth repairing.

Other town errands involve bumming WiFi for podcasts, uploading YouTube videos to make space on my phone, and downloading my next audio book, Good to Great.

Speaking of errands, I had best get to stepping! Here are some pictures from the last few miles:

An inviting pool of water. I took a little hiker bath here (no soap).

New video. Leaving CT

Leaving CT today. It was a beautiful section, and very well maintained. The flats along the Housatonic River were stunningly beautiful corridors framed by tall hemlocks and sycamores.

I am currently in Salisbury, CT enjoying a bit of civilization. According to the plaque near the door, this is the first public library in the United States.

I am here to charge my devices and upload video on their extremely fast WiFi. They’re kind enough to provide comfy chairs and inexpensive coffee as well.

Early this morning I noticed an infection forming in the big toe of my left foot. This is just another typical obstacle in a thru-hiker’s life. Thankfully there is a grocery with medical supplies here, and many good options for a zero day coming up.

Recently I was asked how this hike differs from my last hike, and the main hallmark is that I take better care of myself now. Self-care was something I begrudgingly attended to in 2016. I’d mash through miles, skip shower opportunities, and push myself into desperate, unplanned zero days.

Seeking to abate needless chaos this time, I’m listening to my body more intently than ever. While I’ve been accused of pink blazing in the past, the reason I prefer to hike with women is because, they are much better at taking care of themselves than men. When I hike with a group of dudes, I invariably push too far and too fast.

I remember hiking this section with Game Warden years ago, and telling her over breakfast that I was hiking a twenty mile day. I knew the heat index would be well over 110, but I planned to muscle my way through it anyway.

Four miles later, when she found me nearly passed out on the side of the trail, she casually mentioned a deli .2 off trail. I followed her there, drank many cold Gatorade’s and loitered behind the building. Soon twenty hikers had rolled in. Pinky and The Brain, Snorlax and Musicbox, Daddy, and many others.

We stayed till the evening and hiked on after the heat began to fade. My twenty mile day had become a six mile day. It had to, or else it would have been my last day on the trail.

The constant negotiation of ambition versus reality is the very essence of long distance hiking. Just ask Anish, who nearly killed herself twice on the PCT by refusing to carry two extra liters of water. It seems absurd to normal people, that at 2.2lbs per liter, water can be deemed unnecessary weight by hikers. Normal people don’t thru hike though, and all weight is subject to scrutiny.

“I’m on that no food, no water ultralight!” Proclaimed Clammy, just before waking into town.

You can bet that I do the same. There is nothing more satisfying than carrying exactly the right amount of food and water needed for a section. Though, truth be told, I always seem to have a day’s worth of oatmeal at the bottom of my food bag.

Keeping clean and healthy can be quite the challenge out here. I’ve long been a louffa fan, and recently I have become a daily baby-wipe bather. I carry soap, conditioner, and shampoo these days. Showers are few and far between, but when I get them, I take full advantage. It’s worth it to me to carry these items for seventy, to sometimes one hundred miles between uses. Hike your own hike!

My next town stop will likely be Great Barrington, MA. Upper Goose Pond is also coming up, a common place for hikers to zero. I’ll be sure to stop in, as I missed it last time. Until next time. Take the best care of yourselves on, and perhaps more importantly, off trail too!

It’s funny how writing while tired is so much like when I used to write while drunk. I made few quick edits on my last post when I woke up this morning. I felt that same barely tangible sense of guilt I used to possess, every night after I mixed several beers and Facebook.

I’m reading Glover’s No More Mr. Nice Guy, which is hitting home more than I care to admit. I’ve read books on co-dependency before, but I’ve never exactly fit that mold. The “Nice Guy Syndrome” succinctly explains everything I’ve struggled with socially in life. I fit that mold perfectly. While I’ve done a lot of work already, having realized some of these tendencies through mediation, Glover shines a light in some pretty dark places.

I’m a thirty three year old man, and I’m only now learning how to get my needs met. AA is filled with “Nice Guys” and these tendencies are the cause of the alcoholism I struggled with for over a decade.

I’ll get more into the book and what I’ve learned from it in depth in a later post. I’m too exhausted to tackle it now.

I’ve spent much of the day in my head, and with the encouragement of Tater’s mother yesterday, figuring out what I want my hike to be. I want it to be a truly solo, hike your own hike venture at its core. Sure friends will come, but I’m tired of running to keep up with people, or slowing to let them catch up. I’m letting all of that go as of today.

I’m also letting go of the need to finish this post right now. It’s finally starting to rain, and I’m all snuggled up in my bivy. I’m going to sleep so hard!

Tonight I am sleeping inside the MT Algo Shelter, at mile 1468.8 (Northbound). Quite often hikers will make impromptu markers at various distances from Springer Mountain to track their progress. These literal milestones, have spelt out “1300” and “1400” recently. As a Flip Flop hiker, these signs mean little to me, so I must keep track of my own mileage, measured from Harper’s Ferry, WV instead. As of tonight I’ve hiked 443 miles over the course of thirty-three days.

I’ve been on trail long enough to feel like a real hiker, even among the NoBo’s. Initially, it felt very much like I had just yellow blazed 1000 trail miles, yet I was still walking around telling everyone I was a thru hiker. I felt guilty for accepting trail magic for a good hundred miles into the journey.

Now that my gear is sufficiently funky, and no shower can remove all the dirt from my body; I am the genuine article.

Tater Tot and I investigated a random hiker box left at the edge of a field near Pawling, NY this morning. We were immediately questioned by a rather tenacious woman who believed us to be day hikers. In her defense, Tater was slack packing, and many confuse my Hyperlite for a daypack.

After relating that we had, in fact, over 4200 trail miles between us, the woman calmed down. I continued munching the lovely banana chip treasure trove guilt free, and the lady decided to follow us for a few miles.

Tater was not in the mood to talk, and of late I’ve acted as a sort of social buffer in such situations. She hiked on and I continued exchanging pleasantries with the slightly calmed woman hiking on my heels. Eventually, she directed the conversation towards:

“I’d thru hike, but you know, I have a job and responsibilities.”

When you tell a thru hiker on the AT this, you sound like a jerk, and they hear instead:

“I’d thru hike, but I don’t want it badly enough.” Yes, that’s what you’re trying to say.

It’s like when I recently told a pilot I had always wanted to fly, and put up a barrage of excuses for why I hadn’t. He knew damned well what the truth was. I didn’t want it badly enough.

I made the decision to hike on, further legitimizing myself as a thru when I left her in the dust.

Tater and I were parting today, and the Connecticut border was less than seven miles away. From there she’d be hopping in the car with her mom, and going to Maine to finish her last state. Bittersweet to be sure, but Tater was stoked. Hell, I’m stoked. I can’t wait for her to reach that beautiful sign, on the windswept summit all of us seek.

Instead of staying another night in Greenwood Lake, I made the compromise to leave after dinner on the 5th of June. This was barely within the limits of propriety, but I had two factors drawing me away. First, I wasn’t comfortable with the house guests mentioned in my last post, and second, I wanted to at least say goodbye to Tater properly. Even if I didn’t reach the CT border with her, I wanted to do better than the casual wave I gave at our last parting.

At 7:30pm I left my Cousin’s place and made for the trail. He walked with me for a half mile or so, and soon after I received an unsolicited hitch to the trailhead itself. From there I proceeded to hike until 2am, finally stopping for the night some ten miles down trail. I pitched my bivy near a rocky outcrop and continued on around 7am the following morning.

Soon enough Tater caught up to me, and extended an offer for me to stay with her and her mom at a nearby state park. I accepted happily.

Why did I want to hike with her so badly? A few reasons. Most importantly, she keeps me laughing all day. The importance of such a moral boost cannot be understated.

We have similar experiences on the AT, which can only be understood by other LASHers (Long Ass Section Hikers). People who have had to leave the trail before, and have made the effort to return, are a special kind of crazy. I like that crazy.

Thirdly, we’re both out here trying to deconstruct our last relationships. We’ve had some seriously insightful dialogs on that point. She’s younger than me by eight years, but definitely has her shit together, and much to teach.

Yes, she’s also incredibly gorgeous and attractive beyond measure. On the list of things well, she has them all. I’m grateful to have had a chance to clear a couple of states with her.

Her mom is every bit as amazing. “Snake Charmer” understands hikers in a way that only a parent who has been along side their wandering child can. You have to be a pretty amazing parent to drive across the country to support your daughter’s thru hike.

Snake Charmer cooked us breakfast and dinner for three days, and slack-packed us from the park, which had glorious hot showers.

The best part though, is that the family dynamic between her and her daughter matched that of my own family. We have the same sense of humor, and it made me miss home. It made be nostalgic for a time when my family was a decade younger, with more vitality.

Had I been on trail in earlier years, I think both of my parents would have taken great interest, and subsequent care of me during my hike. My mom has always been my greatest cheerleader out here. It’s been really tough thinking about how the stroke has affected her.

You have to appreciate people while you have them. You have to be present while the present moment still exists. I’m going to bed quite grateful tonight, because I feel that I understand and can execute on this principle at last.

I parted with Tater and her mother properly, with hugs. She told me to have fun hiking in the heat, and I told her to enjoy walking up those big ass mountains. Sarcasm is the proper goodbye.

In all seriousness though, I cannot wait for her summit photo.