Cookie Outdoors

Massachusetts welcomes you Day 114 Several of us managed to tent under a large canopy normally used for summer camps. This meant the bulk of our tents were dry, though the ground was wet. After waiting out a bit of morning rain, charging devices and eating our fill at McDonald's, Blink, Whitman and I got a ride back to trail from a local trail angel. My lunch spot had a view and a breeze We ended up hiking most of the day together. It's been quite a while since I had extended conversations during the hiking day, and I appreciated the company. Sadly, Whitman decided to head back to Great Barrington for another day due to an ankle injury. Blink and I stopped at a nice lake in the late afternoon and ate dinner together, though he decided to hike another 2 miles to the next shelter. Nice afternoon ledges Sadly, in selecting my tent spot this evening I stepped fully into an uncovered pile of human poop. We've all had emergencies when our guts don't co

Town days Day 110 In an effort to shake myself out of my New York blues, I'm taking slightly shorter days (15 miles, can you believe that's easy) and making more town stops for this stretch. Today I popped into the town of Kent. They have an outdoor shower at the town welcome center, so I showered two days in a row! However, it has been so so muggy that the clean feeling rarely lasts more than an hour. I got trail magic in town from another hiker Mary Poppins, perhaps best known for her dog Wile E Coyote who is a standard poodle. She is the platinum blazing type that is shuttling her own car the whole way, so she helped me get around town and back to trail. This IS the trail. I crawled over the closer log and tried to crawl under the second, but my potato chips outside my pack were getting crushed/caught, so I clambered over it, too. Wildfire smoke is back in the East, as I was informed after hauling my butt up a hill that was at least covered with ripe blueberries.

In which I become a bear magnet Day 101 Today was the summer solstice, so I decided to get up early to see the sunrise from the fire tower. While I can tolerate early mornings, this is not my preferred long term schedule, and I thrive with more sleep than many people. So up I climb into the wind above treeline, I see it, it's lovely, and I crawl back into my tent for a quick 20 minute nap/snooze button equivalent. I think the colors and clouds look way better than the night before All of the sudden, I hear snuffling and the rustling movement of a large creature and immediately conclude BEAR. I am up and standing outside my tent in a flash. A bear wanders up the hill, crossing the far edge of the campsite clearing about 30 yards from me. It doesn't seem too interested in me or too bothered by me shouting, mostly passing through. I'm wide awake now. I wonder at my luck and have time to put my jacket on in the morning chill when THE BEAR RETURNS. Unless other bears