Its been a little while since I got back on the trail from the wedding and I feel like a lot has happened. I had a really great time getting to take the to go back to Virginia to see a lot of my friends and family. My brother was awesome and came all the way up to pick Son and I up from Connecticut. The trip seemed to be pretty long but not too bad because we were able to stop off in New York and pick up the girl I was telling y'all about and take her with us. It was really nice getting to know her and all the time I spent with her added to the feeling of how special I think she is. The wedding turned out to be very beautiful and a really good time. It was really great to get to see a lot of you and talk a bit more about my experiences out here. Sadly for me however my time in civilization had to come to an end so that I could get back to the trail and get to Katahdin.
It was pretty difficult getting back in to the swing of things from being off the trail for so long. I just kept thinking how everything was so much easier when I was back for the wedding and how nice it was to not be kind of alone and away from everyone. I think if it weren't for Son being out here with me when I got back on I don't know if I would have been able to make it through the transition of getting back onto the trail.
After a few days of not so great weather and scenery not changing so much things started to get a little better. We started making climbs over 2000ft again allowing for some better views and also getting to see some nice waterfalls and brooks that ran along side the trail. Just after we got into Massachusetts there was a really cool spot along one of the brooks that looked like it could have been a really great spot to do a cliff jump, probably about 20ft high. I was really excited because this was going to be the first one I would be able to do on the trail so far. The water was pretty clear and looked like it was about 10 or 12 feet deep so I climbed up and gave my camera to Son to take a video. He said, "hey it not working man." So I went over and checked it out, sure enough my phone had frozen on the video screen so I had to restart it. I figured since it was restarting I might as well climb down there and make sure everything was alright down there before I jumped. So I swam in and that water was freezing cold and by some kind of optical illusion the water was only really about 4 feet deep. Man am I glad my phone crapped out on me there! Definitely checking the water personally now before I think about doing anything like that again.
So the next couple of days were pretty nice and we got to see a couple of cool little small towns. One town in Salisbury, CT actually interviewed us for their town paper and said we were going to be in the issue that came out last Thursday. Massachusetts has been a pretty beautiful state to hike through with surprisingly a lot of really nice people here. Just a couple of days ago we went and stayed at a cabin that was maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club or AMC called Upper Goose Pond Cabin. The cabin is run by a volunteer caretakers who switch once a week. It was a very beautiful place to stay right on the pond. They allowed you to go out on their canoes and in the morning they made all the pancakes and coffee you could ever want.
After leaving the cabin it started off like it was going to be a nice day, however around 10am that story changed. It started raining then and rained all day until we got to Dalton, MA. It was a pretty miserable day however we heard that a man named Tom Lavardi allowed you to camp at his house in town so we figured we would do that and go in and get a bite to eat to try and make the day a little better. To our surprise when we got to his house there were about 20 hikers at his house all just hanging out. As it turns out Tom goes above and beyond to help hikers. He completely opens his house up letting hikers sleep in the middle of the living room, he lets you use the.shower, does all of your laundry and will pretty much drive you wherever you want to go. ALL FOR FREE! He makes it so that his house is a bit of an Oasis for hikers. He doesn't mind how long you stay either. When we asked him if we could stay another day to.recuperate he said well the record is 47 days and your welcome to try and beat that if you want. Supposedly a hiker in the past ran out of money for the trail and Tom let him stay at the house while he got a job in town to make enough money to finish. Anyway we have been at his house for the last couple of days and I think I have finally gotten out of my funk from feeling the way I had after the wedding and am now ready to get back on the trail and experience the beautiful northern states. Be looking forward to some beautiful pictures because I know they will be coming!
-Turbo Zero
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