Miles: 1521.7 | A soaked push through mist and rain delivers us into Great Barrington just in time for trail magic, hot showers, and much-needed town comforts. After eleven days without a proper wash, the community center becomes a haven—laundry, food, and a mental reset. Hunger overrides patience, fast food hits the spot, and a spontaneous haircut marks a symbolic shedding of trail weight. The day ends tucked into a cramped tent as rain returns, plans laid for the miles ahead, and spirits quietly restored.
We had a hard time sleeping with the teen girls camping loudly nearby the night before. This resulted in us sleeping in until 9am. We made it out of camp by 10am as the misty rain started rolling in. We were 8 miles out of town and determined to get to town in the early afternoon. I had originally hoped to get to town around noon to make the most of our nero there, but we estimated that we could be at the road crossing by 2pm. There was a trail angel in town known as "Papa Joe" who gave rides to hikers for donations. Ordinarily we would have tried to hitch hike on such a busy road but in the pouring rain we knew our chances of getting picked up were significantly lower.
We trudged through the rain as fast as we could. It kind of felt good, honestly, after all of the heat we had. We had been sweating and dehydrated a few days before. Now I had goosebumps and my skin was drenched in rainwater instead of sweat. Then we arrived at the last quarter mile: railroad tracks, a big field, and the main road just ahead. The foggy, deserted railroad tracks felt like a dystopian novel in the dim light. We practically ran across the field even though we were a few minutes early, hoping there would be some kind of overhanging roof on the building that Joe said he would meet us at. When we arrived at the road crossing he was already there waiting for us! The best timing ever. Joe even gave us ice cold Gatorade!
He took us over to the community center, they offered $5 showers with towels and free camping. We ran inside in the torrential downpour and Miles and I parted ways to the gendered locker rooms. The shower felt amazing. I made it as hot as possible. I wrung out my already soaked clothes and watched a stream of dirt flow down the drain. The only part that wasn't enjoyable: untangling my hair. Over the nearly 11 days I went without a shower my hair had become a rat's nest with multiple dreadlocks beginning to form. It took me a full hour to untangle it.
For weeks I had been saying, "Do you think I would look good with short hair?" I would ask Miles. He didn't really care, said I would look beautiful no matter what I did to my hair. I felt nervous about cutting it all off. I didn't have a mirror to look in every day. In fact, I'd almost completely thrown how I look out the window. I hardly cared about appearances anymore. I decided that while I was in Great Barrington, I would find someone to cut off my hair.
I finished my shower and got all of my laundry ready to go in a plastic trash bag from the front desk. I went out to the lobby with my pack and dirty clothes. I sat by the window and waited for Miles. He had also finished showering and was outside talking on the phone. I sat and watched the rain outside the window. I had half a notion to take advantage of the wifi and cell signal but I was too tired to process social media. The torrential downpour was still going and it felt good to just sit and watch it, inside and dry.
I was so hungry, though, and waiting for the storm to pass was taking too long. I didn't want to get the only dry clothes I had left wet in the rain but I was so hungry and there wasn't any food at the community center that wasn't an overpriced vending machine item that made me feel like I was eating trail food (light, transportable food eaten while backpacking). I wanted town food. I was so hungry. I wanted a good hot meal.
Eventually, Miles finished his phone call. He said he wanted to sit and wait a while longer to see if the rain died down before we went to get food. I couldn't wait any longer. I plugged in my external batteries and left my pack right next to it. Viva, who was also in the lobby offered to watch it for me. I told Miles I was leaving and he groaned. He got up and came with me anyway. We ran through the rain, both of us without raincoats because of broken zippers, a quarter-mile to the closest food: McDonald's. I got a huge chicken nugget meal and devoured the fast food I used to turn my nose up to.
Once upon a time, I used to ridicule my family for eating McDonald's, or any fast food really. During lunch I called over to a hair salon that was in the same plaza as the grocery store. They had an opening at 4pm, about 15 minutes away. I took the appointment and left Miles to do his chores. He needed a new cell phone and new shorts. Luckily this plaza had both an AT&T store and a Marshall's!
I sat in the chair for the woman to cut my hair. She introduced herself as Martha and asked what I wanted done. I told her I wanted to cut all of my hair off. I showed her a few photos of pixie cuts I had found on the internet. She seemed surprised. "Are you sure?" she asked with her eyebrows raised. "Once you cut it you cannot go back." I looked back at her in the mirror and nodded. "Let's do this," I replied. She started cutting with a shrug and made small talk while she was at it.
She asked if I lived in the area and I told her that I was hiking the trail. "Oh!" She exclaimed. "That makes much more sense! It is hard to keep your hair nice in the woods! I don't go camping for that very reason." She laughed. After an hour and some more small talk, my hair was gone. I left the salon and went to meet Miles at Marshall's.
I hid in the men's clothing section and surprised Miles. He exclaimed, "Awe! You look like Rachel Maddow!" I laughed, "Oh no, that better not be my new trail name." We laughed and found Miles some new shorts. Afterward we got some snacks at the grocery store and headed back to the community center. The rain had died down a little bit.
Back at the community center I sorted my groceries in my food bag and we went outside to set up our tents. We found that the campsites were all on a hill. There were some platforms and those were flat, but there was only one very small and hilly spot where we were able to set up Miles' tent for us to share.
Unfortunately, you need to have some way to stake out trekking pole tents and these platforms didn't have the loops needed to do that. It started sprinkling. We made it in the tent just as the rain picked up. We sat, crammed together, and looked over our plan for tomorrow. We ate as much town food (heavy or messy food that cannot be carried easily in a backpack) as possible.