Miles: 1574.5 | A misty sendoff with Chris ends in donuts, Gatorade, and a smooth reunion at the road before settling back into trail rhythm with Miles. A rainy walk through Dalton turns sunny just in time for sandwiches, smoothies, and drying gear in town. Evening storms roll back in at Crystal Mountain, and a late-night wake-up leads to a tense but compassionate moment as a soaked section hiker needs help, reminding us how quickly comfort can unravel on trail.
There was a major road coming up in a couple of miles so I made the executive decision to keep trekking and hope we find her there. Chris hung in there with my fast pace and we showed up to the main road only 40 minutes later than our original meet up time. Aunt Missi was there waiting. Apparently, the road we had originally agreed upon was closed and this was the closest trailhead she saw. She had brought us donuts and more Gatorade! I devoured my donut and so did Chris. I pocketed two Gatorades, one for me and one for Miles, in my fanny pack and said goodbye to them.
In the morning we woke up to a misty rain. Clouds covered the sun and the light was dim. Chris and I packed up before Miles and we set off together to meet his mom. Chris powered through the rain with me and we covered the first mile quickly. We arrived at the road that we agreed to meet at about half an hour early. Aunt Missi wasn't there, though, and there was no cell service. We tried walking up the dirt road a little ways, hoping for service or to see her, but it yielded nothing.
I set off alone after that and made it a few more miles before deciding to take a bathroom break. When I got back to where I left my pack I sat down in the rain and pulled out a snack. I decided to look at Guthook and see what lay ahead for the day.
When I looked back at it I realized that the intersection where Aunt Missi had met us was the same intersection that The Cookie Lady's house was at! I had missed it! I was very bummed. It was a few miles back but I didn't think walking an extra 6 miles today for a cookie was worth it. Besides, I thought, this was a section I'd consider doing again.
As I sat and ate my snack, disappointed that I'd missed another AT icon, Miles came up behind me! I got up and put my pack on and we started walking in the rain together. He really brightened the dark day. We walked and talked like we always did. North of us on the trail was Dalton, MA. Another walk through town. There were some coffee shops, delis, and convenience stores we would walk past. Miles and I decided to stop at a coffee shop and hopefully duck out of the rain. Just as we were discussing our options, the storm started clearing and the rain stopped!
By the time we made it into Dalton, the sun was coming out and the day turned out to be kind of nice! We got to a coffee shop next to a deli. I got a sandwich for us to split and Miles got us a smoothie to split. Miles even got my tent out for me to dry it out while I got the sandwich. We sat in the direct sun and let our clothes dry on our bodies while we ate our sub. I got some blogging done during our lunch, too. Once my tent was dry we followed the road back to the trail, which was just a sidewalk in town. Along the way we saw a very encouraging sign.
We stopped by a gas station on the way back to trail and I picked up some new water bottles and a couple of granola bars. We hadn't resupplied since Great Barrington and I was running low.
At the gas station some nice people offered to give us a ride to the trail. We had to explain to them that the trail was actually the side walk in front of the gas station. They were very confused, but extremely generous. We kept walking through town and eventually made it back into the woods. We passed a large group of hikers we hadn't met before and they were all discussing camping at the same site we were aiming for.
We didn't talk for long so that we could get a head start on some good campsites. We chugged up the hill toward camp, not stopping for any breaks. When we arrived, Miles got us water and I took his pack up to the campsites. I set up our tents and started boiling water for dinner. Storm clouds started rolling back in just as we finished setting up. Alone in a small grove of trees nearby camp was a younger section hiker we hadn't met before. He had a hammock set up with a tent's rain fly hung over. I saw it and immediately thought, oh man he's going to be wet tonight!
I ate dinner with Miles and soon the crowd from the trail head also arrived. There were about a dozen people at camp that night, all in their own tents. Hooch, a hiker we'd recently met, set up nearby Miles and I. He played his small guitar quietly while we hung out around the fire ring. We socialized and ate snacks together while we waited for the rain or the dark, whichever came first. Another guy, called Jesus, set up his one person tent nearby and joined us.
Eventually, The rain came and we retreated to our tents. I lay in bed reading and eating snacks until I fell asleep.
Sometime around 3am I was awoken by a male voice outside (I was the only girl at camp anyway), "Hello?" I heard it say. It sounded at first like someone answering their phone. Tent walls are so thin, I assumed, that someone nearby was answering their phone. I rolled over, annoyed, and tried to fall back to sleep. A few minutes later I heard it again, "Hello? Is anyone awake?" At this point I was sufficiently pissed off. "What?!" I growled back, sleepily. No one else responded to him.
"It's really cold and wet and my rain fly didn't hold up. Do you have any room in there?" the voice asked. Without a doubt I knew exactly who the voice was. The section hiker who had been camped in the hammock with the poorly hung tent rain fly over him for 'protection'. I wasn't surprised he was in trouble but I was also annoyed and foggy from being woken up. I have a one person tent. I am also a young girl in a sea of male hikers. As kind as I was I couldn't let this guy in my tiny tent. I yelled the names of the hikers around me, trying to wake up someone else who might be able to help him. Every other hiker had a two person tent.
Miles woke up and offered to help him out. The young hiker went and got his emergency blanket (yes the Mylar crinkly, shiny 'blanket' that sounds like a potato chip bag). The rest of camp went back to sleep.