Maureen made us pancakes this morning. I slept like the dead in a soft bed with the sound of a thunderstorm outside. I wake up every time I turn over, of course, because my muscles are too stiff and sore to do it while I’m still asleep, but otherwise I slept like the dead. 
We ate our pancakes, I took one last shower, and then we packed up and headed out. A quick stop at a gas station for a little more fuel for me (and I’m not sure I actually needed this; I might be able to squeeze by on what I have buuuuut also I want to eat) and then we were at the trail head. Warm goodbyes and we started walking. 

The first few miles were gorgeous, like the rest of Massachusetts. Farmlands and meadows and sun and bogs. I don’t want this state to end. 

Eventually we started the climb up Mt Everett. We won’t summit until tomorrow, but we did get spectacular views at Jug End. We sat and had a long chat about how lucky we were to be here, seeing this, one this trail, experiencing everything we had already. 

I write my blog because I know there are some people who can’t hike, or don’t have the opportunity to leave on the weekends or take 3 weeks to live on the trail, or are just overwhelmed by the idea of backpacking. But I cannot express how lucky I feel to be one of the people who can do these things, who can climb mountains and meet trail angels and make friends in a day and find watermelon in a cooler on the side of the road. 

We climbed more, and made it to glen brook shelter by 12:30. We sat for a minute, but weren’t terribly pleased with the shelter. The hemlocks was just .1 miles down the trail, so we walked over to check it out. It was a much better situation, so we got water at glen brook and then set ourselves up at hemlocks, a nice Massachusetts bunk and loft shelter. 

We ate and read and talked and listened to music and around 3:30 Wilson Wilson, a SOBO, came in. We chatted until another guy came, a guy who had just started in the past few days and was new to backpacking. 

It’s nice to have a slow day like this, but I’m ready to cover miles tomorrow. It’ll be rough going, I think, especially with this MASSIVE bruise I have on my backside that’s really pretty painful especially on the uphills, but tomorrow we’ll be in Connecticut and my trip will be winding down. Goodbye, Massachusetts. I’ll miss you. 
Miles: 8.0

Trip total: 224.3

MVP: strawberries on the pancakes

LVP: forgot to buy jalapeño chips