Took off the next morning with Geared Up. Not a particularly early start, but not very late, either. Did eat a pretty good breakfast. Good to hike with him again. We hiked for about half a mile before I made one of the largest tactical hiking mistakes of my journey. There was a Shell station. So I said, let's get a coke for the road. Sigh.
As we got closer we realized it was also a Dunkin Donuts. It also had a deli and pretty much everything you can imagine except for chairs. So we ordered Coolatta's. The largest ones, of course. This was over a liter of frozen chocolate coffee Oreo deliciousness. Gear got some deli meat, and I called my sister to wish her happy birthday.
Then we attempted to hike. Oh man. Do not, do not, do not ever try to hike with a stomach full of Coolatta. It was miserable. I kept debating with myself about throwing up so I would feel better, though I refrained. Barely. We were not enjoying ourselves up Greylock Mountain. Greylock is the highest point in Mass, and we felt it. To take our minds off of it, I played a podcast of "Wait...wait!" for us to listen to.
And then I was attacked. Crazily. By the meanest grouse I've ever seen. It burst from the brush flying straight at me. I was preparing to punch it, and Gear was going to swat it with his poles. It veered to the ground just outside of my reach. At first I thought it was just dumb and had flown the wrong way. Then it growled at me. Or the bird equivalent. Stalking around me trying to run me off. It was an odd but amusing experience. We assume there was a nest it was protecting. Eventually we walked off.
Then we crested Greylock. A giant veterans' memorial was on top, as well as a lodge. With wifi and a restaraunt. So we took a lunch break. Our stomachs were feeling much better, so we got burgers. When I gave my name to the lady at the register, she laughed. But she put it on my order. When it was done, she brought it to me, and told me the cook refused to call out my name.
By the time we left, it was latish, and then we hiked down the even steeper mountain. Which wreaks havoc on knees. So, having covered only 13 miles, we decided to split a motel room with Monty Lou and Alchemist in Williamstown.
The first thing we saw coming out of the woods was a flyer offering bicycles to any hikers who wanted to explore North Adams or Williamstown. Within five minutes of walking out of the woods, two separate vehicles had stopped and asked us if we needed a ride or anything. Everyone in this town is ridiculously welcoming. Definitely in the running for friendliest trail town.
We ended up getting a room at the Williamstown Motel. They came and picked us up where the trail intersected the main road. Then I went to a Greek place to get a gyro. Which the owner kept correcting me on the pronunciation. It was great. And I had a great shower and had a bed for the night. Awesome.
The crazed hiker.
View from lodge.
Veteran's memorial on Greylock.
On top of the world! Or at least Massachusetts.
So far it's been snakes, bears, turtles, and a stream of people and other animals, and the only thing you pick a fight with is a grouse?
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