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7/23/01, day 131. 3m. Camping at Tom's house So it was an easy enough walk to Dalton, MA, where I happened upon Noggin and we decided it would be a swell day to zero. So we POed, then chilled at this guy Tom's house for a spell, then off to the library, because in Noggin's words we are "internet whores." The librarians were standoffish from the start, and they became quite bitchy when our time was up, even though there was nobody waiting. Nog lost about an hour's worth of work when the assholes kicked her off before she could upload her stuff. After that we had dinner with Deuce.5 and Happy, then sat around on Tom's porch drinkin' wine and having a good old time. 7/24/01, day 132. ~14m. Mark Noppel Lean-To. Woke up and hung with Noggin for a spell, then it was a quite short hike to Cheshire, MA. We seem to be passing towns about every 10 miles, which is hard on the wallet. Nog gets it in her head to rent an old-school, two-seater bike, and we had quite the afternoon full of near-death experiences. After that we pleasantly ran into Norway, and she and I hiked up to the shelter together. All in all it was a good day with great folk. 7/25/01, day 133. ~12m. Sherman Brook Campsite Took a beautiful walk up Mt. Greylock this morning. It was an actual mountain, high enough to get to that point where the world smells of pine and all pure things. We've been so low for so long, I'm worried tht the impending mountains'll kick my ass. Anyway, I pranced 10m to the next town (will it ever end?) - Williamstown, MA, where I pigged out on Chinese. After that I toured an actual art museum with Noggin, where we didn't quite fit in. After that we looked for a nonexistent film festival, pigged out t a bakery, and headed back to the Trail. Camping with Happy and Deadwood tonight. 7/26/01, day 134. 12.3m. Codington Shelter So last night right after I finished journaling this dude (Jobnick) shows up at a campsite without a tent and asks if he can share tent space with one of us, which was not only odd but inconceivable, as we all have small, one-person tents. So we go to sleep, and a heavy rain commenced in the wee hours of the morning making our unsheltered friend curse and walk off at about 2am. So I had to pack up in the rain, making everything weigh like 7,000% more, and my lighter didn't work, so I had to walk 5m in the rain, with a heavy pack, without coffee, which of course sent me into a bloodcurdling rage. Almost instantly after crossing into VT, though, the rain stopped and a friendly sun came out and the world was happy again. I took a few hours to dry my stuff out at a shelter and get some sweet, life-giving coffee in me, then it was an extremely pleasant walk to this shelter. I'm quite pleased to be in VT, because I've never hiked VT but also because I've always considered VT "north," coming from Mass. I've been hiking North for a damn long time, and now I'm actually here. 7/27/01, day 135. 18.6m. Kid Gore Shelter Last night was freezing-ass cold, two days after a sweaty, 80degree night, so I pretty much didn't sleep. Woke up at first light, built a fire, bitched with my fellows, then tromped away for what was supposed to be an easy day. Halfway through I happened upon Noggin, and we walked and talked until we got to a beautiful shelter, with a firetower promising a sunset over some VT valley, but being a freakin' weekend it was full of civilians with game boys and shit, so I had to walk an extra 4.3 (this is a run-on sentence, my friends) to this shelter, which was good enough as Smitee, Grace, Chesapeke, and Jobnick were here, and we had ourselves a good-ass time. The cherry on the day's ice-cream came from a full-page register entry from W2, T, Sherpa, and Copper telling me that I am missed. They wrote me a poem. We all miss our friend Mary PoppinsWhich was of course cool. I really miss those bastards, and if they weren't nine days ahead, I'd try to catch them. They're prob. About 140-160m ahead, and I've only got ~550m left to Katahdin, so it pretty much isn't going to happen. Whatevah. 7/28/01, day 136. 12m. Ski Patrol Hut on Stratton Mountain. The shelter this morning faced East over a neato valley, and being the natural erly riser it was my job to rouse the rest of the crowd to watch the sunrise, which I did I think, however, that we were all safely unconcious again before the sun actually rose, but we all agreed that it was probably a beautiful sight. After that it was just a mellow day, taking breaks to read a bad novel and/or chat with my fellows, arriving at the top of Stratton in time to talk to the caretaker, who informed me that the ski patrol house on top of the now-vacant Stratton ski area is open for thru-hiker use. So I'm holed up for the night with phone, TV, microwave, etc., with the same crowd from last night + a SOBO. At sunset we walked back to the Trail and climbed the firetower on top of the mountain to watch the lights dim. The caretaker showed up and pointed out Greylock, MA, Albany, NY< Killington, VT, and Moosilauke, NH. That's 4 states and 200m of Trail in one view. Greylock was so far away, it seemed, and I was on top of it 3 days ago... 7/29/01, day 137. 13.6m. Stealth Camping Behind the Middle School in Manchester Center, VT. It was a nice walk to Manchester here, another yuppie town. I've been here before, which I didn't realize until I arrived and said "hey, I've been here before!" Did the laundry, etc. until I hooked up with Noggin, Jobnick, Smittee, and Grace and we set about looking for a place to stealth camp, as it is too expensive to get a room here and we have to get mail in the morning. So we pranced about town debating sites (I delivered a strong veto at the graveyard suggestion) and finally found a place behind a school bus behind the middle school. Vagrancy factor: 92.3% 7/30/01, day 138. 2.8m. Hut on top of Bromley mountain. This morning I got town trapped. I as just gonna get my mail and bust out, but of course it duddn't work that way. The PO didn't open until past 8, so I went down to Murphy's donuts for breakfast, which was cool 'cuz I realized it was a favorite pit stop for a friend of my dad's and that I had eaten there before. What's more, this dude sat down next to me, yabbin' away, and the next thing I know my breakfast is paid for. It was, as W2 would say, "sweet ass." Then the PO, then a call to Montrail about my shoes, but Montrail being a West Coast company didn't open until 10am our time, so it was a long walk to the library with a decent wait outside only to find that they have no internet terminals, then a long, walk to the outfitter to get a compression sack for my baeg, then a call to Montrail to find out that I had to wait another hour before "Aaron" showed up, then a nice sit with Norway and other new arrivals, then a call to Montrail again when Aaron informed me that trail runner were in no way intended for thru-hikes and I informed him that he and his coworkers were fascist pig bastards and that they represented all that is ungood, then the suggestion that we go play some mini-golf, then the hitch to the Bromley mountain "thrill zone" where Mike allowed us to take the ski lift up and take a sled down, then some mini-golfing with Smittee and Grace, then a hitch back to the Trail (which almost left Smittee behind), then a brief, exhausting hike up here, where once again a ski resort lets hikers use the hut on the summit. Good night, good folk. 7/31/01, day 139. 13.2m. Big Branch Shelter I love short days; I'll always love short days. Spent some quality time this morning swimming in a lake with Norway, Smittee, and Grace, then some more quality time settin' about with those guys and doin' nuttin'. Got pissed off the last few miles for no reason. Tenting in the rain tonight. 8/1/01, day 140. 13.1m. Minera Hinchley Shelter. These slow days are kicking my ass. They really are. Hiked with Norway today, which helped break my bad mood, 'cuz she's cool.
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