May 21
End: Mt. Wilcox South Shelter, MA
Miles: 29.7
Total: 3390.1
I got my very early start out of the shelter, this time because I wanted to hike as far as possible before it rained, which I thought it would. Before I knew it I was on top of Bear Mountain, which has a giant pile of rocks to signify it as the highest point in Connecticut. Immediately afterwards, I entered Massachusetts.
I was lost in thought for some time during the morning. I found myself on top of Mt. Everett. I passed a pair of shelters very close together, but declined to take a break. The walk in the woods was not too difficult, and I had been able to rig up a bunch of safety pins to keep my hip belt working for awhile. They only came undone once all day, which was quite satisfactory given that I was putting a good bit of weight on them.
I started counting down the miles pretty early on, which I don’t recommend, but I couldn’t help myself. At one point I had about five to go to Tom Leonard Shelter, and about another five to Mt. Wilcox, which has a couple different shelters. Tom Leonard was right on the trail, but looked like a simple little place. I wanted to go further.
Stopping several times to attempt to get clean water before the shelter, I finally found some just about a mile before my stopping point. When I got to Mt. Wilcox South Shelter, I was surprised to find no one there. Then I saw another building just down the hill.
I walked down to find a very new and well-made shelter as well as Brillo, another hiker. Sunday also showed up, and we each picked a bunk, while Brillo took the loft.
Too lazy to cook dinner, I munched on Nutella and Honey Grahams the whole afternoon. It soon started to rain, and the rain got heavy fast. Glad to be dry and with good food, I ate and worked on my journal. I went to sleep once darkness came around, pretty content with my work for the day.
