I climbed up and out of Sages Ravine towards the top of Race Mountain which had a long exposed cliff face on the edge. Since I've been up since 4 a.m. (to take a time-lapse of the sunrise from atop Bear Mountain) and already hiked 5.5 miles I decided it was time for a nap so I climbed down to a lower ledge off the side of the trail and took a lovely nap. After I woke up and had 2nd breakfast, I met up with King Rat and Up&Down who I have been leapfrogging with recently and we hiked together the remainder of the way to Great Barrington. We hitched into town to the community center which lets hikers camp in the woods near a ropes course and we bought a day pass so we could go in to swim, play basketball, shower, and even enjoy the sauna.
Cliffs along Race Mountain
The next day we resupplied and got brekkie at a delicious place called the Donut Shoppe before hitting the trail and blasting out some miles. We leapfrogged a few times throughout the day and stayed at the North Wilcox Shelter where I hung my hammock over rodent trail...some little critters were running all around me all night. The next day I ran into Pipes and Fiddle again along with their new group and we all made it to the Upper Goose Pond Shelter which was absolutely beautiful. Fiddle, Zen, and I took a canoe to an island to watch the sunset and I decided I was going to camp there the next night.
Random farm near Tyringham
Cairns just off the island at Upper Goose Pond
Sunset from the island
My crew left the next morning but I mozied around for a bit before packing my stuff sack and paddling a tube out to the island. I hung my hammock between two trees and chilled for 5 hours; relaxing, reading, waving at kayakers and boaters, and thoroughly enjoying life. Unfortunately, my hammock's outer layer ripped so I abandoned my plans to camp on the island that night and departed towards town. Luckily, the hammock is made by Warbonnet Outdoors who have a lifetime guarantee and they shipped me a free replacement!
Don't mind me, I'm just chillin on my private island in the middle of a lake!!!
The next day involved climbing the highest peak in Massachusetts, Mount Greylock, which has a big veterans memorial and observation tower at the peak but I got there too late and it was closed. So I hiked on to the next peak, Mount Williams, which had an east facing view of a wind farm so I decided to stealth camp nearby and catch the sunrise. There was a 7% chance of rain but a massive thunderstorm hit in the middle of the night and I was terrified. An excerpt from my journal:
"I sat upright in my hammock and listened to the thunder getting louder and closer and could see slivers of the lighting from under my tarp. I filmed some on my GoPro and was shocked by how loud the thunder and crackles were... I was in the middle of this, up on a mountain top, and nobody knew I was there. I got scared. I caught a few massive booms on tape and then a bolt struck a tent campsite only 25ft away, I saw the bolt. I saw a circular flash where it seemed to meet the ground. The boom was so loud it shook my chest and the ensuing crackle even seemed to send reverberations through me. My jaw dropped and I sat there in amazement, I couldn't move, I sat there for probably 5 minutes in awe about how powerful that was and how close it struck. I laid down and read for awhile until my heart settled down and I could collect my nerves enough to fall asleep."
However, the sunrise time lapse was pretty awesome as the clouds beneath the mountain rolled passed the windmills and were illuminated a nice orange color.
Pretty pond near the summit of Greylock
A still frame from the sunrise time lapse, Mount Williams
The next day had a quick walk through Williamstown which had some interesting graffiti on the footbridge over the Hoosic River. Not long after that I hit the MA/VT border where the AT joins the Long Trail through a good chunk of Vermont.
Colorful bridge over the Hoosic River
11 states conquered!