October 2

From Church Street in Cheshire, MA to Mass Route 8/Mass Route 9 in Dalton, MA.  I slept at the Shamrock Inn.

Miles Hiked: 9.0
Hours Hiked: 7 hours on trail, two of those hours were spent taking a snack break

I left the church this morning in the mist.  But I was glad that it wasn't outright raining.  I followed the trail down the sidewalks of Main street in Cheshire.  I am still hiking with Glassman.  We took a lazy day, stopping often to snack and continue reading "The Hobbit".  It is a mighty good trekking book, so we're enjoying it.  Anyway, the trail goes down two or three sidewalks in Dalton, MA.  This is very different trail than the trail in Maine where I wouldn't see towns for days, and even then they were about five miles away, here the trail follows Main street through some towns.  So, when we were on the trail at 2:30 and passed a sandwich restaurant and it was raining again, what were we to do but go inside and ask about a place to stay for the night while enjoying a hot sandwich?  We decided to stay at the Shamrock Inn, a local hotel within walking distance.  It turned out to be a disappointing, run-down motel, but at least we were able to do laundry and I was able to use the computer for an hour to update this blog.  Luckily it shared a parking lot with the Shamrock Pub and we enjoyed French Onion Soup and Nachos for dinner.  Yes, if you have noticed, we are enjoying Nachos as often as possible.

We checked the weather report for tomorrow and it called for more rain.  I decided that I didn't want to hike in the rain, at all, if I were to be honest, but if I could leave my pack here in town and hike about 10 miles just with a day-pack and know I was coming back to a shower at night I could be o.k. hiking in the rain.  So I called a local man named Thomas Lavardi.  Tom helps hikers by letting them sleep in his house, and use his shower and laundry, all for free.  I asked if, in the morning, he could drive us up the trail and drop us off so we could hike back to town again.  He said he wasn't sure, but if we go to his house tomorrow morning he'll let us know.  The trail actually goes right past his front door, so I'll visit him tomorrow and see what happens.

Views from the Trail