October 5

From the Berkshire Lakeside Lodge on Route 20 to stealth campsite...

Miles Hiked: 13.5

Hours Hiked: forever

Today is my 30th birthday. After enjoying the hotel's continental breakfast I used the hotel's canoe to go out on the lake.  This is only the second time on this hike that I've been able to go canoeing  so I rather enjoyed being in the water.

According to some, it is a tradition for hikers to moon the Massachusetts Turnpike where the trail crosses over the road on a foot bridge.  Not one to forgo tradition, Glassman participated fully in this ritual crossing.  Only one car swerved, so I think it was o.k.

As my birthday present I enjoyed sunshine all day.  We are nearing Great Barrington, where Sharon has kindly sent my next box of food.  My plan was to arrive in Great Barrington on Sunday evening and pick up the box from the post office on Monday.  However, at noon I realized that Monday is a holiday and the post office will be closed.  That meant I had two options-hike as quickly as possible and try to get to the post office before it closes at noon tomorrow, or hike as slowly as possible and wait until Tues. to pick up my next box of food....So we began to hike as quickly as possible.

When it got dark and I said that I wanted to night hike to get closer to Great Barrington, Glassman said, 'Well, that doesn't sound like the best idea I've ever heard, but it is your birthday, so if that is what you want to do, then I'll go with you.'  We hiked until 7, by which time it was completely dark, before we stopped to cook dinner.  We stopped at a campsite and ate while chatting with Teddy Bear and two brothers who were section hikers.  At 8:30 we packed up and headed on.  But this trail is very difficult.  By 11:00 we were exhausted and making mistakes like losing the trail, so we set up the tent to sleep.  It was stressful.  But Glassman said 'Well, that was a learning experience.'  We made a plan to wake up very early tomorrow and try to get to the post office.  The plan is for me to get up and hike and for Glassman to break camp and catch up later.  We'll see how it goes.

Birthday morning canoe ride

Glassman signing a logbook

I never tire of the mushroom varieties here, though I know little about them.

Trail boardwalk

Views from the trail