Miles Hiked: 1.8
Hours Hiked: 2
I woke up at Sherman Campsite with Glassman and we were excited about hiking into town for breakfast. It rained all last night, for the third night in a row, and it was still raining. The tent was now wet, inside and out, and my sleeping bag and sleeping pad were wet.
Do you know what a false peak is? It's when you think you're nearing the top of the mountain, and you're sure you are only feet from the summit, but as soon as you reach that point, you can see there is more mountain to climb. It is disheartening at best. We reached a road which we thought was route 2, but sadly it was a mile before route 2 and we kept hiking.
When we finally arrived at Route 2 we accidentally walked the wrong way. It was raining harder now. We took refuge in a grocery store while we tried to find a hotel in town. Unfortunately for us today is Friday and it is peak leaf season here in New England, so most places were booked full. The only hotels with rooms were resorts that cost between $250 and $375 per night- a little bit beyond the hiker budget. We finally talked on the phone with a man named John who worked for the RedWood Inn in Williamstown, MA. He spoke with a thick Indian accent and told us he had just the perfect room for us. He said he was out driving and could pick us up at the grocery store. When I asked him the price of the room he said "Don't worry. I'll make it happen for you." I said, yes, but what is the room rate? He said "There are two rooms I can show you. I will pick you up in 15 minutes." After we waited for 45 minutes, drank some coffee from the grocery store, and started to get cold again, we called John back. This time he spoke with Glassman and John told us to walk across the street and down one block to his hotel. When we arrived at the motel a short, stocky, 60-ish year old man wearing jeans and a large bright red turban introduced himself to us as John.
Glassman explained that we were on a strict budget and he told us proudly that it would only cost $90 for the night, and because we were hikers, he would give us an extra bar of soap. (That should have been our warning flag, but we were cold and felt like we had few options). We eagerly paid him $90 in cash and he picked up the key.
Out of the corner of my eye I observed a creepy old woman leering out of her room door. John led us past her and showed us a room where the carpet was covered up with cheap rugs (but he assured us they were clean), the second bed was missing except for the headboard bolted to the wall (but he told us the remaining bed had a new comforter), there was no light (but he promised to bring lamps), and when we questioned him about why it was cold in the room he told us that he was not required by state law to provide heat before October 15-another two weeks away. At that point we looked at each other, then at John, and demanded our money back. He said, "Oh, no, this room is not o.k. for you? O.K., I will show you the second room that is nicer, but I will give it to you for this same price." And he walked toward a room even closer to the creepy woman's room. We said-no, thanks, just our money back and we'll be on our way. Thankfully he gave us back all of the cash, and we hurried down the sidewalk, though we had little idea of where to go to spend the night.
It was raining hard, so we ducked into a bank lobby to charge our phones. We found out about a place called The Cozy Corner Hotel and reserved their last room. We called a cab, and within an 30 minutes we were checking in with a young Indian man named Bahvin. When we mentioned the nightmare of the Red Wood Inn he said "Oh-if you stayed there last night I cannot check you in." We hurriedly told him we had NOT stayed there. He informed us that they had a bed-bug problem and he could not take the chance of contaminating his hotel. Again thank you for your positive thoughts and prayers-I dodged the bed-bug bullet!
The rest of the day was spent eating first at an Italian restaurant, then doing laundry while eating Chinese food take-out while Glassman ordered new shoes. All in all a frustrating day, but I am thankful that it ended with a shower, and a place to dry out the sleeping bag and do laundry.
Trail
River at Williamstown
Love the new header, my friend. Glad you were able to avoid staying at Dodgy Motel.
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