Great Barrington, MA (USA)

After completing my chauffeur duties (back and forth to Leesburg) yesterday, I had a hard time deciding whether or not to drive north for some AT hiking. Usually, a seven hour drive (each way) is hard to justify for just a weekend. However, I’d seen the forecast for southeastern MA and it was hard to pass up: partly cloudy, low 70s, low humidity. Ended up deciding to pretend it was a work day - got up early, packed and was on the road before 0600.  Drove via I-495, I-270, US-15, PA-581, I-83 and I-81.  Just north of Harrisburg, a tractor trailer came out of parking area (at 90 degrees to traffic) and I had to quickly stop - woah!  Got gas at Gulf in Barnesville, PA (0845) and then continued via I-81, I-84 and the Taconic Parkway.  It was the best “commute” ever! Almost no one else was on the road and there was no construction (maybe I shouldn’t try to go up on Friday nights anymore...). I crossed the NY-MA border (on Route 23) at around 1215 and drove into the Mount Washington State Forest (via Jug End Road) so I could hike a tough section I’d been avoiding. Took Mount Washington Road to the main gate of the Mount Everett Reservation and then followed a rough gravel road to the trailhead (good ol’ Nellie!). Was on the AT (SOBO) by 1245. The AWOL guide showed some nasty terrain: a climb to the Mount Everett summit, a steep descent into the Race Brook Falls gap, another big climb up Mount Race, a long descent to the Laurel Ridge Campsite and then back (whew!). I’d earlier considered breaking up the section because it looked so intimidating but the forecast held true and I decided to tackle the whole thing. During the initial climb, I started meeting people (almost all were day hikers or weekend backpackers). An older couple warned me that there were a “lot” of people at the summit and they weren’t kidding. There really wasn’t much of a view there so, in an attempt to avoid the crowd, I continued quickly down the other side of the mountain. But they followed me! It’s hard to run on slippery rock faces so I was essentially trapped - I wasn’t able to avoid one group that was playing their country music loudly, another group that was talking loud enough on the ridge that I could hear the words from a hundred yards away or the huge church group (opposite direction) that had bunched up trying to navigate. At one point, I stopped so that everyone could all pass but it just ended up being a traffic jam! Eventually, most of them moved farther away and I settled for walking with one young guy who was quiet (his noisy friends left him behind). He told me some good stories about his recent trip to the Hundred Mile Wilderness (in Maine). When we caught up to the rest of his group, I headed off alone and started my climb up Mount Race. This turned out to be a fine turn of events - the crowds thinned out and I found several amazing vistas on the rocky “bald” of the summit. Unfortunately, some trail runners then ruined the experience because they tried to find cell service by hopping all around near me and continually blocked my camera shots (grrr). Somehow, I eventually left everyone behind and, for a few glorious moments, I got to enjoy some solitude as I walked along a high ridge (2000+ feet above) that had clear views down into the wide, flat valley east of the Berkshires. Visibility had to be 25+ miles! I could see the pretty farms on MA-41, which I’ve used to get between MA and CT. An even bigger treat, though, was seeing the Twin Lakes (Washinee and Washining) to the south - each had many pretty white sailboats. There weren’t a lot of wildlife encounters but I did notice butterflies that made clicking sounds with their wings (not sure what species). Around this time, I passed a NOBO female Thru hiker (kind of a surprise to see someone so far to the south so late in the season). A bit later, as I approached the Laurel Ridge Campsite, the noisy group caught me again - fortunately, I was able to backtrack soon after and didn’t see them for the rest of the day. Soon, though, I didn’t really care what other people were doing - I had two huge climbs and descents to finish and they took all my concentration and remaining energy. The first one (Race) was tough but I made it OK. At the top, I encountered a local couple and the guy pointed out all the terrain that could be seen from the summit. Not only could we see Greylock to the north, but the Taconics and Catskills were also clearly visible. I talked to them for a while, stalling before the next phase of my workout... Headed down into the gap and then started the second climb (Everett) - it kicked my @$$!!!! The terrain was so treacherous that trail maintainers had added 8x8 “stairs” but they were uneven - I used everything I had left to get through the end of the climb and was almost completely wiped (mentally and physically) by the top. On the way back down, I detoured off the AT to visit a little stone hut with a pretty view and then walked down towards the parking lot on a gravel road. Reached my car (after more than nine miles) by 1730 - my legs were really sore from the massive “stairmaster” workout! Headed back towards civilization (stayed on MA-23) and scoped out another trailhead on the Monterey town-line - hope to hike from there in the morning.  Ended up staying at Mountain View Motel in Great Barrington (1820).  I got to know the friendly owner, Jignesh.  Before bed, I rested in my room (TV and reading).  Asleep by 2230.  AT Today = 4.50 miles / Grand Total AT = 1444.26 miles