275 miles

I woke up this morning to the splatter of rain and some playful mammal (weasel?) nosing around my tent. Later on, I realized that he had made off with one of my flip-flops. I guess, you can be mad at yourself if you lost or broke things on the trail, but not too mad if it disappears by "natural" means!

When I realized the splatter was only drip from trees and it wasn't actually raining, I made up my mind to get breakfast in Dalton, only three miles away. However, my first attempt left me scampering back to the shelter -- soaked. The sky had broken. I was more patient after that waiting for an opportunity for my second attempt. I had two eggs over-easy, toast, homefries, and a glass of orange juice.

I arrived at the library forty minutes before it opened, and since I no longer had an alternate pair of shoes, I decided to wait and give my pruny feet a reprieve. I laid my socks and liners on the back of the bench as neatly as I would laundry on the clothesline. Like laundry on the clothesline except these articles were tinged with brown and had bits of wet leaves and mulch clinging to them. And they stunk. Before these rains, my liners were so stiff that they could practically stand up on their own!

I feel like I've been between different degrees of dampness all week. But luckily the rains do let up (I've only spent one afternoon in a shelter), and it makes for a lot of slipping and sliding over rocks and roots and even dirt. (Frindy, you got SO lucky with the nonstop sunny weather during our first two weeks!)

I've made great time through Massachusetts because the mosquitoes don't let me stop for breaks (ha!). I didn't expect Massachusetts to be so swampy, but I guess north of Dalton, we start climbing above 3000 feet and it won't be anymore. I caught a glimpse of Mt. Greylock yesterday over at Warner Hill. It's exciting because I know Williamstown is just over that bump, and that was my first major goal. :-)