Dalton to Seth Warner Shelter---June 12th

As planned, I was up and out of Dalton before most people were stirring, a lone backpacker plying the empty backstreets before once again entering the woods, legs feeling much stronger after the down time.  Looking up, all there was were low gray clouds, but fortunately unaccompanied by rain.  Carried a fast pace up and over Crystal Mountain and back down into Cheshire, then powered up Mt. Greylock, Massachusetts highest peak.  Eighty-nine steps wound up to the top of the stone tower at the summit, but due to the clouds there wasn't much to see beyond a few hundred meters as it was pretty well socked in.  For me, the most interesting things were the literary quotes transcribed on rock faces from famous individuals who'd been inspired by this area, Henry David Thoreau of Walden fame in particular.
I reached my resupply stop in North Adams by 3:30 in the afternoon, having taken a left off trail and walking along the sidewalk paralleling Massachusetts State Highway 2 to the Super Stop-N-Shop.  Nice of the cashier to ring me up with all the discounts without requiring me to produce the Club Card.
Fully stocked, I followed my steps back to the trail and made the climb out of town.  Four miles later, I'd crossed into another state, Vermont, and now had less than 600 miles to go.  Incredible, the mindset of a thru-hiker as the journey progresses.  I remember thinking, "600 miles---no problem!".  Of course when you put it into context, I'd traveled well over twice that distance just on this trail.
Continuing on the Long Trail through the trees, Seth Warner Shelter came into view around 7:15.  It was there that I met Fox and Decent Cook, two older section hikers sharing the eight person shelter, which was one of the messiest I'd stayed in, a pile of junk left by others heaped in a side corner.  Fox thought it was probably garbage that locals had left since the shelter was in very near proximity to a country road and thus easily accessible to those wanting to come up for a day or on an overnighter.  He believed that section and thru-hikers held truer to the principle of Pack It In- Pack it out, and I would have to agree with him.  Someone had put a lock on the bear box, making it unusable so for tonight the food remains near me.  Less than a month to go!

Pond and Cabin
Words of Wisdom
Stone Tower Atop Greylock
White Blaze and Long Trail