Day 39 - Father Tom Campsite

​Day 39 - Father Tom’s Campsite

Starting location: Kay Wood Shelter

Ending location: Cheshire, MA

Mileage today: 11.9 miles 

Total Mileage: 435.6 miles

Miles from Springer: 1585.6 miles

Miles to Katahdin: 612.4 miles

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

Today we woke up all alone at the shelter. Weird that nobody came through last night. We got on trail at 7:15 am. It was another hit and muggy day. Possible rain in the forecast tonight.

 

Here we are ready to hike! We were only 2.5 miles to a trail town called Dalton. We got some trail magic from a trail angel named Tom. Honey buns and some fruit! 

Legolas likes hiking through towns. Here is a cool castle house we passed by! 

Then we filled our water bottles and hit the port a potty before heading up Crystal Mountain I believe. 

We stopped at the Cheshire Cobbles for lunch. It was breathtaking. Perfect place to rest and eat. It is the photo at the very top. 

The tallest mountain is Mt. Greylock which we will hike over tomorrow. 3,500 ft tall. Our tallest mountain yet. Should be fun!

 

In Cheshire, MA which is known for the biggest cheese real sent to the Oval Office! lol. 

Celebrated finishing CT finally with some ice cream. We will be out of MA in 1.5 days! Unreal. 

Of course we found the library and they gave our boys some Gatorade and snickers! That loved it! 

Camping at Father Tom’s campsite. Just finished dinner. Getting ready for tomorrow! 

Good night. 

Gandalf, Legolas & Bombadil. 

Day 38 - Kay Wood Shelter

​Day 38 - Kay Wood Shelter

Starting location: Upper Goose Pond

Ending location: Kay Wood Shelter

Mileage today: 18.2 miles 

Total Mileage: 423.8 miles 

Miles from Springer: 1573.8 miles

Miles to Katadin: 624.3 miles 

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

Today was the morning the boys had been looking forward to for a few days! Pancake breakfast at the Upper Goose Pond Cabin and they were not disappointed! They were delicious with soft spreadable butter and gallons of maple syrup! Legolas ate 3 and Bombadil at 2. 

We got on the trail by 7:30 am. We have a long day ahead doing our biggest mileage yet! 18.2 miles. Yikes. Thankfully it was relatively “flat” without a bunch of big ups and downs, but still it was hot and humid. Probably mid 80’s I imagine. 

We resupplied with Amee pretty early on and got right back on the trail. 

Right before lunch we came upon this sign in the forest. Bombadil earlier said he wished we could get trail magic and God answered his prayer big time! 

Frosty, a trail angel, was at a road crossing. He had tons of food! CJ had chocolate milk, mixed nuts and chili cheese Fritos, Lucas had the same thing except the mixed nuts. I had two things of mixed nuts and 2 hard boiled eggs! Very thankful he had low carb options! We took some pop tarts to go for breakfast. 

This is Frosty. He even had a tent to sit in with chairs and fans. It was very nice!

After lunch we had a 2 mile walk to the northern cookie lady. She was extremely nice. She had a blueberry farm as well. We had some chocolate chip cookie and some very sweet hibiscus tea. It was very refreshing. See the picture at the top! We topped off our water and had 9 more miles to get to the shelter! 

We got into the shelter at 6:05 pm. The latest yet. Fixed dinner and got stuff ready for bed. The boys got as a reward of hiking so far to watch some Ryan Trehan. 

Off to bed and a short 11.9 miles tomorrow 

Good night. 

Gandalf, Legolas & Bombadil 

Day 37 - Upper Goose Pond Cabin

​Day 37 - Upper Goose Pond Cabin

Starting location: N. Wilcox Shelter

Ending location: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

Mileage today: 14.8 miles 

Total Mileage: 406.2 miles 

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

Today we got up at 5 am and on the trail 6 am to get to this Upper Goose Pond Cabin early. On the way we came across this AT Stand where we got the boys some mint chip ice cream sandwiches and some skittles and Cheetos! They loved it and the prices were excellent. 

Then we got to Amee and refilled our supplies and pressed on! The boys were really motivated so we hiked really fast. 

This is the dock at the cabin. I actually jumped in and took my first shower in 9 days! It felt great. Cold but refreshing. Austin would have been proud! 

Amee hiked up to us since the parking lot she is staying is only 1.5 miles away. We took the canoes out and enjoyed the pond. Even Froning liked it! lol. 

This is the cabin from the outside. It is so beautiful. It has like 16 bunks inside. The care taker her gave the boys some strawberry shortcake. The shortcake was a Twinkie! lol. It was pretty good. 

Now we are just sitting on the porch chatting about the trail and rocking away. So fun. Great place to stay. Also in the morning we get pancake breakfast! The boys are so excited. 

Good night. 

Gandalf, Legolas & Bombadil 

Day 36 - N. Wilcox Shelter

​Day 36 - N. Wilcox Shelter

Starting location: Tom Leonard Shelter

Ending location: North Wilcox Shelter

Mileage today: 7.4 miles

Total Mileage: 392.7 miles 

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

Today we slept in since it was Sunday and a short hiking day. In the phot above is Legolas asleep in the top bunk. He was so excited to sleep in it last night. Lol. We got on the trail at 7 am and got to Amee around 8 am. We then decided to watch the Sunday morning service at Faith via YouTube. It was a great sermon. 

The we packed up and got more food from “The Supplier”  and set off to finish the last 5.3 miles left. 

We stopped at the South Wilcox shelter for lunch and enjoyed that older shelter. It was a lot less humid today but still warm. The trail was basically a 5 mile uphill climb but at a doable slope. 

We have been passing many ponds here so far in MA. They are very serene. 

We got to our shelter by 1:30 pm. Probably the earliest ever. We got a field going, do camp chores and then the boys did their journaling. It is Bombadil’s least favorite thing to do. Lol. Later on Crumbles came by to stay the night. He is a thruhiker. Also a section hiker headed to Katadin also showed up and she is finishing her MYTH (multi year thru hike). I let the boys eat ch some Ryan Treyham (sp?) since it’s the weekend and they played some more solitaire and in bed by 8:30. Going to wake up super early to get to Upper Goose Pond shelter tomorrow. 

Night. 

Gandalf, Legolas & Bombadil 

Day 35 - Tom Leonard Shelter

​Day 35 - Tom Leonard Shelter

Starting location: Hemlocks Shelter

Ending location: Tom Leonard Shelter

Mileage today: 14.5 miles

Total Mileage: 385.3 miles

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

Today we woke up around 5:30 am and got on the trail by 6:30 am. Doing a 14.5 with rain in the afternoon forecasted put a fire in our steps to finish the day early. 

We hiked about 3 miles then had breakfast at this overlook. El Cheapo was just behind us so he got a group photo of us! 

I love hiking in pine forests. So mystical and the trail is so soft with the pine needles. Although this forest was full of mosquitoes, so we basically ran through this section. 

PB&Js for lunch, Chex mix and an apple. Sausage and cheese and PB for me. Delicious. It was a hot and humid day today. 

One last afternoon break for the day before getting to the shelter. Another great view anda cool breeze. 

We are chilling at the shelter waiting for the thunderstorm to roll through. It looks like it might hit just south of us. PTL. I just hope the humidity is down tomorrow. Amee and Froning hiked up since they were only 2 miles from the shelter. When I get the group photo I will add it later. 

Easy day tomorrow so will be in no rush in the morning. 

Night. 

Gandalf, Legolas & Bombadil