Six of us had to go home after two nights… Look how triumphant they look!
By the way, I misjudged my fellow hikers by describing Mode 1 yesterday as “Let’s just get there.” Here’s what my friend Susan had to say about that:
Actually, the goal of us Mode 1 Hikers was not “let’s just get there”, but rather to experience ourselves traveling through and within the nature on a macro level. We didn’t look at the pieces so much as we looked at the whole. We each commented on feeling in “the zone” as we strode along. And, hey, it was probably nice to stroll into camp with the fire already lit!
Yes, ladies, it was very nice to stroll into camp with the fire blazing. Thank you for that! Perhaps if I were in better aerobic health, I could have kept up with you and experienced the zone! At any rate, I was sad to say goodbye to the Six. Many thanks to you all for being a part of my trek!
Deb and I carried on at our slow, measured pace… There is a spot in this section between ASP 1 and Bay State Road that passes an old growth forest. The biggest trees are at the bottom of a rather steep hill. We opted not to go explore them today, but vowed to come back another time. Still, even at the top there were some enormous trees… some standing, others blown down:
Can you even see me next to that root mass? I always wonder what it would be like to be in the woods when the wind is strong enough to take down a tree like that!
The last leanto turned out to be our favorite, tucked in a little hemlock grove on level ground. Bob walked Emily in from the other end of the trail so she could sing camp songs around the fire and spend the night with us. An entry in the trail registry warned that the porcupine would likely pay us a visit at around midnight. I don’t know what time it was, but I had my flashlight and camera ready. The shots didn’t come out all that well, but you can sort of see him back there between two trees, messing up our neat and tidy wood pile:
He put on quite a display for us, puffing out those quills and trying to look all scary. It was hysterical to watch him climb down the tree in a sort of ratcheting fashion, and to climb up with no effort at all like a gekko – as though the tree were horizontal. (none of those pictures turned out at all!)
We drift off thinking of tomorrow and hot bubble baths…
looked like soo much fun!
I did not know there were multiple modes of hikers. I wonder which I am.
Ha ha… I didn’t even tell you about Nick. There is another mode: speed hiker! Nick walked in one day the same distance that took us two.
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