Monday  I drove out to meet Ichabod as he passed through Massachusetts on his way to Vermont. We arranged to meet about 10 am , which around here means 10 am. My guys are always on time.

Jeffrey had spent the night on the slopes of Mount Greylock. So after locating the trail head I backed down the street  shut off the engine, and at  10 am—

Nice.

We headed off to breakfast and got caught  up on the latest news and trail happenings. I had hiked a portion of the trail in the 70’s with  my oldest brother  Matt. We had a strange , ok  scary night, sharing a  shelter with a Charles Manson type fellow. This guy  had no gear , just a jar of peanut butter, and a Bible. He was Manson’s doppelganger.

Matt slept with  a knife  in his bag, and the gorp too. Matt eventually  fell asleep and the ants  found the gorp, the melted gorp, between his legs. The  hike basically went downhill after that, not literally. I was sleeping on the picnic table to give myself a chance if any mayhem occurred. “Why are you sleeping out there Mike?” ” Mice, Matt, they really creep me out”

We were not murdered in our sleep.

Jeff  had a fun ‘Manson’  night  on Greylock. His Manson guy was fleeing some “trouble” in Maine. No gear, and showed Jeffrey how he cooked . He  wraps toilet paper  soaked in alcohol around his finger, sets it on fire,  and  warms his food. I almost spit up my French toast laughing. It was that  laugh when your kid  describes jumping off the  cliff into the water  and missing the giant rock by inches. It’s part funny bone and terror/relief bone.

North Adams is  the home  of MASS MoCA

We  enjoyed the exhibition and had lunch as they  have a terrific cafe too.

I had spotted  another venue  on my way into Town, a small State Park with a natural bridge. It was a white marble quarry. It has the only white marble dam  in the US. I will also detour for a giant ball of string.

Then it was off to Stop & Shop for resupply. I had brought along a full  bag of goodies but we still  spent about 70 bucks  on  “new”  food. He bought a book too. Doozie had  made him granola. In the store  I got a chance to meet two other hikers, Crusher and Jibbitz. Jeffrey has been hiking with these two lately. It was fun to meet them. Wendy  Kennedy’s ( a dear friend) cousin is married to Jibbitz. Yes, the World can be small. Crusher is from Montreal.

Jeffrey got all his supplies sorted and sent me home with  the  stuff he no longer required. Our next meeting will  be  near Hanover, NH.

Time to hit the trail. He was really jazzed as the through hikers love to cross State lines. He will after 4 miles or so enter  Vermont.

It was back on the Mohawk Trail (route 2) for me,  but I paused for two more pictures at the top of the valley.

I dropped him just beyond that cleft, due  west  of  the  Town Center.

This next pic is his general direction, North to Rutland, Vermont.

Mike