Dalton to Wilbur Clearing Shelter

Rolled out of Dalton at about 7. It looked like we had some pretty big climbs in store for us today. Preparation for the coming states! The first took us nine miles and up over a mountain and in to the town Chesire, Mass. The climb looked way worse on paper than in real life. 

Came to this beautiful little pond up on top...

Continued on to the second, much bigger climb up to Mt. Greylock.... and was pleasantly surprised. Not too bad! 

Today was the best I have felt hiking in a few weeks. The temps were cooler, low humidity, no bugs, beautiful views, and I was well rested. I really struggled with taking that zero yesterday, but today made me realize what a big difference that can make in the way I feel, both physically and mentally. 

I feel like we've finally escaped from the 'time warp' we were in last week. Miles flew by today and instead of doing the 15 that we had planned on, we did over 20 miles.

We got up to the top if Mt. Greylock at about 5. Highest point in Massachussetts. The view was amazing. As we head north, there are a lot of pine trees. It reminds me of Colorado in the summer which I absolutely love and it smelled like Christmas trees all afternoon. 

Hiked on another few miles and landed at the shelter with a pretty big bubble of hikers. I actually used my stove tonight to heat up some dinner because it's chilly!! Great sleeping weather!