Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 45 – Visiting The Cookie Lady
9th September 2023
Levardis (621.3) - Upper Goose Pond Cabin (641.7)
Daily miles: 20.9
Total miles: 649.1
It rained in the night so we woke up to wet tents. Packed up and had a picnic table breakfast. I got croissants at Walmart yesterday and that was such a good decision.
Procrastinating about getting out of my tent
Packing up a wet tent
Camping in Tom Levardi’s back yard
Tom Levardi’s house
Trekking pole feature outside the house
We all needed to poop. That’s the only problem about staying here… no toilet. There is a Pee Tree, but nowhere to poop. So I ended up hiking out first (which is the norm) at 07:30 - a relatively late start compared to recent mornings.
I came to the railway line and I was too late to cross as the train came through. It was a big freight train and I was worried it was going to take 6 or 7 minutes to pass but it was only about a minute. As soon as I was in the woods I had to find somewhere to poop. Those beans and guac I had at chipotle were making moves!
Road walk back to the trail
Freight train
Crossing the railway tracks
AT sign
I had just over 9.3 miles to get to a road crossing and to The Cookie Lady. I don’t remember The Cookie Lady being a thing last time but it was now and that’s where we were heading.
I was expecting the others to catch up with me but I blasted through those miles in 4 hours which was just under a 2.5 mile an hour pace which I was very pleased with. I actually felt strong today, still a little sore in the knees, but stronger than I had been feeling.
A very small bridge
Feeling good today
The morning was incredibly sweaty and so very buggy. I couldn’t stop moving for a second because there would be 10 mosquitoes on me and when I was moving there were always a couple on me at least. I have been bitten so many times today. I thought for the first time that I really didn’t want to be out here with these bugs. Right now I am in the place that I would rather be least in the world. Trapped in a hot humid forest with no escape from the mozzies!
It was still humid but fractionally cooler in temperature, maybe, but still very hot.
I got the the road at 11:30 and I thought the others would be right behind me so I waited for them before walking the short distance down the road to The Cookie Lady. Half an hour went by and still no sign of them. I had eaten some snacks and drunk all my water so I packed up and went down the road.
This way to the Cookie Lady
I should have just gone there straight away! I sat on the porch and was given a jar of hibiscus lemonade and 2 cookies, and I could fill up my water. My friends arrived at 12:30 having stopped at a stream to eat lunch.
The Cookie Lady’s porch
Hibiscus lemonade
Delicious cookies
A dog day is a good day
They had the smart idea of hanging up their tents to dry so I did that too and stayed for another hour. A 2 hour break in the middle of the day was unheard of for me! But this morning went so well and I was feeling good.
Drying our tents
Relaxing in the rocking chairs on the porch with Cal
I hike out and the others hang out a bit longer
I hiked out just after 1:30pm and it was 11 trail miles and a 0.5 side trail to the shelter. Technically you aren’t allowed to wild camp in Massachusetts and Connecticut and have to stay at designated places. I’m sure people don’t always, but actually the mileage works out pretty well for us.
I had already decided in my head that I would just walk not stop to get there and of the trail was like this morning (which it looked to be in Far Out) then I would be fine.
It was very very humid and I was sweating a lot, but it cooled down fractionally when it started to rain a bit. Not enough rain to get out any rain gear. I did prepare my rain skirt and had it tucked up around my waist but it was far to sweaty when it was down. It never came to much and the humidity went right back up.
The trail was pretty easy walking. A few bog boards which were a bit slippery but most of them were on dried out bog anyway so it was possible to not walk on them. A few rocky patches and a few muddy patches.
Towards the end of the day the trail crossed over the I90 via a couple of footbridges, then climbed a small hill to get to the junction of the shelter. I had slowed down a bit now, I had done 10 miles with just one very swift wee break and the bugs were getting to me so I was walking holding both my trekking poles in one hand and using my other hand to waft in front of my face to keep the mosquitoes from biting my ears and neck.
Urban Appalachian Trail
Crossing the interstate
I had to start wearing my hat more because I’m feeling like there are things in my hair all the time and I did pick something out of it today. I could have been a spider but I’m unsure.
I did take a bit of a tumble towards the end of the day. I was a slow motion fall when I slipped on the side of a large rock went forwards and got pinned by my pack, upside down. It was quite the effort to get the right way round again.
So I made it to the junction just before 6pm and walked to the shelter which they state is 0.5 but I think it’s shorter and I was there by 6:05.
Grateful for these rocks
Love the light shining through the trees
3 signs, 1 tree
Bog boards
This is more of a cabin. It’s free but there is a caretaker there. It’s a big two story cabin. There were some people already there and the caretaker - called Happy - introduced herself and said she would be making pancakes in the morning – excellent – and that there were jugs of spring water for us to use so that meant we didn’t have to collect water from the pond – also excellent.
Upper Goose Pond cabin
I went upstairs to get a bunk. I was overwhelmed by the bad smell when I walked in, it almost made me gag. It was hiker funk, but it was hiker funk and then some. There was a guy lying in one of the bunks and he had a little dog lying with him. You aren’t supposed to have dogs inside but he did. But I don’t think it was the dog that smelt. It was him. He wasn’t all that friendly either.
I chose a bunk the farthest away but I was very unsure as to whether I would be able to cope with the smell.
I sat and chatted to people. There was another SOBO there - Easily Forgotten - who is doing a yo-yo of the Appalachian Trail and the long trail. So he started in June in Maine, will hike south until he reaches Springer around Christmas time and then he’s going to turn right back around and hike north again. When he hits Vermont he is going to go up and down the long trail before finishing up the AT. Eeesh. That’s a lot of hiking. And a lot of hiking along the AT!
My friends arrived and I asked them their opinion on the smell. They said they would deal with it. They are much less sensitive than I am!
We went down to the lake, Toe and May Queen jumped in then Cal and Lemonhope also came down and jumped in. I had no intention of getting in. Firstly I’m not really a lake swimming kind of person and secondly I don’t want wet underwear (and I’m way too much of a prude to go in the nuddy)
Toe and May Queen swimming in Upper Goose pond
We saw there was a tent set up and we decided that it would be preferable to camp over stay in the bunk room. So we set up our tents, with Toe preferring to cowboy camp on the porch of the cabin.
Tent pitched for the night
There was loads of lightning over the lake which was really cool and, after eating a tube of Pringles and a croissant for my dinner, I went down to sit on the dock and watch the lightning show. It was all around the lake, and the temperature sitting there was so perfect. It felt still and warm and lovely. I could have stayed up and watched it all night. I was determined to capture some lightning on my camera and that took about 20 minutes of holding my phone to the sky!
An incredible lightning show
I was joined by Cal and Lemonhope and we watched for a bit longer. Then around 8:30pm we decided we should probably get in our tents. Good decision because I just had time for a wee and then it started to rain. The thunder crashed overhead and the lightning continued, thankfully the rain was not too heavy and it will stop overnight.
View from my tent
Sunset
I’m being lazy and just sleeping in my hiking clothes. At least it’s kinda fresh still. I’m sure soon it will get to the point where I want to burn it again.
