The Bird Cage in Dalton, Massachusetts

(Phone Message Transcribed by Bethany)

Hello. Today is Thursday, August 9, 2007.



It’s about 8:30 in the evening here as Lauren and I are calling from mile 1,554.4, Dalton Massachusetts, We entered Massachusetts a few days ago after leaving Salisbury. We’ve been taken aback by some beautiful sights the past couple of days.



We were first greeted by Sage’s Ravine, which is a clear brook that cuts through some deep canyons. We’ve hiked past some amazing beaver dams and beaver lodges, and have endured some of the buggiest conditions of the trip. Two days ago we scampered as quickly as we could through the mosquito valley near Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

That same night we camped at an old Shaker settlement, another example of how the human history has been quite an integral experience to our trip! Yesterday we made a short day to Upper Goose Pond Cabin and after a ten mile walk we were overjoyed to have swimming and canoeing available to us.



We canoed into the evening. This particular cabin is run by the Appalachian Mountain Club of Massachusetts. There were a total of 15 other hikers there, half of which were south bound. In the morning the tradition is to have a big pancake breakfast which I partook of. The south bounders were kind enough to bring along some blueberries for our pancakes.

Today we stopped by the cookie lady’s house. Her house is 1/10 of a mile from the trail and she brings out 3 freshly baked cookies to any hiker who stops by.

Tonight we’re staying in the town of Dalton with Rob Bird and his house known as “The Bird cage”. He’s a manager at the Shell station in town and extends an invitation to any hiker who stops by the station. Rob will be here shortly to pick us up and we will proceed from here. It looks like we will be closing out Massachusetts in the next few days and will hit the Vermont state line shortly.

That’s it for now. Over and Out.