• Home
• Intro
• About
• Planning
• Journal
• Contact

Appalachian Trail – Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Massachusetts
Great Barrington

“You’re not quite evil enough. You’re semi evil. You’re quasi evil. You’re the margarine of evil. You’re the Diet Coke of evil, just one calorie, not evil enough.”

- Austin Powers

WonderGimp

Journal Entry 6.26.00
“What a day. What a night. Lightning storm was fierce. Woke up to find my food bag on the ground, attacked by chipmunks. Tore through the string and chewed two holes in the bag. They ate my trail mix and raisins. Mosquitoes were god-awful this morning. I was on the verge of insanity trying to hike through the swarms. I made it to Rte. 7 in Sheffield and hitched into Great Barrington. I wound up hitching another ride to this retreat center/hostel and here I am – clean, indoors, and bug-free. Wonderful! At least I was able to fix my food bag with a shoe string that I found on the trail. Truly a very trying day.”

Journal Entry 6.27.00
“2:30pm at the Tom Leonard Lean-To. I’m taking a break and seeking shelter from the rainstorm that just hit. I woke up this morning at the hostel to find Good Vibe, No Whey, and Ole Faithful (Half Hat). They came in late last night. At last our reunion!! I hadn’t seen Good Vibe since Damascus, VA. They all decided to do a short day so I could catch up since I was technically like 10 miles behind them on the trail (they got off at a road crossing further north than Rte. 7). So I hitched back to Great Barrington and started my hike. The mosquitoes were DREADFUL! I spent $25 in town on an arsenal of repellants along with a huge citronella candle that I’m carrying to the shelter. I covered my body with 100% Deet but they were still swarming me. They are absolutely maddening. There are swarms of them in your face and all over your body. I was choking on them. I have a head net but it’s 95F and just too hot to have my head covered, even in netting. Poor No Whey had huge red welts all over her body. Well, another 5.3 miles for me and I’ll be meeting them at the next shelter for tonight.”

Journal Entry 6.28.00
“4:30pm at Upper Goose Pond Cabin. 14 miles today. I got a late start (8:30am) and felt like I was dragging all day. Luckily the mosquitoes were not nearly as bad and I was able to take a break without being eaten alive. Good Vibe thinks there are actually enough mosquitoes out here to literally kill someone. The cabin here is nice, right on the lake. I have been collecting dead mosquitoes to tape to my postcards in at attempt to let my friends and family understand this absolute mosquito hell. Killing them and taping their dead bodies to postcards gives me great pleasure! Everyone here is helping with the collection. We are currently trying to scheme a way to hike out of here and hitch into town for Indian food…”

Journal Entry 6.29.00
“9pm at the Kay Wood lean-to. Here with Good Vibe and a YMCA group – oh joy! Good Vibe and I did 11 miles this morning to the road and then hitched back to Lee for Indian food. We got a ride all the way (15 miles) in the back of a pickup and the guy even gave us lollipops when he stopped at the bank. Then he dropped us off right at the restaurant! We chowed! It began to pour while we were at the library checking email. We thought we would have no chance of getting a ride in the rain when a woman in the library offered to take us. She was meeting someone there for his English lesson so they only catch was we had to speak English to him in the car. No problem! It was an EXTREMELY funny ride back to the trail. No Whey told me that she wrote a Haiku today which seems to sum up our mindset as of late. It’s called “Hiker’s Tragedy” and goes “when the cookie lady becomes more appealing then the mountain laurel”. How true…we’ve become hiking machines.”

trail fact: Multiple hikes. Approximately 100 people have reported hiking the A.T. two or more times; about 25 have reported hiking the A.T. three or more times.

Journal Index

Georgia – Overview And the poop on the Trail Divorce

0 (miles from Georgia) – Springer Mountain, Georgia Whose idea was this again??
87.7 – Georgia / North Carolina Aint no all-inclusive package vacation story…
161.7 – Fontana Dam, North Carolina No Rain, No Pain, No Maine
204.6 – Great Smoky Mountains National Park I My deodorant gets the heave-ho!
268.7 – Great Smoky Mountains National Park II The Food Appreciation Trail
336.5 – North Carolina / Tennessee & Trail Names How the Gimp got her name
390.7 – North Carolina / Tennessee The famous Roan Mountain hitch
452.9 – Crossing into Damascus, Virginia 3 states down, 11 to go!
516.7 – Grayson Highlands State Park Roughin it at Partnership Shelter
573.3 – Bland, Virginia My wonderful trail angels!
665.3 – Pearisburg, Virginia The switch from boots to sandals
767.4 – Catawba / Troutville, Virginia Heat wave in Virginia
839.4 – Montebello / Rockfish Gap, Virginia ‘Hiking with Gimpy Sr.
920.0 – Shenandoah National Park Rattlesnakes, Jack Daniels, and bears – oh my!
988.3 – Front Royal, Virginia Invasion of the Boy Scouts
1001.1 – Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia The mental half-way point
1061.4 – Maryland / Pennsyltucky Y’all done drank enough beer!
1123.8 – Duncannon, Pennsylvania The Half-Gallon Challenge
1208.9 – Port Clinton, Pennsylvania $1 Yuengling drafts and the rocks of PA
1283.9 – Pennsylvania / New Jersey Friends and family visit WonderGimp
1334.2 – High Point, New Jersey Rain, rain, rain, trail magic, and more rain
1440.7 – Bear Mountain, New York Hike Naked Day!
1486.1 – Kent, Connecticut Gimpy Sr. and Barkeater hike with W.Gimp
1543.8 – Great Barrington, MassachusettsWelcome to Mosquito Hell
1618.0 – Massachusetts / VermontPhoton and strobe lights for the 4th of July
1687.3 – Killington, Vermont The Inn at the Long Trail
1738.1 – New Hampshire Live Free or Die!
1794.4 – North Woodstock, New Hampshire Gettin’ above treeline
1814.4 – AMC-land, New Hampshire Entering the White Mountains!
1854.0 – Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire Mooning the tourists on Mt. Washington
1869.2 – Gorham, New Hampshire My first Moose sighting!
1920.7 – Andover, Maine The way Life should be…
1979.3 – Rangeley, Maine Closing in on the end
2015.6 – Kennebec River, Maine Eye of the Tiger!
2095.7 – Monson, Maine 100-mile Wilderness
2152.0 – Abol Bridge, Maine Katahdin is in sight!
2167.1 – Baxter Peak, Mount Katahdin, Maine Goodbye Capilene – Hello Cotton!!

Other Pages:
Map – Yep, 14 states
Gear – What to Bring
FAQs – See for yourself
Glossary (learn the AT lingo)
Links to Additional Info
Trail Injuries Everything from blisters to swampfoot
Trail Privies Bring your own TP
Class of 2000 Katahdin Thru-Hiker Pictures