.January 14, 2007
I wasn't expecting to hike any new A.T. miles until late April this year, so I was surprised when I was able to squeeze a few in. I came to Pittsfield, Massachusetts for the weekend. Margie, my sister and her family just a bought a new house. They will be renting their old one, so I volunteered to come down for the weekend and do some carpentry work. They, like much of New England, didn't have much snow. I couldn't resist the opportunity to get a few miles in. I didn't do a big hike, because that wasn't my reason for coming. Chris, my brother-in-law drove me over to Dalton where I dropped off my car. He then drove me around to Grange Hall Road where I would begin my hike.
"Well," he joked, "If you don't come back, at least we now what section of woods you are in."
Off I went.
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The trail went down into a gully where I crossed a small creek.
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It was a small climb, but I then made my way up to Day Mountain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The only reminder I found that it was supposed to be winter was ice hanging from some rocks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I made my way across a few bog bridges.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I could hear the sound of vehicles and knew I was nearing the town of Dalton. I came out of the woods and crossed some railroad tracks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I walked down Depot Street.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The trail then takes a left onto Route 9 and crosses the Housatonic River. The trail goes across the vehicle/pedestrian bridge shown in the background of this picture.
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The trail then goes up high street before entering back into the woods. There was a small parking lot here, and it was a good place to stop.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The weather was terrible today. It was cold, wet, damp, rainy, muddy, and foggy, but I didn't care. It had been 2 months since I had done any new AT miles, and it felt great to be out there. I am going to attempt some winter hikes soon, but it will probably be late April before I hike any more new AT miles.
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