hb farm to pine swamp branch shelter

a relatively easy day on trail. the crew, bugs, kick, lyric, rocket, and i slept great in the barn on the farm. we packed up and breakfasted and were packing the mini van by 8. we dropped kick off in town, because he planned to take a zero, and were unloading minutes later at the trail head.

the folks at hb farm are pretty incredible. they gave us trail magic just before max patch (the spaghetti magic that i was freezing at), and then they shuttled us to and from the farm and put us up for a night, did some laundry for us, and let us shower, and they didn’t want anything for it. it’s that kind of generosity that definitely rekindles my very faint faith in humanity.

on trail i hiked alone most of the day. i was in the woods for only about 10 minutes before exiting to cross a bridge, and then under the highway. i chatted with magz briefly until the uphill started. she was working in her garden and telling me all about the spring.

the morning was a 7 mile uphill to get to the ridge, where the trail flattened out and stayed pretty flat most of the day. we were above the spring leaf line, but thankfully it was a pretty cool day, and even better, there was almost no wind. the trail was a bit rocky at times, but ultimately was easy and flat.

many of the the rocks in this section are purple! i think it’s a combination of blue rocks and the red clay.

at the top of the climb bugs and lyric caught up to me. we took in the view and chatted with some day hikers before hiking a couple miles to a camp with the last water for 10 miles for lunch.

i took off a bit before them and took the opportunity to call magz, who had the day off. we talked for a while which was really wonderful. most of the time i’m really happy to be hiking the trail, but at least a few times a day i get a little homesick thinking about magz, the dogs, and the home we’ve created. it’s the only time i don’t want to be here.

i spent the rest of the afternoon listening to some podcasts. the new headphones really help keep me in the environment, but still i tend only to listen in the afternoons so i can let my head do it’s thing in the mornings.

i arrived at the shelter a little past 4. i opted to sleep in the shelter due to incoming rain. there are only 5 of us in the shelter tonight, and 4 are our crew.

bugs got a stuffed animal in her box from home. this.

also, i have never understood why posted signs say posted. i looked up the law (in mass). it’s not a requirement to have the word posted. but this is next level nonsensical:

a couple additional images from today: