Day 48 Kay Wood to The Birdcage

Miles 3
Total 458

We woke up this morning and hiked three miles in to Dalton MA. Upon arriving in Dalton we were picked up by Rob Bird who took us to his house and cared for us. (post coming).

The reason we stopped in Dalton was because we needed new shoes-both of us. Jamie's shoes had lost tread. Literally. there was a hole in the bottom and, consequently, his feet were hurting and, as you know, I seem to compulsively roll my ankles so I wanted to upgrade to real boots.   And we needed to do laundry-but that's a pretty consistent need.

So, we went to the EMS today and both successfully walked out with new shoes.  Jamie in another pair of Brooks and I in a pair of Solomon's that I got on clearance for $50.  I was particularly excited about my boots because I didn't even know they were marked down.  I was willing to pay to $180 dollars to have some foot security and I was ecstatic when I looked at the price tag!   It was so interesting to put on new shoes with supportive bottoms. When I put my old Merrels back on it felt like I was walking around in Ballerina slippers.  It felt like there was nothing between my feet and the ground.  Crazy!

After getting our new shoes (and wearing them out of the store), we went back to Rob's house to wait for the Trio to get back from their hike before going to dinner.   Rob took us to "Old Country Buffet." An all you can eat buffet is heaven to a Thru-Hiker.  I sampled EVERYTHING they had to offer and walked out comfortably full. 

Tomorrow morning we're going to do a "Slack Pack."  For $20 Rob will drive us north over Greylock.  We'll take small day packs and hike 23 miles back up and over.  We'll spend the night here again and then the next day he'll drive us back to where we started and we'll continue North.  I"m happy to not have to carry 30 pounds over our first 3,000 footer!  This will be our first slack pack.  I"m also excited about that. I tried to talk the boys into doing it with us to save some money but they thought 23 might be a bit much for them.  Anyway,  i'm looking forward to it! 

We just got finished with a marathon sing along and I'm tucked in on the front porch futon with jamie and drew is on the twin bed next to us. Although today was a short day, i feel it was productive and we'll pick up some miles tomorrow.