Adventure Possible

Trial & Error in a Life of Adventure

Subscribe by Email to AdventurePossible.com
  • Life of Adventure
  • Checklists & Tools
  • Books
  • Big Adventures
  • Weekend Adventures
  • The Kelleys
You are here: Home / Adventure / Slack Packing AT in Massachussets – AT Thru-Hike Day 77

Slack Packing AT in Massachussets – AT Thru-Hike Day 77

January 8, 2014 by Mark Kelley Leave a Comment

Share adventure with others

  • Tweet

Location: The Birdcage, Dalton, Massachussets

We slack-packed today. Bears, Cold Feet, and I decided that we would hike 20 miles with daypacks back into Dalton from the south. The terrain that we planned to cross was gently rolling. We only needed to carry water, water purifiers, and snacks. Mountain Squid took us to Mass. 20 at around 10:00am. I had eaten a great bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich from a local store in Dalton so I was feeling good when we started up the first mountain with lightweight daypacks that Rob lent us.

Bears and I pulled away from Cold Feet who listened to her MP3 player and changed her pace with the beat of the song. Slow songs, slow walking, fast songs, fast walking. Bears and I made nearly three miles an hour on the flat Massachusetts terrain. For a while I talked to Bears about his life before the trail. He graduated from Georgia Southern in computer science. He dates a Peruvian girl named Manda, who lives and works in Claxton, and he writes a weekly article for his local newspaper. He has acquired a small fan club. An elderly woman sends him sporadic letters and expresses her concern for him and asks questions about the things he carries and eats. She lost her husband last year and she tells Bears about all of the places that they once visited that the Appalachian Trail happens to cross. He let me read the letters.

After several miles, I established a pace faster than Bears could maintain. I finished fifteen or so miles alone. The terrain was flat and I managed to move at just over three miles per hour. The light pack let me jump and hop around the trail, avoiding roots, rocks, and creeks with ease. I made it back to Dalton at around 6:00 pm. I showered immediately and plopped down on the couch to wait for Bears and Cold Feet to return. When they finally did return, we decided to go to the Old Country Buffet. Mountain Squid took us three and several northbounders to the buffet. The food wasn’t good, but there was a lot of it. I ate five plates of food, including fried chicken, tacos, pastas and many sides. I had a couple servings of dessert. I feel like I got my ten dollars worth of food at the buffet. I left feeling sick was so full of food. I went to the Wal-Mart after dinner to get a phone card. When I got back to the house, I called Mom and Dad and Katie. Rob gave me the bed in the basement, affectionately called ‘the cave,’ because there are no windows, a concrete floor and loose rocks piled in the corners of the room. I went to sleep early because I had slept poorly the night before and just finished my second 20 mile day in two days.

Share adventure with others

  • Tweet

More adventure, please!

Filed Under: Adventure, Adventure Trip, Mark's Appalachian Trail Thru Hike, Massachusetts Hiking

Share your comments... Cancel reply

Subscribe to Adventure Possible

Click to Buy eBook

Buy This Kindle Book on Amazon ($4.99)

Based on the actual adventure of Mark Kelley, publisher of this website, who trudged through the rugged and remote 100 Mile Wilderness on the Appalachian Trail.

Once reached Amazon Top 20 Best Seller List for Adventure Travel eBooks.

Meet the Adventure Possible Family

kelley family photo

Hi, My Name is Katie and I Married an Adventurer.

Quitting My Job

How can we afford to quit work and travel

How can we afford to quit work and to travel for a year?

How much does it cost to RV around America for a year?

Are we investing for the long term while we live a life of adventure

Are we investing for the future while we adventure travel? (Updated 2022)

Adventure Possible in the News

Live a Life of Adventure in 15 Steps

Our family believes in designing the life one wants to live, and we have designed an approach for our life that builds adventure into our life … Read More

Main Navigation

  • Life of Adventure
  • Checklists & Tools
  • Books
  • Big Adventures
  • Weekend Adventures
  • The Kelleys

Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

Search

© 2013-2022 PROTRACK MARKETING LLC. Raleigh, North Carolina. Principal: Mark Kelley (LinkedIn).