Scott's Ultra Challenge - Day 3

Day 3 – Dedicated to Serv Gonsalves
Start: Upper Goose Pond in Lee, MA
Low point: 853 ft Hop Brook in Tyringham, MA
High point: 2,116 ft Mt Wilcox in Monterey, MA
End: Tom Leonard Lean-to in Great Barrington, MA
Distance: 24 miles

What a huge difference last night’s sleep on a comfortable bunk made! I am still very sore but my mind is now at full strength and I am excited to get 8 miles down the trail this morning to see my Mom and Dad for the purpose of reloading with supplies for the push into CT tomorrow. Last night, my spirit broken, I was looking forward to seeing them to have them take me home, but today I have a renewed confidence and determination to make it to the end.

Time to pack up and head downstairs for some blueberry pancakes and syrup! Mmmm! This will be a nice break from my energy bar breakfasts.

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Overall today was a MUCH better day than yesterday. I only saw two people though the whole day so it was quite lonely. Seeing Mom and Dad 8 miles into my morning to resupply was really nice… and they were relieved to see me alive too (inside joke). As usual Mom brought me WAY more food than I asked for to take with me for lunch that day. I would have loved to bring that extra banana, orange and sandwich but I had no room for it. As it was I had to literally stuff the rest of the food into my refilled backpack. I ate as much of the excess as I could before leaving them and that really helped me on my 24 mile day. My bear bell I wear on my pack to let animals and people know I’m coming came in handy today. Dad could hear me coming from quite a ways away and was ready to snap the obligatory picture of me coming out of the woods.

Not only was today light on people, but it was also light on views. Most hills and mountains were treed in at the summit and I ran through a bunch of fields. There was a fabulous view tonight from the tent platform at the Tom Leonard Lean-to where I am spending the night. A guy named Todd from North Carolina is also spending the night at the lean-to. He is sleeping in the lean-to but I’ll be in my tent on a soft patch of ground under some pine trees since the lean-to only has hard plywood bunks. It’s a huge lean-to! There are 4 bunks and then a loft where a good 6+ more people could sleep on the deck. The stream at the campsite runs reddish-brown, even when filtered, the water is an unappetizing yellow though it tastes fine. I felt like I was drinking urine…

Todd and I built a nice fire in the fire pit outside the lean-to and we swapped hiking stories and information about our home lives late into the evening while snacking on dry roasted peanuts that Jan sent along as a treat. Thanks dear they were delicious! Todd writes books about his hikes and adventures and I hope to see myself in one of them one day. Good luck on having them published one day my friend!

My nice soft tent spot should make for a good night’s sleep. NOT! I’m smarter than to expect that after the results of my first night on the ground. Looking at the weather forecast, tomorrow night and Friday look to be nasty. Rain is supposed to come in tomorrow evening so I have decided to go an extra 5 miles beyond my planned campsite in Sage’s Ravine to get up and over Bear Mountain in CT and stay in one of the two lean-tos heading down into Salisbury. I hate to sleep on a hard wooden deck but I also hate to sleep in potentially heavy rain with my tarp tent. I also don’t want to be scrambling up the steep north slope of Bear Mtn in the rain Friday morning. Those rock faces and ledges would be treacherous in the rain.

Today was dedicated to my buddy Serv Gonsalves who lost his battle with cancer last year. His death hit me hard and caused me to decide to honor him by putting his name and picture on the back of my running shirt. That idea quickly morphed into raising money and awareness for cancer. And then I got crazier… I ran races up Mt Washington, Pikes Peak in a summer blizzard, and Mt Mansfield before this AT trek came to be. So thank you Serv for inspiring me both last year and again this year to persevere with my challenges. I do wish he were around to tell me how crazy I am in doing this!

Tonight is very chilly, so sitting around a warm fire for the evening was real relaxing before climbing into my sleeping bag to reflect and write in my journal. I’m still really surprised that I have not had any foot problems yet. No blisters, no serious hot spots, and my legs felt a bit stronger and less sore today. Less sore, but still quite sore none-the-less.