G is for the Gray Grumblies

Saturday, June 9, 2012:

It's amazing how much the weather affects my mood.  Today I got going early, full of energy.  It was Gray, dreary, a bit foggy.  No problem.  I hiked through Dalton, MA from the north and then up to the top of Day Mountain, my turn-around-point for this short morning leg.

As I crossed the railroad tracks coming back into Dalton, I noticed that it was raining a little.  Well, Okay, I guess.  It rained for the rest of the road walk back to the parking lot on the north end of High Street where it becomes Gulf Road - not a heavy rain, just enough to get the roads wet.  But I was getting chilled because of the easy walking.  The coming climb out of Dalton would have cured that.  And by the time I got to the parking lot the rain had ended.

But the temptation of having that warm vehicle combined with the dreary weather to bring my energy level to zero.  All I wanted to do was curl up in the comfort of my 'Two Ton Steel Tent' and warm up and sleep.

And with all my momentum dissipated - the Gray Grumblies took over.  A down mood knows no time frame.  It envelops you as if it has always been and always will be.  So today's mid-morning loss of momentum easily translated from today's hike to the entire adventure.  Why am I putting up with all this discomfort?  It's not necessary.  I'm voluntarily torturing myself.  What's the point?  Is it really worth it?

This isn't the first time this has happened.  And it's always on cloudy, foggy, chilly days that it happens.  I question why I'm doing this.  I seriously consider giving up and going home and strolling the beach, writing, watching TV, being able to take a shower, use a flush toilet, cook a hot meal on demand.

There have been way too many of these Gray Grumbly sorts of days since I crossed over the Delaware River into New Jersey.  So there have been way too many days when I've lost my motivation.

But then something happens.  After a couple hours of break I'm warm again, I've had a meal, I've had some sleep.  And I'm getting bored ...

... suddenly going out and hiking sounds like a great idea again!  Get the blood circulating - stop stagnating!

So after a two hour bout of the Gray Grumblies, I was back on the trail, headed north up into the mountains again.  The climb was gradual and on easy trail - very few rocky spots and not even many swampy mucky spots.  There wasn't much to see until I got to Gore Pond.  Beavers there have almost flooded the stepping stones where the trail crosses at the pond's outlet.

I had planned to turn around at the summit of North Mountain just beyond Gore Pond, but got there so quickly, because the trail was so easy, that I decided to push on.  I turned around at The Cobbles, a spot above Cheshire with a great view of the reservoir and of the wind turbines on the distant ridge flanking Mt. Greylock.   Ahhhh ... G is for Greylock.  I was hoping I could work that in.

A good vista point like The Cobbles is a great place to turn around because I get to come back to that spot tomorrow.

And tomorrow promises more sunshine.  The Gray Grumblies can crawl back in their hole and stay there, thank you very much.

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Here's a map of today's hike and a link to more photos:

AT Day 147 - Dalton, MA at EveryTrail
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