August 7

Goose Pond

We woke up pretty early, ate breakfast, packed up and were out on the trail around 8am.  It was another beautiful day, and the hiking was easy.  We covered the 6 miles to Saker campsite quickly, but no sign of our friends.  Some other hikers there said that they had just left there about an hour ago.  Apache and I stopped for lunch at the trailhead where the road led into Tyringham.  Slims had gotten out in front of us, and I guess he didn't stop there.  Wehn we arrived, the rest of our group had just gotten there too, after heading into the town where Rainbow Eyes had picked up a mail drop at the Post Office.  We all headed out at differnt intervals after lunch, but we all had the same destination for the day.  Upper Goose Pond Cabin.  More easy, beautiful terrian for the rest of the afternoon.  Around 15 miles into the hike, the pond came into view to the left through the trees.  I stopped along the shore to look at the view and take some pictures.  Another mile down the trail was the side trail 0.5 miles to the cabin.  I was the last one of our group to roll in.  There were a few dozen other hikers there as well.  NoBos and SoBos.  The cabin was amazing.  The caretakers there had about 50 gallon jugs filled with spring water for the hikers to use.  The first floor had a nice sitting area outside on the porch, inside was a sitting room, fireplace, and kitchen.  Upstairs was a large bunk room.  There was plenty of tenting areas.  And a dock, with canoes!  Slims and Apache had already taken one out, and said the pond was amazing.  Goose Pond, didn't really seem like a pond.  It was more like a lake.  The rest of us ate dinner, then Samson and I took a canoe out on the water.  It was amazing.  Right at sunset.  We paddled out to this island in the pond, where other hikers had built cairns, stacking pond rocks on top of one another.  We paddled around to the far side of the pond.  The sunset reflection on the water, dark green of the evergreens along the shore, sky changing colors at dusk, and the heron I saw flying over the pond, made for an incredible setting.  We paddled back to the dock, right as the last light of the day faded.  I walked back up to my hammock, and had an incredibly peaceful nights sleep.

Dusk on Upper Goose Pond, Massachusetts