"The first requisite of a good citizen..."

"...in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his own weight."
-Theodore Roosevelt

August 6, 2001

Ah, the town of Cheshire.

I headed there after breakfast at Bascom Lodge on Mt. Greylock.  Met Ed there.

Bascom Lodge on Mt. Greylock (image from here)

I, honestly, forgot all about visiting this place.  I don't think I even expected to find it either, but I do remember the bench to the right of the main door.

Pretty sure I ate my instant oatmeal on that bench.

I must say it is a lovely place; however, I unfortunately did not eat a large cooked breakfast from their kitchens.  Not sure why I didn't, except I was likely in a hurry to make the Post Office in Cheshire for my food drop...

In Cheshire, I did "pack surgery" and a sleeping bag switch.

This is when I fully converted from human into "thru-hiker".  In my food drop came a felt sleeping bag that I had bought from Walmart weighing 2 pounds less than my sleeping bag.  I had planned to switch sleeping bags since it was now fully into a warm summer.

You cannot understand what shedding 2 pounds means to a thru-hiker.  Seriously.  Walk 100 miles with 30 pounds, and then another 100 with 28 pounds, and you will understand.

I got greedy...I started cutting off random straps off of my pack; I founds some pockets in the pack I never used, so I cut them out; I traded a fuel bottle out for a lighter-weight soda bottle; and I sent home a thick rope for some parachute cord.

All that extra weight was sent in the mail to my parents, and I left Cheshire about 4 pounds lighter.  This is like attaching 8 helium balloons to my pack filled with 60 cubic feet of helium!