Day: 129
Location: Tom Leonard Lean-to, MA
Miles hiked today: 14.4
Miles from Springer: 1,514.9
Miles to Katahdin: 661.3
Elevation: 1,540′
It had rained all night, leaving a clear and beautiful day. I always sleep really well during rain storms, and this was no exception. The spring at the shelter which had been dry last night was now flowing steadily.
As I came off the mountain, I was introduced to what would be the main theme of the trail in Massachusetts; mud, swamps, and mosquitoes. The trail goes through a lowlands area between two mountain ranges before going up again.
At one of the road crossings is a monument I was quite excited to see, which is the Shay’s Rebellion monument. Daniel Shay was a Revolutionary War veteran who had served proudly. However, he was like most soldiers in the Continental Army who were often not paid because Congress had no power to tax the colonies, and no money to pay or even adequately equip the army. While he was away fighting, his farm was suffering and eventually went under, and he went into debt.
Back then, they put you into prison for debt, and in the years following the Revolution, there was an epidemic of veterans going to prison, as many of them were in very similar situations as Shay. The weak federal government under the Articles of Confederation could do nothing about it, and could not even raise the money to deliver the pensions that had been promised. Add to this a failing economy and wild inflation among the 13 different forms of currency, one for each state.
Shay raised an army and led an uprising in western Massachusetts, which culminated in Congress sending an army of their own to quell the rebellion, led by Henry Knox. The crisis resulted in the Constitutional Convention being called in 1787. Daniel Shay made every argument of the Federalists for a strong national government vividly relevant, and paved the way for the adoption of the Constitution.
This is a place I’ve wanted to visit for quite a while, so I’m really glad they put the A.T. right through the battlefield. There is not much else there besides the monument, and I’m sure it looked a lot different back then.
At Route 7, there is a very nice place to stop called the Corn Crib, which is a small store that sells fresh fruit, vegetables, antiques, and is very hiker friendly. I stopped and got some peaches, a fresh tomato and an onion and had a really amazing lunch. While I was sitting there, a huge storm rolled in, so I sat it out and stayed perfectly dry.
I started out after the storm had passed, climbing the 1,100 feet of East Mountain. Eventually arriving at the shelter, and I decided to call it a day. There was a ridgerunner there, who was very proud of a new tent platform they had built on a rock outcropping, which had an amazing veiw. Unfortunately, I can’t use tent platforms with this tent, because it is too big. It got me wondering about whether this tent will work in the White Mountains, where tent sites are rare and sometimes you are only allowed to use a tent platform.
