START TIME: 5:05 AM 
END TIME: 9:20 PM
Jen put in another very strong day. She reached US 7 outside of Sheffield, Massachusetts, by about 7:30 AM. Melissa and I got bagels and coffee at the Great Barrington Bagel Company. We kind of stumbled onto it without realizing how good it was. It was packed for the 4th of July weekend.
Jen hiked the next 4.5 miles to Jug End Road so fast that she was about 50 yards from the road as we pulled up. From there she had a big 17-mile stretch to Salisbury. She was feeling good and said she didn’t need Melissa to hike in so we did some laundry in Lakeville and checked e-mail at the Scoville Memorial Library, the first public library in the United States. It was beautiful. The outside looked like an old stone church.
After four hours or so, we drove to the trail crossing north of Salisbury and waited for Jen. She got there about 3 o’clock, and I got to walk with her on a short, flat stretch of trail and road.
When she left, Melissa and I swung by Mizza’s Pizza in Lakeville. I got a pepperoni and meatball calzone for Jen and me to split, and Melissa got spaghetti and meatballs. We each had a Long Trail Ale and then the owner offered us another, I think because he thought we were waiting for our to-go order. Anyway, it was generous of him.
Jen reached the Iron Bridge near Falls Village around 5:30. She scarfed down her calzone and then kept walking. Our buddy Steve Feller met us about 45 minutes later and hiked the last 7 miles or so with Jen into West Cornwall Road. She stopped a little early today because she’d done a great job, she wanted to shower, and because she’d kind of tweaked her shin earlier in the day and she didn’t want to push it.
Melissa went back to Steve’s house for the night (he lives in Mahopac, New York) and I drove Jen down to the Housatonic Meadows State Park for a shower. She ate Melissa’s leftover spaghetti and meatballs on the way. She was pretty zonked when we got back to the tent, but since she finished early, she also got to bed earlier.
We’re glad to have Steve with us for a few days. He’s a strong runner and hiker and will be able to pace Jen and push her—not literally, of course—when she needs it.