It's an easy morning with cooler weather, decent trail, and the bugs held at bay with DEET and headnet.
I stop for lunch at the Dalton City Park, under a pavilion as a lightning storm passes through.
In the old days I'd be watching the shape and speed of the clouds, trying to feel subtle changes in the wind speed or direction or temperature. Today I watch the real-time Doppler Radar on my smartphone.
An intense storm is passing directly north of town, pounding the next ten miles of trail. The radar shows intense heavy rain within a mile or two north and the NWS has issued a severe weather alert. No hurry for me to get up there!
I talk to some kids waiting to resume their basketball game, and then the retired fire chief and lifelong Dalton resident out for a spin in his power chair.
When the thunder is subsiding and the radar shows the storm is passing I head up the hill. The creeks are full and the stepping stones or logs are under water so my feet get soaked. But no rain drops on me, and the wet brush is cleared back far enough that my clothes stay dry.
A good day takes me 18.3 miles to Cheshire MA.
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