Connecticut

Town days

Day 110

In an effort to shake myself out of my New York blues, I'm taking slightly shorter days (15 miles, can you believe that's easy) and making more town stops for this stretch. Today I popped into the town of Kent. They have an outdoor shower at the town welcome center, so I showered two days in a row! However, it has been so so muggy that the clean feeling rarely lasts more than an hour.

I got trail magic in town from another hiker Mary Poppins, perhaps best known for her dog Wile E Coyote who is a standard poodle. She is the platinum blazing type that is shuttling her own car the whole way, so she helped me get around town and back to trail.

This IS the trail. I crawled over the closer log and tried to crawl under the second, but my potato chips outside my pack were getting crushed/caught, so I clambered over it, too.

Wildfire smoke is back in the East, as I was informed after hauling my butt up a hill that was at least covered with ripe blueberries.

Haze for days

The other funny thing was how many fuzzy caterpillars I've seen today. I had just listened to a podcast about caterpillars by chance.

Not sure if this species is actually gregarious, the term for "swarming" caterpillars 

There was a crazy steep descent down to the Housatonic River, but then there were several miles of super easy walking. I passed a group of rock climbers at the ledges. This descent again confirmed that my shoes are too small, but I still have no idea how people lose toenails. Are their toes not longer than the nails? Do they curl up and smash the toe knuckle? Hopefully, I won't find out.

My exciting experiment today was if I could pack out a pint of ice cream from town to camp. I read about it on the internet, so it must be true. Sealed into a Ziplock bag and wrapped in my puffy coat for insulation, I successfully ate my Ben and Jerry's after 3 hours on an 80 degree afternoon. With a milkshake texture, I considered it a rousing success. I still opted to eat regular dinner. There was a nest full of baby birds in the shelter to provide entertainment, and by sundown you could see lightning bugs.

So worth it

Day 111

The smooth river walk continued for a few miles this morning when I got a trail magic apple from a sweet older couple out for a stroll. Much of the day was PUDs, or pointless up and down if I haven't defined the term. No big climbs, no standout moments.

We were STRONGLY advised not to drink river water

At camp, I discovered why rubbing alcohol is a second class fuel for my stove. It produces large yellow flames and coats everything in soot. That was all I could find in town, and now I know. Too bad I have a whole bottle to go through.

It ended up downpouring overnight. I was actually dry inside my tent, but the heavy rain coated everything in muddy splatter. Modern tents have a vestibule , sometimes called a gear porch, that is outside of the mesh body of the tent but still covered by the rain fly. This is great to store packs and shoes where it won't get mud everywhere, and it can help the inside feel less crowded. While my shoes were covered in the tent vestibule from above, they ended up wetter than before due to the wet ground and the backsplash.

Day 112

I lucked out today in that the forecast for heavy rain did NOT come true during the hiking day. It was only misty with the occasional light drizzle. Depending on the spot, there might be several days of wet feet due to puddles, mud, brushing against wet plants, and swollen streams even after the rain. I kept my mileage shorter today, too, ahead of a big overnight rain forecast.

So many signs today

My town stop today was Salisbury, CT for a lunch break. Most of the day was easy forest hiking, which was helpful to get my mojo back. There was some rock scrambling, and I very much appreciated the new tread on my shoes!

ooh an exclamation point

I stayed at a brand new, as in construction finished just weeks ago, shelter site today. It even smelled like new wood. I claimed the last spot around 4 pm, and had plenty of time to chat with Mousetrap and Happy Knees, who I have run into a few times before, and some section hikers including a previous thru hiker.

Smiles for not actively raining

The shelter was a fantastic call as the downpour began around 9 pm. By 10:30, several of the tent sites flooded, so I heard and saw quite a commotion as several people were packing up and moving in the dark and rain. The remaining high ground was squeezed around the shelter, which was rocky though not boggy. One person later described the tent floating in ankle deep water. Another desperate soul camped out in the privy, which was actually wide enough and sheltered enough inside, though I can't imagine very pleasant.

Day 113

Not sure the vertical scale translated, but you can see the cascading water at the top. Yes this was the trail, sometimes best climbed backwards like a ladder.

There were some unhappy soggy hikers this morning. I said good bye to our section hiker friends and headed towards the Massachusetts border. It quickly became obvious that my shoes would not dry out today as there were many, many sections of trail where it was easiest to walk straight through the ankle deep water. As I scrambled my way up several notable peaks, there was water cascading down the rock faces.

The tunnels of mountain laurel are back, apparently also the state flower of Connecticut.

One of the peaks was Bear Mountain, the highest peak in Connecticut. As I later learned, the highest point in the state is actually on the side of a different mountain whose summit is in New York.

The sign for Bear Mountain wasn't very legible in person, either.

By far my biggest surprise was seeing a bobcat! These guys are about the size of racoons and are notoriously shy. More ripe blueberries were a highlight as well. It's always worth a five minute stop to eat them.

State borders don't mean much among the trees.

I headed into town (Great Barrington, MA) for resupply, laundry, and hiding from another overnight rain. McDonald's french fries and ice cream went down real well. For balance, I polished off a pint of cherry tomatoes while waiting on my laundry. Seeing a skunk on my walk around town was my most nerve wracking wildlife encounter of the past week.

There was a good stretch of ledges with really cool views

I was among a good-sized group of thru hikers who camped out at the community center in Great Barrington last night. They offered showers and access to all of their facilities (notable features include a pool and sauna) with a day pass of a few dollars. You can tent on their property for free.

The trail traversed a ravine with lots of water crossings

New state, new post. Happy hiking!