Day 106: Water, water, everywhere!

June 21: It rained all night and continued heavily into the morning. With little hope of the rain tapering off, I didn't linger under the dry confines of my tarp and hit the trail at 6:00.

Today was the first day of summer--better known as Hike Naked Day in the letterboxing community! I'd considered hiking naked for the heck of it, but it was so cold and wet I'd likely die of hypothermia if I tried so I bagged that idea. It was not going to happen in this weather! But in honor of Hike Naked Day, I'd hike commando without any underwear. =) Actually, it was more of a pragmatic decision. My underwear was soaked from the rain the day before and wet underwear tends to chafe me, so I just decided to go without it and blame it on Hike Naked Day when I told everyone. =)

Early in the morning, I passed the 1,500-mile mark of the trail! Woo-who!

I'd only walked a couple of miles when I felt the shoe on my foot suddenly loosen. The shoelace had broken. It had been fraying badly since New York which is why I picked up a spare pair of shoelaces left behind in a shelter, but I'd been too lazy to actually replace the laces on my shoe. Now, in the pouring rain, I still had no desire to replace the laces. Instead, I knotted the ends of the laces together. Not a shoelace knot that could easily be pulled open--there wasn't enough lace to do that--but an actual knot that I knew I'd have little hope of opening again later. It was a permanent knot! I figured I'd just cut them off at the end of the day and replace my laces that evening.

Four or five miles up the trail, I was able to get out of the rain in the Riga Shelter. There were a few hikers in the shelter who were lingering due to the rain, and Scibbles--who I'd met earlier--was camped in his hammock nearby. He must really hate sleeping in shelters if he preferred to use his hammock in the rain rather than sleep in the shelter!

They also told me that the weather forecast they had seen suggested that the rain might stop by around 10:00 and it might even be sunny later in the afternoon. I could only pray that were true! I could have lingered to see what would happen, but I was already soaked to the bone and saw little advantage to waiting around. I continued hiking.

I only made it 1.2 miles before I stopped again. Another shelter to get out of the rain! =) These shelters are unusually close to each other--it would have been helpful if one of them had been near where I camped for the night!

Inside was an old man who told me that he was taking the day off because of the rain. He doesn't hike in rain. Ever. Which kind of irritates me. So he's guaranteed a spot in this shelter because he never got out, while any hikers that arrive late in the day after hiking through the miserable rain have to camp out in the rain? At least set up his tent and let someone else use the shelter, but he had no intention of doing that.

And he was hiking southbound--the next shelter was a mere 1.2 miles away! At the very least he could make it that far! So in any case, he rubbed me the wrong way and I didn't much like him. At least I knew I wouldn't have to ever see him again!

By the time I left this shelter, the rain had largely stopped. Tree snot continued to drop from the trees, but the heavy downpour had finally stopped much to my relief, but the damage had already been done. The trails were positively flooded! Creeks ran down the trail in torrents.

Another mile and a half later, I had reached the top of Bear Mountain, mistakenly known as the highest point in Connecticut by many. It's the highest summit in Connecticut, but there highest ground in Connecticut where one can stand is on the Massachusetts border on the south slope of Mount Frissell. The summit of that mountain, however, is in Massachusetts and not Connecticut. So it's an awkward high point--on a slope partway up the mountain! And therefore Bear Mountain tends to get all of the glory.

The trail down from Bear Mountain is treacherous: steep, rocky and wet. I remembered it being difficult from the first thru-hike and it was even more difficult this time around because of the recent rain causing a creek to run down the trail. The going was slow, but I took my time and made it down safely.

Shortly thereafter, I crossed out of Connecticut and into Massachusetts. The border itself is unmarked, so I drew a line in the dirt with my trekking pole marking CT on one side and MA on the other and took a photo of it to honor the occasion. I didn't have a GPS or anything to tell me if I put it in the correct place so it was undoubtedly off by a bit, but I didn't care. It's the thought that counts, right? =)

I did pass a sign marking the border of Connecticut and Massachusetts--about half a mile beyond the actual border--next to Sages Ravine. A good size river was flowing and if you didn't know any better, you'd assume that the river was the border by the way the signs are placed. It's not, but the signs are very misleading!

As for the river, it was flowing fast and high! I didn't remember having to ford this river during my 2003 thru-hike. There was some sort of small bridge to get across, and if the water level was lower, I could probably walk over a series of logs that made a small dam. The water was much too high and fast for me to do that, though, so I pulled up my socks and just plowed through the water which was about knee-deep in most places.

The trail headed back uphill, this time to Mount Everett which, if I remember correctly, is something like the 4th highest mountain Massachusetts. The trail was rough, and not the least because of all of the water running down it. Near the summit the clouds started to clear, though, and I could get some pretty nice views.

Throughout the day the clouds continued to clear and the afternoon became quite nice! The rain from earlier would plague the trails all day, but at least the rain had stopped and temperatures warmed up again. I even thought about Hike Naked Day. It wasn't too late to participate for an hour or two! But at this point, it was so late in the day I was seeing a lot more people on the trail and didn't feel comfortable doing so. Nope, Hike Naked Day wouldn't be happening for me this year.

Late in the day, I bumped into a couple of people I knew: Silent Doug and Clueless! Familiar faces! Familiar faces NOT from the Appalachian Trail! Okay, it wasn't entirely by accident. They knew I was on the trail and were traveling back from an event in Vermont. I had texted and called Clueless about my location earlier in the day and where I expected to be in the afternoon. I was running a bit later than I expected, but they intercepted me just before reaching MA 41 at a scenic overlook.

They brought gifts of food and Coke and all sorts of good stuff. We walked back down to their car, and just as we arrived, it started to sprinkle again. ARGH! So the first thing I did was set up my tarp nearby. I had planned to walk further, but it was already late in the day and I had largely dried out (except for my feet) from the rain earlier, and I wanted to stay dry! So I called it quits next the dirt road and set up camp in the woods nearby.

After my tarp was set up, we walked back to their car and chatted and ate the food they brought. Nothing came from the light sprinkle that scared me into setting up my tarp, but it was ready--just in case! The rain would pick up later in the evening. Eventually they headed off to go back home, and I headed back to my tarp--my home for the night. I was a little sad to see them go--I had really enjoyed their visit!

This is no creek--it's the trail!

The rest of the evening turned increasingly miserable. After dark, the mosquitoes came out in force so I wound up having to wear my headnet and get into my much too warm sleeping bag to escape the onslaught. Then, as it grew dark, I noticed a slug crawling up onto my groundsheet. I flicked him off, then noticed another one. And another....

There were slugs everywhere! I cleared the ones I saw, then read my Kindle for an hour before looking around for more slugs and found a couple of more making the run up onto my gear. I flicked them off and started regular "perimeter checks" each hour until I went to sleep. Slugs don't move very fast so I figured I really only had to keep an eye on the perimeter of my groundsheet periodically rather than search all of my gear for them.

Even after going to sleep, I'd do another perimeter check whenever I woke up during the night. In total, I lost count of the slugs after about 20 or so. The final count, if I had kept up with it, would probably have been over 30 slugs.

The mosquitoes just buzzed in my ear all night long. I didn't sleep well....

The top of Bear Mountain, and the highest summit in the state!

A pretty little waterfall, right? NO! This is the TRAIL!

My improv border monument. Hello, Massachusetts! Goodbye Connecticut! If I had thought about it at the time, I'd have made sure the knot in my left shoe was visible! I'd cut the knots of that shoe at the end of the day.

Lots of waterfalls today! Fortunately, THIS is a real waterfall and not the trail!

The "official" MA/CT border sign is 0.6 miles into Massachusetts.

The trail crossed this creek. I forded through it in fast-moving knee-deep water, but other hikers I talked to later said they just walked across on those logs without even getting their feet wet. The rain, obviously, made this creek a lot higher and faster!

Nearing Mt Everett, the sky is starting to clear!

RIP, little fire tower....

You might think all that rain would discourage snakes from coming out, but you'd be wrong!

Now this water IS the trail. *nodding*

Clueless and Silent Doug come out to visit! I'm not sure what Clueless is doing in this photo. I hope she doesn't see this photo, but it's the only one I took of them! =)

It actually cleared up quite nicely late in the day! It would not last, however....

I set up my tarp before any rain can get my gear!

Day 105: Off to the Races!

June 20: It didn't rain during the night--thank goodness!--so I never had to move my camp under the pavilion. But I did wake up early and was on the trail hiking by 5:45 in the morning.

The morning was clear and sunny! Beautiful! Afternoon turned overcast, and late in the afternoon it rained for about an hour. But I'm getting ahead of myself.... at least the day started beautiful and I managed to get as many miles in as I could.

The day started off sunny and warm!

It wasn't long before I heard very loud, far off vehicles. It sounded like a car race, and the fact was confirmed when I reached a particular vantage point on the trail and could see cars racing around on some roads in the distance that looked like it could have been a track. The view was brief, but I could hear the noise all day long which got old fast. VROOM! VROOM! Hardly a wilderness experience....

Late in the day, I hit a trail detour. The trail normally passes through the small village of Falls Village, but do to work on a bridge that crosses a creek running out of town, the bridge (and therefore the trail) was closed to traffic. Not a big deal, however, since there was a road walk around it that added about 0.2 miles to the hike.

The road walk took me past the Lime Rock racetrack--the source of all the loud noise I'd been hearing all day--and next to a church that had a register outside for hikers to sign along with a note that water was available from a hose on the side of the building. I'm always in the mood for clean water! =)

So I went to find the hose and met the pastor (I think) who took me inside to fill up from a kitchen sink, and from her I learned that they did benediction for the races. And she'll also show up if she hears emergency sirens, even before she gets a call, because that means that there was a wreck and her services might be needed.

We only chatted for a few minutes, though, before I wandered back to the trail and continued the detour around Falls Village.

The detour reconnected with the main trail on the far side of the Iron Mountain Bridge which was closed for renovations. The trail went back into the woods for a few minutes before coming back out again on a small street when I heard the first sprinkle of rain. Noooo! Rain had not been in the forecast at all today, so it took me something by surprise. Overcast, yes, but not rain!

I stood under a group of trees at the edge of the road, next to one of those crash barriers so cars don't go over the sides of cliffs. I hadn't planned to stop here, but the trees provided some protection from the rain--for the time being--and the crash barrier gave me something to sit on and snack. I didn't know how long the rain would last or how heavy it would be, and I thought it would be a good idea to eat some snacks now while I was still dry and before the rain could work its way through the thick canopy of leaves.

So I was sitting there, on the side of the road, eating some Skittles, when a vehicle pulls out of a driveway and stops next to me, the driver's window going down. Was he going to ask about the trail? Maybe say, "Hey, before it gets too wet, you want to crash in the spare bedroom of my house?" How awesome would that be?

So he stops in front of me and leans out the window a bit saying, "It wasn't supposed to rain today! I have things to do!"

Yeah, okay.... Of all of the things I expected, him complaining about the rain wasn't one of them. And frankly, I wasn't at all sympathetic. It's like complaining to a homeless person when you're dry and indoors about how miserable the rain is. At least you're DRY and INDOORS! *rolling eyes*

"Yeah, well, I'm not too excited about it myself. I have to hike in this weather, and then sleep in it!"

The man nodded, agreeing that that didn't sound appealing, then complained about the rain again before rolling up his window and driving off. I was astonished. Seriously? He's complaining to ME about the rain?

Ideally, I'd have liked to set up camp in the Limestone Spring Shelter, but unfortunately, it was closed for unknown reasons. There wasn't even any warning on the trail--the first time I learned about its closure was from some hikers who'd been heading southbound earlier in the day. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have known about the closure until I arrived at the junction for the shelter and saw it taped off with what looked vaguely like police tape (but pink, instead of yellow) and a sign saying that the "area" was closed. No reason why--just that it was closed. Did it burn down? Was it being refurbished? Was there a rock slick between the trail and the shelter that just made the shelter inaccessible? (The shelter was a half-mile off the AT, however, so I wasn't going to walk down to find out! Not while it was pouring rain!)

The nearest shelter to get out of the rain was about 10 miles in either direction and there was no hope I'd get into one of those before dark. Nope, I'd have to set up camp somewhere and sleep under my tarp.

Turns out, there weren't very many places to camp along this stretch of trail. It was rocky, uneven, and with lots of undergrowth that made finding a place for a camp difficult. I continued walking and walking, eventually entering the city limits of Salisbury. The trail didn't go through the middle of town--just skirts around the edge of it--and I wound up finding a flat place just beyond a cemetery but hidden in the woods.

These woods were largely pine trees which left a thick layer of pine needles on the ground--my favorite to sleep on! Feels like a mattress! =) There are not very many places along the AT where I can camp on pine needles. The rain had finally stopped--temporarily, at least--so I didn't feel a huge rush to set up camp in just a few minutes. Tree snot still dropped from trees, however, and it looked like the rain could start up again at any minute, so I didn't want to wait to set up the tarp either.

I looked around and found an area I liked... until I found a needle laying on the ground. I'm not talking about a pine needle, either. I'm talking about the kind people use to inject stuff. And being in the woods at the edge of town, I didn't think it was for injecting medications. Probably some sort of illegal drugs. That gave me a little pause. Is this where drug addicts hang out? I was pretty much IN the town of Salisbury, on ground that was utterly flat and easy to walk on. It wouldn't be a bad place for drug addicts to go if they were trying to find some 'privacy'. I didn't mess with the needle--I certainly didn't want to carry it in my pack for miles on end--but I found another place to camp about a hundred feet away where I didn't see any needles sticking out of the pine needles.

I got my tarp set up, and it wasn't long before I started regretting the location. Every half hour, I could hear some church bells ringing nearby. Those were just annoying!

Later in the evening, a man walked by who was carrying two large duffel bags, one in each hand, plus a giant backpack with a thermos cup swinging wildly on the back of it. He said hi as he passed me but didn't stop to talk. Who was he? Why was he there? He looked like he was planning to spend the night out here like I was, but I'd never seen anyone carrying so much crap out into the backcountry! Two duffel bags and a large backpack?

It soon started sprinkling again, but by then I was dry and warm under my tarp. Let the weather do what it wants--it's not my problem anymore!

The Lime Rock racetrack was certainly making a heck of a lot of noise today!

Detour! The trail is closed ahead, but not to worry--they provided these directions to detour around the closure!

The detour had even been marked with these (temporary) white blazes! Easy to follow! But road walking the entire time....

Heck, the detour is signed better than the regular trail is! The church I stopped at is in the background where the trail turns.

The Lime Rock race track

It's a hiker-friendly church!

The Iron Mountain Bridge was closed for renovations. The AT normally crosses over this bridge, but since it's closed, we had to follow the detour to where we reconnected with the AT here.

Great Falls, just outside of Falls Village

The shelter is closed--but no explanation for why or how long!

Giant's Thumb

Entering the outskirts of Salisbury! (See the white blazes on the telephone pole?)

Passing by a cemetery.... I'd have loved to camp here if it wasn't so exposed!

That can't be a good sign....

Home, sweet, home for the night. The pine needles were wonderful! The loud church bells every 30 minutes... not so much.