Yo-So Connecticut

Day 1 (87), 09/16, Limestone Spring Shelter 7.4

It was an easy 3 mile walk to the road that heads into Salisbury. I tried calling my niece who is celebrating her 40th birthday, but she must have a bad hangover because she didn’t answer at 8a. 

My luck with hitching is not good. I didn’t even try today and just walked the half mile to downtown. I’ve always heard tits are enough to get a ride. Mine are bigger than 50% of women—maybe it’s the bald head and scraggly beard throwing my mojo off. 

The coffee shop was closed. The bakery was closed. The restaurant was closed. The grocery store was open. I needed a couple more breakfasts and some coffee, so the trip won’t be a total loss. There was also a very nice deli in the back of the store which made surprisingly large subs—more than I could eat in one sitting. 

The credit card company told me that even though my card was cancelled, they had updated my Apple Pay and I could use it right away. They were telling the truth. Apple keeps surprising me with the things they can do. So what if they track my every movement and listen in on everything I say all the time. Constant surveillance is the price you have to pay to get a sub on credit without a card…so be it. 

Once again, it was too nice to stay inside so I pushed on another 4 miles to the shelter. With it being a weekend, there were a lot of people out. I met a group of 3 who were hiking to Falls Village. One of them gave me a Gatorade as trail magic. I walked and talked with them all the way to the turn to my shelter. 

I’ve got reservations at Jenny’s Cabin in Falls Village for 2 nights starting tomorrow. Tonight, I hit the jackpot and got the shelter all to myself. This wasn’t a big surprise because the shelter is a half mile off trail and drops several hundred feet below the trail. Thru-hikers pretty much avoid trails that add a mile that doesn’t count. 

Day 2 (88), 09/17, Falls Village (Jenny’s) 3.6

I had told Jenny I would try NOT to arrive before noon. Even though I had a party shelter all to myself, the party ended at 6:30 when I went to bed. I popped up wide awake at 4 but knew I couldn’t stretch 3.6 miles into 8 hours. I gave it that teen try and went back to bed. 

At 7, I couldn’t stay in bed any longer—at least not without coffee to snuggle up to. One of my luxuries is a half liter, collapsible, sippy cup. I boil the water and then cradle the cup on cold mornings. It had gotten down to 43 last night, so, close enough. 

A hot cup of coffee is very similar to a mad wife—you can only snuggle so long before she/it gets cold. I was on the trail by 8:30. 

This is a very popular section of trail. In only 3 miles, I ran into 9 people out day hiking. This did add at least an half hour of conversation to my morning, but I still popped out at the falls by 10. 

I meandered further up the trail after taking lots of pictures of the falls. If I headed in the way Jenny told me to, I’d skip 0.2 miles of trail. I’m not completely pure, but this is too much missed trail to qualify in my book. I headed down the trail towards town then backtracked to add an extra 1/2 mile to my morning. I talked to the trees, pet any dogs I ran into, walked backwards uphill, and even considered crawling on the street (but didn’t). I arrived at 11 (if you squint at the watch and generously round up). 

Two friendly dogs greeted me when I headed up the drive. I could hear a bonfire crackling in the field. I was home for the next 2 nights. 

Jenny turned the fire over to her husband and showed me around. They’ve built a tiny house with a loft on the back of their property. I had this all to myself. There’s no electricity in the cabin, but there is on the porch. There’s a wonderful outside shower near the house. She has loaner clothes to wear while doing your laundry. All this for only $20/night. If there was a wood burning stove in the cabin, I could live here (assuming she would loan me at least one of the dogs).

I did all my chores (laundry, shower, charging, etc) then headed the mile to the cafe for lunch. Pizza delivers to the house for supper. While I was waiting for supper to arrive, Jenny made me a s’more on the fire knowing that NOTHING ruins a hikers appetite…not even dessert before supper. 

Day 3 (89), 09/18, Jenny’s Cabin, ZERO

I took the zero today because I was waiting for my new credit card to arrive. It was just a happy coincidence that it rained all day and night. 

The only drawback to the cabin is the lack of an outhouse which they are planning to install but haven’t yet. I had a talk with the chickens before I went to bed and let the rooster know I was not against chicken on my salad if he wakes up too soon. He stayed quiet until nearly 7—I’ll let it pass…this time. 

When the cock crowed 3 times, I got up and headed to the cafe. They have plumbing (and coffee)…I just had to figure out which comes first (final answer, coffee). I grabbed the front window and stayed all day watching the rain out the window thinking someone is definitely looking out for me pulling me off the trail on a rainy day. 

Day 4 (90), 09/19, Cesar Brook Campsite 12.5

I know whoever is looking out for me is not my credit card company. The card never came. I called yesterday afternoon and had the address changed since I couldn’t stay in town another day. They told me it sometimes takes 48 hours to ship a card overnight. 

I said my goodbyes to Jenny and told her I was going to have a leisurely day starting at the cafe. The miles today look pretty flat so I can head out by noon and still make my campsite before dark. 

I left the cafe about 11 but ran into several people willing to talk as I was leaving town. Jenny had told me I’ll hike by the high school where Allen, her husband, is the physics teacher. I was admiring the high school when a car pulled up next to me. It was Jenny delivering my new credit card that hadn’t been mailed yet. It looks like I’ve gone from no cards to two. 

I only saw one other SOBO the rest of the day. He was getting water out of a puddle so I just passed him knowing that he’d pass me again very quickly. When he did pass, I said “Hi” but he barely acknowledged I had talked and kept on hiking. I’ve heard SOBOs tend to be more liner types not wanting to engage with people. He was definitely of this type. 

“I wandered lonely as a cloud, that floats on high over val and dale when all at once, I saw” my campsite and was home for the night. Bonus points if anyone can identify the poem which I had to memorize in the 5th grade and can’t get it out of my head 48 years later.

I had the campsite to myself. I haven’t slept in my tent in over a week because of open shelters and town stops. It felt like I was home again. 

Day 5 (91), 09/20, Mt Algo Shelter 13.9

There were surprisingly several people out today. I even met a straggling NOBO, ZipperHead who was trying to delay flipping as long as possible. He is from MA and is trying to get to his home state today so his daughter can hike with him a few days before he flips to Katahdin from the VT line. 

There’s a bridge out just before Kent. I asked everyone I ran into today heading north if they had crossed the bridge. Two people had told me they had actually crossed on the bridge but it was a “bit wonky.”

When I finally got to it, I agreed that “wonky” was the correct description. The northwest footing had gotten completely washed away in the July floods. If there hadn’t been a tree right there, the whole bridge would have gotten washed away. I was only a mile from the shelter and my feet were dry again, so I didn’t really want to wade across the brook. I gave the bridge a test. 

When I could see it would hold my weight on this end, I quickly ran across. The Brook wasn’t deep, but I just didn’t want to get wet this late in the day if I could avoid it. 

I got to the road leading into Kent and told myself if someone offered me a ride into town, I’d go and resupply. I wasn’t going to actively hitch. Bald fat old guys don’t do well with hitching (at least this one doesn’t). After 10 minutes of pathetic down-on-my-luck looks at passing cars, I gave up and headed to the shelter, WHICH, I had all to myself. 

Day 6 (92), 09/21, Wiley Shelter 12.8

Don’t people realize summer is over? Why are there still so many day hikers? Doesn’t anybody work any more? Get a job and let me have the trail to myself. I saw at least a dozen people today

I was surprised when I heard someone say “what’s your name again?” which is usually an indication that we’ve met before. It was a CT trail crew volunteer that I had met doing trail work when I was coming out of Salisbury. 

We talked for quite a while. He asked me about how I got across the Brook with the “wonky” bridge. I tried to avoid answering and when I did, he realized I had come across the bridge. He said “I wouldn’t have tried it the way it looks.” It was already on the National Parks list to be replaced before the flood. Maybe I’ll have a new one to cross when I come back in the spring. 

My treat today was to cross the Bull Covered Bridge and get a few supplies to make it into Pawling. The woman who runs the store was a very nice Indian. I told her I had heard there was Indian food here thinking it was fresh. It was frozen but imported from India. I had some chicken vindaloo and an aloo vegetable dish both of which were quite delicious. It was a nice change from pizza and hamburgers. 

The extra 1500 calories I had were enough to get me to my shelter for the night. CT is lovely walking mostly along the Housatonic River. This is the river that GE contaminated with PCBs from its plant in Pittsfield, MA. Of course, they haven’t paid to clean it up or faced any real consequences for destroying it. Their answer is “if we clean it up, we’ll only make it worse by stirring up the PCBs.” They’ve thoughtfully posted signs all along the river to not drink the water or eat anything that comes out of the river. Isn’t corporate owned government wonderful. We need to get rid of more regulations so businesses can prosper more. People are going to die anyway. What difference does it make if it’s cancer? The price of progress and CEO wealth. 

There was another out bridge with a road walk around it before my shelter. The road walks are more dangerous than the river crossings, especially now that water levels are down. Just before the crossing, I ran into another NOBO couple, Sunshine and Scarecrow. When they sign registers, they go by Sunny and Scare. 

I didn’t get the shelter to myself tonight but got to share it with a real nice guy working on a 40 year section hike of the AT. We shared a lot of our experiences. He really made me want to get out to Great Sand Dunes NP in CO. 

Day 7 (93), 09/22, Pawling, NY 8.2

Yesterday I passed 2 milestones: 1) I entered NY, my 6th state, and 2) I passed the 1/3 mark of my southbound leg. My friend, David, is meeting me in Pawling tomorrow so I’ve got another easy day. 

I saw no one today other than the cook at DC Malaysian food truck. His special today was chicken curry. It wasn’t too spicy, but I swear I had almost an entire chicken’s worth of meat. 

I decided to push on one more road crossing before calling it a day. It’s supposedly easier to get into Pawling on the next road. The 3 mile section I had was primarily through a swamp. I met another hiker along this section that told me he was a frog. He seemed sane, but I was a bit skeptical. He wasn’t even green.

He told me FrOGS stands for Friends Of the Great Swamp. The swamp I had just crossed runs for well over 20 miles north to the 10 mile river. It’s one of the largest wetlands in NY with great biodiversity. He is on the board of governors of the swamp. 

The reason I chose the next road crossing is because of the tree that is there. It’s the Dover Oak and is over 300 years old. I thought that would be a great starting point for David’s first AT experience. 

Contrary to what FarOut says, it is not an easy hitch into Pawling from the Dover Oak. Cars constantly gave me the “hell no” pass by nearly driving off the opposite shoulder. I got a bit ticked that Pawling claims to be a “hiker friendly” town but no one would give a hiker a ride. I walked the 3 miles into town. 

I went straight to the laundromat which didn’t have a bathroom for me to change clothes in. Next door is a pizza place which let me set up camp for the afternoon. I changed clothes and started my laundry before ordering food. 

Once the food and clothes were done, I went to resupply. The CVS was well stocked for hikers and I got everything I needed for the first few days with David. On my way out, a guy told me I could camp at Edward Murrow park and he said follow me. I thought I was getting a ride. Maybe this is a “hiker friendly” town after all. 

He walked me to the sidewalk and pointed me to the park. “It’s just about a mile down this sidewalk. You can stay anywhere in the park. It’s supposed to rainy so make sure you get a nice spot.” Then he got in his car and drove off in the direction of the park. 

I walked the mile to the park. There’s a river running on the edge by a pavilion. Notes say the pavilion floods in a rain. I decided to sleep under the overhang of the Lion’s building—he told me I could stay anywhere in the park. I’m not going to investigate further when this was what I wanted to hear. There was even an outlet in my hidden corner. There’s a bathroom around the corner of the building. I’ve got everything I need. 

EFG