As we were falling asleep last night, we thought we heard some female voices we knew, but we were too far gone to investigate. When we got up this morning, I told Bunny to meet me at the shelter to eat before we packed up. I got to the shelter and realized I was talking to Caboose of the Cactus Club only now her trail name is Hannaconda—I guess she started speaking her mind some and the club broke up. Autumn is a few days behind trying to catch up.
I could hear Bunny talking to someone whose voice I couldn’t quite place. It turned out to be Gazelle whom we haven’t seen since Hot Springs, NC. She left town in a blizzard and we never heard from her again. She was doing 20-25 mile days back then. For some personal reasons, she decided to quit hiking. After spending some time with her family and unwinding, she got the urge to finish what she had started, only this time, she’s going to slow down and enjoy the trail more. She had been off a month is the only way we caught up with her.
We set our sights on lunch at Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter for lunch. It was only 7 miles ahead and right on the Housatonic River. We were counting on a little water time today. The first 4 miles were a lot of ups and downs with a few views, but the last 3 miles were flat, easy walking. Baby and Elizabeth were on the same plan.
Elizabeth is only out for 4 days to hike with her boyfriend. He’s from Blacksburg, VA, the same town we had dinner with Super Dave. We’ve met 2 other people (Tiba and Rembrandt) in the last two days from Blacksburg and none of them know each other. Elizabeth is having some blister problems on her feet, so she had them all taped up. While Bunny and I were hiking, she came up with the name of “Mummy” for Elizabeth. We told her at lunch and it’s going to stick.
After lunch, we went a little further up the trail to get some water before we got in the river. I have been wracking my mind as to how I know the Housatonic River. This is the river that GE was dumping PCBs in during the 70s and 80s. I recall that it was going to be too expensive for them to clean, so it was decided that they had to stop dumping and hope that the PCBs (which are heavier than water) will sink to the bottom of the river and eventually get covered by sediment. They did have to clean up the dumping site. If it weren’t for the EPA, they’d still be dumping. And people think the EPA is a burden to business when the soulless bastards running these companies think they can do whatever they want. I think the executives of GE should be restricted to a diet of fish and water from this river.
That was over 30 years ago and the river is coming back to life. We soaked our feet (careful to not kick up any sediment) and watched the wildlife for a while. The big plus of sitting in the river was that the gnats didn’t follow us. Mosquitoes in the morning and evening, gnats during the day…ain’t we got fun?
It was apparent that our goal of 18 miles was not going to happen—again. You’ll never guess who is holding us back. It’s not Bunny. Even though the heat isn’t nearly as bad as it has been, I just start falling apart on these climbs. I take ten steps then have to stop to wipe the sweat off my forehead and swat at the gnats in my face. I am getting much more pleasure from killing gnats than I am from getting miles under my belt. I know the Dali Llama thinks it is wrong to kill any living things. I would love for him to join us for a month of this hell and watch him turn into a gnat killing machine. I wonder if this is how cereal killers start. Next up, the Cheerio killer.
The final 4 miles of trail today were filled with more climbing. It was only 900’ up and 800’ down, but it finished me off. When we were less than a mile from camp, Mummy and Baby passed us heading to the same spot. Norvegan and her two brothers had also passed us so we were a bit concerned about there being enough space.
We got in around 7:30 and were relieved to see plenty of flat spots and hear good flowing water. We got to business fast setting up the tent, fetching water, and cooking supper because the mosquitoes were as bad as ever. Bunny and I took turns fanning each other while eating to try to get a little peace. I could regularly kill three little bitches biting me with one swat. Even jumping into the tent, we had a dozen follow us that we had to kill before we could lie down. I have personally taken more lives today than any serial killer and I have no regrets at all. I’m loving it.
EFG