Today did not start off well. Early this morning, Footloose and I had to help our friend Northern Harrier back south to a road to get off the trail. Not any better from yesterday's heat exhaustion and looking terribly weary, he needed to take a break to recover and get healthy again. Always sad to see trail friends leave under any circumstances. I wish there was more we could have done for him.
Pine Swamp Brook
Connecticut is tougher than you might think. Lots of steep PUDs today with lots of sun, but also good clean running streams--a welcome change from NJ/NY's brackish, ugly water. Some gruelling ups and downs at the end of the day made for a tough finish, though Footloose and I killed some time in the afternoon heat by lazing on some rocks in the Housatonic River.
CT 341
A short day heading into Kent, CT with Northern Harrier, Footloose, and Jan, who is heading home to New Jersey from Kent. A nice little quintessentially New England town, good food, and of course it's always nice to do laundry. Splitting a room tonight with Footloose and Harrier to relax a little and get some more rest. Lately, everyone seems to be feeling very worn down and shelter registers are filled with more and more pessimism and hikers talking about their "trail blues" and overall mental and physical weariness.
Ten Mile River
A bit of rain most of the day, but it's hard to rain on a day's parade when it includes a surprise trailside hot dog stand at 10am, seeing Dover Oak (the largest tree on the AT), crossing into Connecticut (my 10th state!), getting the ultimate trail magic of ice cold Gatorade, being joined by Northern Harrier at day's end, and having yet another beautiful campsite under the pines on Ten Mile River.
Telephone Pioneers
A perfect day for hiking. Cooler, sunny and breezy. My string of good eating continued with a short pizza stop off the trail with Footloose and Jan before heading up to the next shelter for my afternoon siesta. I stretched the day out a long way, taking advantage of the solstice sunlight. I finished out the day sitting by the shore of Nuclear Lake before heading up to the shelter for a campfire with Footloose, Jan, and Rockhound.
RPH
Happy Father's Day Dad!!! A good night's sleep in the tent last night at a nice site with Footloose and Jan. I always seem to sleep much better in my tent, and it only makes it more satisfying when the mosquitoes are bad. An awesome lunch today when we bushwhacked down an excitingly steep slope off the AT for cheeseburgers at the Canopus Lake concession stand, and more good eating when I Yogi-ed some food from a few curious day-hikers during the minor search and rescue operation we staged when Jan apparently got a little lost when she was separated from Footloose and I. No worries though, Jan's found and all is blue sky!
South Highland Road
After a great night's sleep in a bed, Footloose and his daughter Janice and I took off over the Hudson River and into the hills. Much cooler and less humid today than the last few so it made for very comfortable hiking. Nice, fairly gentle terrain today, and Janice really did great on her first day out.