I had my usual 'I don't want to leave town' anxiety this morning but managed to be on the way out before seven anyway. It was foggy around town, being down by the river, but the day wasn't too bad. Mind you, I got fairly sweated in the heat, but not drippy wet the way it had been.
Had a nice flat section of river bank walking for the first part of the day, then paid for it with five hill climbs in the afternoon heat. Met Rabbit and her mom Turtle. They're NOBOs like me but Turtle took a fall and hurt her knees and had to zero for five days. Even now she's not 100 percent. So she and Rabbit are car shuttling each other. Turtle can do about mfive miles a day, so Rabbit slacks her then Turtle shuttles Rabbit about fifteen miles. Turtle will make up the missing miles after the two of them start back south. They're doing a flip flop from Harpers Ferry north, then the southern half SOBO.
I thought I might be alone tonight at this shelter. The tent sites are screened from the shelter by undergrowth and the bugs are active. But a husband and wife are in the shelter and Pockets and his buddy Tonrag are tenting near my tent.
8/1/15 - Riga shelter
A SOBOer left a note in the last shelter journal telling northbounders that the Housatonic River bridge at Falls Village, CT was closed but that it was not necessary to take the road walk detour around it; it could be forded. Pockets and I discussed it and decided to try fording it. The walk was good, down in the pines for the most part and almost level. When we got to town, the trail dumps out on the road by the power station. It's blocked off with barricades but since it was Saturday, there was no one there to stop us.
The bridge is gone, and they're replacing the footings. We found an old path down to the river and changed into our water shoes. The river was less than knee deep where we crossed since it is diverted above the falls to generate power and the diversion channel rejoins the river below the bridge.
After that the day got a little tough. It was a 900ft climb up Mt. Prospect from the bridge, then another 950ft climb after Salisbury. All told, the mileage today was 18.9 miles. And tomorrow will be worse. Three seven hundred foot climbs, all steep and rocky.
8/2/15 - Great Barrington, MA
We (Pockets, Tonrag and I) chose to sleep in Riga shelter last night so that we would get a good view of dawn today. The view did not disappoint but the mosquitoes made sure we paid in blood and sleep. I had to wake up around midnight and put on some DEET and my bugproof head net just to get some peace!
Climbing out of Riga and up Bear Mountain this morning wasn't bad; of course, I had only one day's food left so my pack was light. At the top of the mountain is a large, probably twenty for stone cairn with a marker from 1885 noting the building. Then it was down and through Sages Ravine. It's dark, with miss on the stones, hemlock needles covering the ground and a wonderful stream tumbling over the rocks and filling pools for at least a third of a mile. Somewhere along the way, the trail crosses from Connecticut into Massachusetts, although the sign is posted at the end. Then the trail stats up Mt. Race.
Nearly to the top, I almost stepped on a Porcupine, the first I've seen in the wild. Mt Race is covered with trees, but you get a view of the valley below and back to to Bear Mountain from ledges before the peak. They are no place to be during a rain storm! After the peak, another steep, rocky descent.
Mt Everret wasn't easy to climb; practice for further North I guess. It doesn't have much of a view either, just the concrete anchors for the long retired fire tower. I stopped and had a snack, my stomach was running on empty all morning. Another crazy steep descent after the peak. My legs are aching and my feet are really pissed off at me.
At the parking lot for Guilder Pond Picnic Area, Trail Magic! A woman had left two Igloo water coolers of ice water cable locked to a number of gallon jugs of water! I stopped for lunch and ended up staying for an hour. I was only half a mile from Hemlocks shelter, my step for the day and ten miles from Riga shelter.
Pockets and Tonrag showed up about one, and I decided to shoot for Great Barrington, nearly nine miles away. The trail ran through bogs and hemlock stands and we soon found the inhabitants, hundreds of hungry mosquitoes! Clouds chased us through the woods for several miles until we broke out to a road. We quickly applied DEET and noticed a large stone sticking up in a grassy area next to a corn field. It turned out to be a marker for the last battle of Shays rebellion, a Tea Party like political incident in the 1700s that resulted in the formation of the Articles of Confederation, which of course lead to the Constitution. Funny how the problems the Shaysites took arms up against are similar to the arguments made by today's Tea Party. Hopefully today's adherents don't repeat history. It turned out badly in 1787 for the protesters.
As we got to MA7, a car dropped off a hitchhiker. I looked, it was Blackout! He was just getting back on trail, Boston and Dora were still in town somewhere and Tick and Pocahontas had left in the morning. So I'm not too far behind still! Sam I Am is about a week ahead and Dr Pickkes and Mockingbird about five days ahead.
We took a room at the Days Inn, although Pockets and Tonrag will stay only one night. Tomorrow they will go visit Pocket's sister and take a zero probably Tuesday. I certainly will take a zero tomorrow and probably Tuesday too, my feet hurt badly!
8/4/15 - Zero in Barrington
I spent yesterday walking as little as possible. We ended up walking around town Sunday evening so much we estimated the day turned into at least a twenty mile day. I woke yesterday in really bad pain, especially my toes and the balls of my feet. So I took the zero today too. Stupid me, I should have pulled over at Hemlocks shelter!
However, it rained yesterday and this afternoon, it rained and hailed! So it's just as well I zeroed. Tomorrow the tail will be muddy I'm sure. But my feet feel a bit better. Guess I'll follow my schedule from here on out and preserve my feet!
River bank walking is always nice and relaxing. The view of the river is always a great stimulus to continue going. It is so peaceful and walking alongside a body of water kind of helps some of your worries to be put further from your mind. When the surface is nice and flat, it makes for relatively easy walking too.
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