Got a slow start to the day as I wanted to catch the sunrise. This campsite faces the sun straight on from the mountain ridge. Alas, it was too overcast so I went back to bed and fell asleep untill 7:30. Surprised even me to get such a late start.
I headed the few miles into Salisbury and found an ice cream shop, ate it on the main street park bench and walked out of town. This town was pretty ritzy, with such a high percentage of the cars passing by being Volvos, Audi’s and the like. Very clean downtown, with some junk shops and “fashion” shops as well.
Got rained on very heavily shortly out of the town. I was soaked completely quite quickly. It has been a while since I have hiked in the rain. It is cooling, which is nice, but I’d rather have dry feet and not so slippery trail, but I can’t really complain….and having good streams flowing is a good thing.
Went into Falls Village to pick up a mail drop of food and a new shirt. The shirt is made from merino wool, which supposedly is odor resistant. Will find out about that one after several days of sweat data.
While I was in the post office, I met a guy who had hiked the AT in 1969. Also got an update on the weather forecast regarding the coming hurricane. I will try to get into New York and into a town before Sunday and avoid being on the trail when the wind and rain are at their worst. I may end up hunkering down in a trail shelter, but I’d like to avoid that as I think it would be an extremely boring day or two.
Hiking is pretty good in Connecticut. Some steep ups and downs, but nothing like Maine or New Hampshire. Much, much shorter mountains. The trail is smoother generally and it is reasonable to walk at full gait for a lot of the day. Lots of poison ivy and warnings about Lymes Disease at trail heads. I have been spraying down the lower portions of my legs with deet.
Only saw two other hikers during the day…and only one northbound thru-hiker. At the campsite/shelter there are two southbound section hikers who were quite interested in my hammock. Gave them a setup demo.
The day was very dark in the woods, one of the darkest yet. Only a little bit of sun peaking through for a couple minutes.
Rain and a little bit of thinder/lightning passing through right now as I write.
The tree frogs are very loud in the trees in southern Massachusetts and Connecticut. Crazy how much noise these little guys can make at night.
Daily Distance: 19.8
Trip Distance: 704.5
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