7-9-09 day 37
start: Stewart Hollow Lean-To, CT
end: Lime Rock Lean-To, CT
daily mileage: 22.3
total mileage: 472.4
Another long day, over 22 miles! We were having a bit of trouble with the long days, so yesterday we bought a big box of cheerios to snack on as we hiked. It really helps to have something to munch on - otherwise, we're finding that we just think about food all the time (which really makes it less fun!) The other brilliant food buy from yesterday was a few boxes of dehydrated potatoes. We're having hot lunches and dinners every day now, and adding dehydrated potatoes to both meals made them SO much more filling! It's a super cheap way to enhance our diet!
I was hiking a little behind Sea Monster and was listening to The Count of Monte Cristo on my Kindle (I just now started trying audiobooks on the Kindle while hiking) and suddenly, I hear a loud noise through the headphones! Sea Monster is up ahead, just behind a huge rattlesnake, right on the trail! It was SO loud, and was rattling constantly. Apparently he had been startled by it from 20 feet away as well it was so loud! We enjoyed getting a pretty up-close look at it before it slithered away.
Towards the end of the day we had to follow a several-mile long AT Detour. Apparently one of the bridges it goes over was out, so they had us hiking along a road for four miles. It was an awful road hike - made worse by the copious amounts of McDonald's trash left all over, making us wish we had some Mickey D's! When we finally got into the shelter that night, we were disappointed to find "No Name" there... he'd evidently hitched about half of the hike, so we got to put up with him for another night. Ah well - I guess we were bound to meet some odd folks out here.
We were amused to find a group of Boy Scouts also there playing cards. Sea Monster was eating a bag of Fritos, and a leader asked if it was OK to eat junk food on the trail. We replied by informing him that we'd eaten a box of powdered donuts for breakfast that morning...
Thursday, July 16, 2009
RISK, The Game That Ends Friendships
7-8-09 day 36
start: Mt Algo Shelter, CT
end: Stewart Hollow Shelter, CT
daily mileage: 7.3
total mileage: 450.1
Right down the trail from our shelter was the town of Kent, CT. We needed groceries and I wanted to check out the shoe store so we went in. The shoe store had a 10% discount for hikers so I picked up a new pair of low-cut trail runners and mailed my old boots home. In hindsight they probably should have been thrown away but whatever. We didn't leave town until after 11:00 and feeling super unmotivated our 17 mile day was abridged into a 7 mile day. We even packed out a bunch of hot dogs to eat for lunch. They were not however very filling so we whipped up some soup as well. We met a girl, Blue Sky, and ran into Intense again then cruised on up to the next shelter where we met No Name. Right off the bat he was a personable enough guy, but after he got going he would not stop. We made the mistake of inviting him to play our travel RISK, a topic he would not shut up about. After while it was like, "Alright dude, yeah its cool, but seriously chill out". All and all he was a nice enough guy but only in small doses...really small doses. Like half a Flintstone Vitamin size dose...
start: Mt Algo Shelter, CT
end: Stewart Hollow Shelter, CT
daily mileage: 7.3
total mileage: 450.1
Right down the trail from our shelter was the town of Kent, CT. We needed groceries and I wanted to check out the shoe store so we went in. The shoe store had a 10% discount for hikers so I picked up a new pair of low-cut trail runners and mailed my old boots home. In hindsight they probably should have been thrown away but whatever. We didn't leave town until after 11:00 and feeling super unmotivated our 17 mile day was abridged into a 7 mile day. We even packed out a bunch of hot dogs to eat for lunch. They were not however very filling so we whipped up some soup as well. We met a girl, Blue Sky, and ran into Intense again then cruised on up to the next shelter where we met No Name. Right off the bat he was a personable enough guy, but after he got going he would not stop. We made the mistake of inviting him to play our travel RISK, a topic he would not shut up about. After while it was like, "Alright dude, yeah its cool, but seriously chill out". All and all he was a nice enough guy but only in small doses...really small doses. Like half a Flintstone Vitamin size dose...
The Privies are Dangerous
7-7-09 day 35
start: Telephone Pioneer Shelter, NY
end: Mt. Algo Shelter, CT
daily mileage: 21.1
total mileage: 442.8
Today we made some pretty good miles, over 21! Even so, we took a nice long lunch in which we met three section hikers. It was pretty obvious they weren't out for long, with their huge packs: one guy had his pad dangling half a foot below the rest of his stuff, swinging freely, as his sleeping bag stuck awkwardly off to one side. Upon further inspection, he even had a full sized axe! It was easy to feel superior. :-)
We met two through hikers today, Stretch and Tinman. They're like us, only Bizzaro verisons: they've been friends for years, just out of college, both Eagles, and were even at Philmont the exact same time as we were! What a crazy world! Tinman had a fun adventure in the privy- he entered to do his business only to come streaming (and streaking) out a minute later. Hornets! He got stung a couple of times, and had to dash back in for his toilet paper and purell!
start: Telephone Pioneer Shelter, NY
end: Mt. Algo Shelter, CT
daily mileage: 21.1
total mileage: 442.8
Today we made some pretty good miles, over 21! Even so, we took a nice long lunch in which we met three section hikers. It was pretty obvious they weren't out for long, with their huge packs: one guy had his pad dangling half a foot below the rest of his stuff, swinging freely, as his sleeping bag stuck awkwardly off to one side. Upon further inspection, he even had a full sized axe! It was easy to feel superior. :-)
We met two through hikers today, Stretch and Tinman. They're like us, only Bizzaro verisons: they've been friends for years, just out of college, both Eagles, and were even at Philmont the exact same time as we were! What a crazy world! Tinman had a fun adventure in the privy- he entered to do his business only to come streaming (and streaking) out a minute later. Hornets! He got stung a couple of times, and had to dash back in for his toilet paper and purell!
"Nuclear Lake, You Say?... You Sir, Have My Attention"
7-6-09 day 34
start: Bill and Amy's House, NY
end: Telephone Pioneer Shelter, NY
daily mileage: 13.3
total mileage: 421.7
After Disney updated the blog we finally said goodbye to Bill and Amy and hit the road around 11:00. Ah, we felt like real hikers again...About 5 minutes down the trail we saw a wild turkey pop up out of the under growth and bob across the trail. Then we noticed all her little chicks racing frantically after her. Nature is fun! For lunch we stopped in at a shelter and met two guys, Tinman and Stretch, but finished eating shortly after they arrived. We crossed a neat little stream with some cool rapids and made a quick decision to go swimming. Better yet we looked ahead and saw we were to pass by "Nuclear Lake" and felt it was our duty as adventurers to swim there as well. The lake was named after an old nuclear fuels research facility and the lake has been given a clean bill of health. However, when we got there we discovered the whole place was a marsh with wicked mosquitoes so we pressed on. Looking back we missed maybe our one and only chance to get some super powers...bummer. We ran up on the shelters faster than expected which was nice. We can get some sleep after our short day of easing back into the hiker life.
start: Bill and Amy's House, NY
end: Telephone Pioneer Shelter, NY
daily mileage: 13.3
total mileage: 421.7
After Disney updated the blog we finally said goodbye to Bill and Amy and hit the road around 11:00. Ah, we felt like real hikers again...About 5 minutes down the trail we saw a wild turkey pop up out of the under growth and bob across the trail. Then we noticed all her little chicks racing frantically after her. Nature is fun! For lunch we stopped in at a shelter and met two guys, Tinman and Stretch, but finished eating shortly after they arrived. We crossed a neat little stream with some cool rapids and made a quick decision to go swimming. Better yet we looked ahead and saw we were to pass by "Nuclear Lake" and felt it was our duty as adventurers to swim there as well. The lake was named after an old nuclear fuels research facility and the lake has been given a clean bill of health. However, when we got there we discovered the whole place was a marsh with wicked mosquitoes so we pressed on. Looking back we missed maybe our one and only chance to get some super powers...bummer. We ran up on the shelters faster than expected which was nice. We can get some sleep after our short day of easing back into the hiker life.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Skydiving!!!
7-5-09 day 33start: Bill and Amy's House, NY
end: Bill and Amy's House, NY
daily mileage: 0
total mileage: 408.4
We had been planning on moving along on the trail today, but an opportunity came up that could hardly be missed: skydiving!
Bill is a licenced skydiver with all his own gear, and was planning on going today when he invited everyone at the party to join him! I've already been a few times and didn't think I could fit it into my budget, but Sea Monster hadn't and was thrilled to get an early birthday present from his parents! Including Bill and Amy, seven of us drove down to the skydiving place. Amy and I didn't jump, but took lots of pictures of Sea Monster (of course) and our new friends Rabbit, Meesha, Holmes and Bill. They all tandem jumped (except for Bill), so they got the full experience of free fall and everything! They all seemed to have had a blast. Sea Monster and I are already talking about getting certified ourselves someday!
We got back to the house pretty late and ordered some pizza, and fell asleep watching Fight Club. Our experience at Bill and Amy's has been utterly fantastic, and we're so grateful to them for everything they've done for us! But tomorrow we'll have to get back on the trail for real... two zero days in a row is an awful lot of vacationing from our hiking vacation, so it's time to get back to work and pound out some miles!
Happy Fourth of July!
7-4-09 day 32start: Bill and Amy's House, NY
end: Bill and Amy's House, NY
daily mileage: 0
total mileage: 408.4
Today was our excellent fourth of July shindig! We got up nice and late, and started the festivities early as hikers poured in! Some people came back from up north, some people came ahead from down south, and some (like us) arrived at just the right time! All told, 25 guests came, not including Bill and Amy, and not including the dogs. We all had delicious burgers and hot dogs, plenty of beverages, loads of chips and salsa... it was an amazing night.
We built the biggest fire I have ever seen. We used 7 railroad ties to build the giant teepee that was the base of it, one in the center and six balancing each other to form the sides. These ties were at least 10 feet long, maybe more like 12. Balancing them was precarious, but once we did we loaded up the center with sticks and gasoline and lit it up with some fireworks! It was great.
We're hoping to stay in touch with Bill and Amy, and send them a picture of ourselves on Katahdin!
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