Days 134-143

Hiking Southbound through Massachusetts and Connecticut to New York

Day 134

We had a late start today lazying around the hotel room until 10:30ish. Finally we hit the road and walked back to the trail to take on our last significant climb of the north, Mt. Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts. What a great day to break in my new boots!

Greylock was a hard climb for us, I think the heat and lack of sleep we've been getting is what made it so difficult. But, we made it and apparently it was a good day to drive up there too because there were tons of people. We sat down in the grass and ate our seasonal cliff bars (they've got some pretty good flavors like spiced pumpkin and pecan pie), being out here, this is our way to celebrate the season.

We made it up and over and down to Cheshire, MA where there is a donation based church hostel. St. Mary of the Assumption Church, they just leave the back door open for hikers. Very nice to have a free, clean place to unwind at the end of the day and not having to poop in a smelly privy in the morning. Got here around 6, with 14.7 miles done for the day.

Gonna get an early start tomorrow and aim to do 20 miles, thankfully we don't have to take the tent down. 

Day 135

20.6 miles today to the October Mountain Shelter. It was a long day, but the terrain and weather were calling for us to cover some good ground.

We went through Dalton, MA right around lunch time and stopped at Angelina's Sub Shop to get some food. Catherine got a sub and I got some nasty fish&chips with fermented slaw and tartar sauce. Nothing more disappointing than when the meals in town don't live up to your expectations, or aren't even atleast good. After eating trail food day after day, your standards of food drop dramatically, it takes alot to say that town food isnt good. After that we got some delicious smoothies next door and were back on the trail again.

We made it to the shelter at around 6pm. There are 2 section hikers here. There's some nasty water, barely moving, infested with little black bugs. But, I suppose it's better than having no water. I hit it with the Steripen, iodine, and boiled it for good measure.

Day 136

It rained last night so we slept in this morning. Our old friend Fusion texted me last night, we have been keeping in touch over the past few weeks but hadnt seen him since Gorham, NH, right before the whites. Turns out he made it out of the whites alive too, also he finished his hike when he made it over the Vermont/Mass. border.

He texted to let us know that he was done and would have a rental car to drive home the following day and wanted to know if we needed a ride anywhere. We told him we could meet him at US20, about a 7 miles walk, by 1pm.

      We made it down and he was waiting on us. It was nice of him to pick us up, we ate at a Peruvian restaurant and shared our storied from New Hampshire and Vermont. He also took us to the grocery store so we could get 4 more days of food to get us into Connecticut. Cathrine got him a cat balloon to express our thanks. We hiked alot of miles with Fusion, he was one of the more level headed thru hikers we've encountered on the trail, a good friend.

After Fusion dropped us off, we hiked 2 more miles down the trail to Upper Goose Pond Cabin. This is one of those "must-go-to" places on the trail. It's a donation based cabin, run by the AMC, where the caretakers make a trail famous free pancake breakfast. 

The caretakers here, Susan and Matthew, are a middle aged couple and their 5 year old son, Foster. Foster is hilarious. When we first walked up to the cabin, Foster come up from the pond where he was fishing completely naked and asked if we wanted to join him for s'mores. 

We joined Foster, his parents, and 2 section hikers from Canada for some of Fosters day old birthday cake and s'mores around the toasty fire in the cabin.

Day 137

Zero today, it rained much of the night and isnt supposed to stop until late tonight. We've been on a roll and hate to zero, but what better place to do it rather than walking a bit and ending up in town, staying at a place we would have to pay for. The caretakers said we were more than welcome to stay and other than them, we're the only ones here so I look forward to some good rest.

We had our packs ready to go by 8AM and had an awesome pancake breakfast, then it really started pouring. Thats when we reluctantly decided to zero. We are  now laying up in the bunk room (one of the cleanest ones we've seen), listening to the rain. A good day to not hike and maybe learn some new harmonica tunes.

..We had chilli for lunch that the caretakers heated up for us. They could probably tell tat their child was on the verge of driving us nuts so they went on a walk and left us in the cabin, we had it all to ourselves for a good hour or so. I made a fire and we ate skittles while Cathrine read. It was one of the best moments on the trail yet.

More hikers showed up as the progressed, 5 more to be exact. Cathrine and I saw our chance to slither away and get out of the spotlight and lay on our bunk and relax some more.

We have the best beds. Right next to the huge, screen window I can see Goose Pond from where I'm laying.

Day 138

Had another pancake breakfast this morning and we were ready for the trail. We waited around for half an hour or so to let all the other hikers head out of camp first, they seemed somewhat competitive so we figured we would save them the trouble of trying to catch up and pass us.

Matthew, the caretaker asked if we would help wash dishes while we were waiting around. We were happy to. Another hiker, Forget-Me-Not helped us.

We hiked a smooth, easy 15.8 miles to South Wilcox Shelter today. More awesome weather.

Day 139

19.6 miles today, we planned for less, but did more, I guess thats always good. We hiked through lots of farmland and big open fields. Another day of beautiful weather, but its good we're going into Salisbury tomorrow because its supposed to rain really bad all day long. We could certainly use it. Mass has been really dry, they havent had much rain lately and most of the water sources along the trail have been dried up. We had to stop into a plant nursery today at one of our road crossings to ask to refill our bottles.

 

Day 140

We woke up to rain at 6:30 and were quickly ready to hike 14.1 miles in it to US44. We had alot of rock climbing today, it reminded us of the whites..almost. The steep rocks were dangerous enough already but the rain just brought it to a whole new level. Much of the second half of the day was spent walking through the river that the trail had quickly become.

We hit our 1500 mile mark today, made it into Connecticut, and climbed the highest peak in Connecticut.

We walked to Salisbury, CT around 3pm. We're staying at Maria McCabe's house, she;s an 85 year old lady who has been letting hikers stay in her house for over 14 years. One of my favorite people on the trail so far. She drove us to the laundromat where we washed our clothes for the first time since we left Hanover, NH. Thats 19 days! We had some smelly clothes! We got Italian next door while we waited on our clothes.

Back on the trail tomorrow to take on the rest on Connecticut.

Day 141

We finally slept in today. Once we were ready, we walked into town and got 2 days of food to get us to Kent CT, I must have been hungry because I got way more food than 2 days worth. We got  some more stove fuel at the outfitter and we were ready to hike. The lady at the town bakery came out and gave us some day old pastries on our way out of town. A good start to a great day! Back on the trail by 11. 

We hiked 14.8 miles to Pine Swamp Branch Shelter. It was almost chilly today, perfect hiking weather. We did alot of road walking and really enjoyed taking Connecticut in. It's been gorgeous so far and is becoming one of my favorite states we've walked through.

We're camping here alone, it's supposed to be a chilly one. The owls are being chatty tonight.

Day 142

Another beautiful day of hiking through Connecticut! We hiked 17.3 miles to Mt Algo Shelter. We got to walk along the Housatonic River for a good part of the day and got to climb the St. Johns ledges, the weather couldn't have been better. 

We got to CT 341, which is .3 before the shelter we're staying at, at about 5pm. From here it was about a miles walk to the grocery store in Kent, CT. We accepted the fact that a resupply would mean we would have to night hike to the shelter, it sucks but out here "it is what it is". Before we started walking to town, on a whim, I stuck my out my thumb for a hitch and the first car that saw us turned around and picked us up!

Her name was Cleo, she took us right to the grocery store! This gave us enough time to get the 4 days of food we needed AND have time to sit down and eat some fresh food from the deli. Thanks Cleo! We ended up hiking the mile back to the trail and .3 up the mountain to the shelter, BUT we didnt have to do it in the dark and had more than enough time to sit down and relax after setting up the tent to eat an orange and fresh olives. Kent looked like a cool town its a shame we had to get in and out so fast.

More rain on the way tomorrow, lots of it. We plan to do 18 miles, but if it's too brutal, we may just do 10 to a road and get picked up by a nearby motel. Either way we're onto New York tomorrow!

Day 143

We made it to New York! What a great day it was. It rained for only 30 minutes this morning as were waking up, then perfectly clear skys for the rest of the day. Temperatures were in the low 70s, sometimes its nice when the weatherman is wrong.

We took our time today and around lunch time came to Bulls Bridge Rd where we got off the trail and walked down the road .3 to a covered bridge. We walked through it and to a gas station on the other side where we got gatorades, pringles, and I got some ice cream.

We walked by a guy with a bow today, I assume he has hunting. We've been meaning to buy some orange with it being hunting season and all. We came across a box of complimentary orange vests for hikers so we took a couple, lets hope it does the trick.

We hiked 18.1 miles to NY22, here there is a plant nursery "Native Landscapes", the trail goes right past it. The owner lets hikers camp on the corner of the property amongst all the pine trees. This is a first for me, we're camped literally right between NY22 and the railroad with only maybe 30ft from either one. Essentially, this means we'll have either be really good or really awful sleep tonight.

We are camped right by the AT train stop. The AmTrak makes stops here for hikers, you can go on a 2 hour one way trip into NYC for $12. It's tempting, but we already got our NYC fix and gotta keep moving-Onward through New York!