- Distance Travelled: 26.3 miles
- After my remarkable night alone, I relished a serene morning. I woke up with the sunrise, enjoyed no hassles of packing up the tarp or retrieving food from a hanging spot, and savored my solo breakfast. Just as I began to gather my belongings, Cyborg and Hardcore walked up to me from the South. It was nice to be reunited, though I treasure having experienced the 3 a.m. bear scare on my own.
- We walked together for a while, and then parted when we came upon the rather nice RPH shelter, where we encountered trail magic! Cyborg and Hardcore needed to resupply at an upcoming road, and thus pushed forward, but I lingered with the kind-hearted trail maintainers who cooked me "BBQ," which was actually a cheeseburger (as well as potato salad, fruit, chocolate, tea, etc.). I guess that's how it is in the North, but I'll try not to make fun of them too much. Anyway, lovely time.
- I proceeded solo hiking again, and then I came upon Morgan Stewart Shelter, where I heard the joyful laughter of Cyborg! I'd perceived Cyborg and Hardcore to be in a rush, though I had personally decided to take my sweet time, so I didn't expect to see them until the very end of the day. What a wonderful surprise to have company again!
- At a road crossing in late afternoon, we got another surprise! FlyBy, who we'd been so tickled to hike with earlier in the summer, was trying to hitch into nearby Poughquag to gather beer and pizza. He was unsuccessful in his attempt, but that didn't matter.
- With the sun falling, Cyborg, FlyBy, and I went for a swim in Nuclear Lake, which was beautiful and refreshing, although definitely not clear. As we crawled out of the lake covered in small plants and muddy thingies, Hardcore looked delighted that she had watched us from a rock instead of joining us.
- We did a brief twilight hike to Telephone Pioneers Shelter, where we reunited with Joker, Ewok, and several other hikers. I met a couple of new hikers, including "O.G." (short for "Old Gear"), who was one of the characters from Early Bear's famous rabid skunk story. It was a splendid gathering of people. After supper, I cowboy camped again next to the campfire, and admired the stars.
July 11th
- Distance travelled: 21.1 miles
- Cool sight: Dover Oak, the largest oak tree on the A.T. (girth 20'4"). It is estimated to be more than 300 years old. However, I thought that Virginia's Keffer Oak (the 2nd largest oak on the A.T.) was far more beautiful.
- We hiked into a new state, Connecticut! Most of my hiking today was with Ewok, Joker, and O.G. We had a memorable time together.
- Twice we received trail magic! The first time, it was goldfish, candy bars, and other snacks. The second time, we got sodas from a former thru-hiker named "Stripes."
- 4 Southbound thru-hikers crossed paths with us today, and we shared many notes about what to anticipate in the coming miles.
- The Ten Mile River area in CT was beautiful. We tried to take a dip, but determined the water was too frigid (despite it being mid-summer). My favorite moment in this area was going over Bull's Bridge. I'd never been on a single-lane, old-fashioned covered bridge, and considered it picturesque enough for a jigsaw puzzle! Best of all, while we traversed the bridge in direction of the nearby village, a wedding party crossed in the opposite direction! (This is the 2nd time I've bumped into a wedding while hiking this summer) They did not seem perturbed by the fact that we were dirty and smelly, while they were perfectly polished, but rather gave us friendly greetings and asked us about our hikes. When we got to the other side of the bridge, we delved into some Ben&Jerry's.
- We climbed Schaghticoke Mtn today. None of us could really figure out how to pronounce it, so I decided to rename it Spaghetti Artichoke Mountain.
July 12th
- Distance travelled: 13.9 miles
- Highlight: Kent, CT.
- Our brunch at The Villager Restaurant in Kent was so fine, we practically decided to stay there all day, hence our low mileage.
- I met an African-American thru-hiker, going Southbound. It is pretty rare, I've found, to meet black folks on the trail to begin with, but thru-hiking?! I was really stricken. He was a cool guy, and went by the name "Parrot."
- Magical Moment: a shower. It had been an entire week since my last shower, and that is pretty disgusting, considering we sweat all day and spend all our time outdoors. Coming and going from various places on the trail, today, I received 4 different hitches! Amazing! The last one was given by a very interesting young lady named Danielle, who took us to her tiny living quarters and granted us her shower. I'll say, this was an educational experience for me, as she happened to own some special pet toads whose milk is turned into some substance I should probably not talk about here on my blog, but the main thing I learned (for the nth time this summer) is that hospitality comes from the most surprising sources.
- We twilight hiked the final 3 miles of the day. I've decided it's more fun when you're in a group.
July 13th
- Distance travelled: 17.7 miles
- Highlight #1: At one point on today's hike, we came upon "Hang Glider View." Here we rested and noticed in the valley below a racetrack! Upon reaching the base of the small mountain we were on, we found detour signs for the A.T. (I'm not sure why), and thus a few miles of our hike followed a road. And guess what? That road led to the very racetrack we'd been observing. There weren't any real races -- only classes and practice today -- so we were admitted for free. We got up close to the zooming cars and talked to some racers. It was rather fun. Then, since the concession stands were closed today, random folks gave us a bunch of Sprites, white cheddar popcorn, and bags full of the most delicious cookies!
- Highlight #2: The wonderful thing about hiking in CT is there are so many places to hop off the trail and get a delicious bite to eat. Well, today we had multiple such opportunities, except in every attempt to find food, all we found was that no restaurants in these tiny villages are open on Monday. Nevertheless, a kind man loaded a large group of us in the bed of his pick-up and took us to a deli, and then returned us to the trail.
- Highlight #3: Rand's View. The shadows of the late afternoon defined grand mountains in the distance. It was a breathtaking sight.
- Not a highlight: We "stealth camped" (perhaps illegally) along the trail approximately 1 - 1.5 miles before Salisbury, CT, in an undesignated camp spot that we have now named "Slugtown." I hope I will not have to elaborate on why we gave it that name. You can figure it out.
July 14th
- Distance travelled: 15.1 miles
- MOST PERFECT DAY OF HIKING EVER!
- this day included a bounty of delicious wild blackberries and blueberries along the trail, a charming and memorable visit in Salisbury, CT, the crossing into a new state, Massachusetts, the most beautiful weather, gorgeous views, a wonderful conversation about philosophy with another hiker, and a beer at the end of the day. Does it get better? Yes. After our beer and picnic with Joker's parents and uncle at the end of the hike, we were shuttled into Great Barrington, MA, where we were given motel rooms, and were taken out to a pub.
July 15th
- Distance travelled: 16.8 miles
- Joker's parents slackpacked us today! They also treated us to another night in the motel! We also did much needed laundry and ate pizza!
- Cool reminder of history on the trail: Shay's Rebellion Monument
- The hike today was buggy, rocky, and rather warm, but otherwise lovely. There was really only one nice view, at East Mountain, but I much enjoyed it and enjoyed meeting the hikers Bearpaw, Moose, and Lumpy.
- Distance travelled: 19.1 miles
- Highlight #1: Joker's mom slackpacked us again! Today, it was only for a portion of our hike, but when she met us to return our gear, (Highlight #2:) she had delicious buttercream frosted cake and mimosas! This was to celebrate Hardcore's birthday, which was coming in a couple of days, but I couldn't help think about the man whose birthday it really was. I tried many times to get in touch with him, and left messages, but it was just one of those days when our calls never worked out :-(
- Highlight #3: Upper Goose Pond Cabin. Upper Goose Pond itself was a sight to behold -- completely pristine. We went for a swim and paddled on the canoes. It was perfect. Then the sky signaled a storm was approaching, so we cooked over a fire outside until the buckets tipped upside down. At this point, I perched on the covered porch to enjoy supper, and greeted less lucky hikers who arrived drenched. Among these hikers were BonBon, a brilliant wildlife ecologist with whom we'd previously hiked in Virginia, as well as Angry Beaver and Prairie Dog, who were involved with O.G. and Early Bear in the awesome rabid skunk event. It was the perfect evening to have a comforting cabin; the heavy rain lulled me to sleep immediately.
July 17th
- Distance travelled: 20.6 miles
- Highlight #1: blueberry pancakes and coffee, generously cooked by the cabin's caretaker, "Grampy."
- Highlight #2: seeing Mad Hatter again! He joined me for my final 10 miles
- Highlight #3: The "Cookie Lady" who baked us cookies and whose young son sold us (for a rather good price) loads of hard boiled eggs and fresh lemonade.
- Highlight #4: other trail magic. It was phenomenal. Trail Magic happened so many times today, I may have lost count. It was somewhere around maybe 4 or 5 loaded coolers that were placed along the trail, plus the previously mentioned pancakes, coffee, cookies, oh! and Rob Byrd.
- Highlight #5: Rob Byrd, owner of "The Byrdcage," a secret-to-thruhikers, free, in-home hostel. This dude is very good friends with the "Mayor," Dick Ludlum, who I described before. Rob slackpacked all of us for the final 10 miles of our hike today and then slackpacked everyone except me and Mad Hatter for a couple of days after we parted with the group. Rob gave us rides to and from the house, a pub/bar, and made us shower, did our laundry for us, gave us "house clothes" to wear while our laundry was going, gave us beer and soda, and pretty much did anything else you can think of. I asked why he does this, and his answer was, "I dare you to try and find a happier man than Dick Ludlum or me." He also remarked about the fact that thru-hikers have learned to be independent as they have simultaneously learned their need to depend on others, and I thought that was an enlightening and very true comment.
The final hours & goodbyes...
July 18th marked Hardcore's 25th birthday. In celebration, FlyBy woke up bright and early to cook the whole Byrdcage gang a scrumptious batch of breakfast burritos. It is kind of meaningful, I think, that I decided to leave this day. Had it not been for Harcore's suggestion to hike with her this summer, I would have hiked from Georgia up to probably the Harper's Ferry area, and I would have not been with the thru-hikers at all. Nature is absolutely what made me captivated by the idea of doing a thousand-plus mile trek this summer, but the people I encountered made it the experience that has shaped me into a more compassionate human. I think Hardcore and I were at a point where maybe we'd spent enough time being close to each other, and I'd gained a sufficient amount of whatever I was looking for in hiking with these folks, so it was fine to separate. I am, in retrospect, so grateful for Hardcore's request to hike with her, even if she ended up having no real need for me to accompany her. I gave hugs to Ewok, Joker, Joker's family, and others. Rob Byrd told us to stay with him again when we returned next summer to finish the trail. (As an expectant mother, I don't see that happening now, or next summer, anyway). I've thought of these folks so often since I left them, and I know it is nothing less than a divine plan that made our lives coincide this summer. I will never forget it.
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