Nan's 2014 Appalachian Trail Journal

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August 28, 2014

8/7 - 693.7 miles to Katahdin. Left Cornwall Bridge after one last stop at the deli for a big fat two egg, cheese, and meat breakfast sandwich and an orange. We used the high water bypass trail since it was 1/2 mile closer to town which saved us a river wade or rock hop depending on the water level. Not too challenging on this stretch. One big rock climb over another rock formation similar to Lemon Squeezer. A long road walk and a long walk along the Housatonic River which has a nice waterfall. A pretty rocky climb over Mt. Prospect and into Limestone Spring for the night after 17.3 miles.

8/8 - 678.0 miles to Katahdin. Another nice day weather and trail wise. Temperatures have been in the high 70’s to low 80’s during the day and cooler at night. We had a short thunderstorm and shower yesterday but so far have been very lucky rain wise. We still are not seeing many other hikers. An occasional south bounder and three or four north bounders with several section and day hikers. Today we crossed several really nice sections. A big climb up Lion’s Head for a great view, another up Bear Mtn. with, once again, great views. There is a rock observatory tower (big pile of rocks) at the top which makes it the high point in Connecticut. Then a most beautiful walk in Sages Ravine with a fast moving creek which drops over multiple waterfalls and several swimming holes. I vote it one of the top ten scenic spots on the trail. When you cross the creek on a combination rock hop log walk, you enter Massachusetts. There is then another rocky ascent to the top of Mt. Race and the most spectacular vista. There is a 0.6 mile walk along an open ridgeline with a steep drop off to the valley about 1,000’ below. The view is amazing. We are into Race Brook Camp Area with a large group of very noisy young men. Not hikers. I think it may be a long night. Time to get out the ear plugs. 15.7 miles today.

8/9 – 661.8 miles to go. 16.2 miles today. Well, my prediction was correct. The partying and talking went on way into the wee hours of the morning. We have been running into a very interesting north bounder with the trail name of Sea Biscuit. She is always humming but it sounds more like moaning. She comes into the camping areas late and leaves very early, always with her head light on even though it is light. She talks a lot about night hiking but she never seems to get very far ahead of us. I think she goes into every town that we pass. She told Freckles that she is addicted to Dr. Pepper and has to go have her fix. We have been seeing a lot of Sassafras this last week. He is the young man we saw in Georgia hiking in a dress doing the Southern Belle Challenge. Sassafras told us that they used to call Sea Biscuit “Speed Bump” because night hikers would find her sleeping on the trail. There are some unusual people out here.

Today we also met a 68 year old woman doing a section hike. She was a real 5 x 5 figure type and had a pack almost as big as she was. She was heading south. Freckles and I wished her luck and wondered how in the world she was going to do some of the rock climbs and descents that we had just done which, as a matter of fact, are getting tiresome. We are camping at the Tom Leonard Shelter with quite a few other north bounders and section hikers. The section hikers are passing the weed and whiskey. I think another party night is coming.

8/10 – 650.6 miles to Katahdin. 11.2 miles into Shaker Campsite. There are three young people here who had been at Tom Leonard last night. They are just out for two nights. They are from Maryland and are visiting her aunt in MA. They decided to do a back pack trip rather than sit around the house putting puzzles together all day like they usually do when they visit.

Today was another cool clear day and would be perfect if it were not for the mosquitos. Boy, have they been horrible! Several climbs today but for a change there was a real trail. Actual dirt, well, sometimes mud, under our feet instead of rocks and boulders.

8/11 - 635 miles to Katahdin. We made 14.4 miles today. Hiked along Upper Goose Pond which is a very large pond with a cabin along the shore for hikers. They make a pancake breakfast for the hikers. We did not stay for the night since we were out of food and needed to pick up our resupply boxes that we mailed to Berkshire Lodge. The lodge did not have any rooms available so we picked up our boxes, ordered a pizza for delivery which we ate sitting along the lake, and moved on down the trail. We found a level spot along the trail about three miles further on.

While we were walking along Goose Pond, we saw a buck-naked couple sitting along the pond. They were very relaxed and greeted the passing hikers. There were also several canoes and kayaks on the pond and, since Freckles and I are both avid canoeists, we were thinking about paddling instead of walking with packs on our backs.

8/12 – 620.1 miles to Katahdin. Today was a relatively flat area but the lack of elevation gain did not make the trail any easier. Lots of rocks, roots, mud, and mosquitos, on and on. Vermont is often called “Vermud” but I don’t know how it can be muddier in Vermont than it is in Massachusetts. Only time will tell.

We stopped at the Cookie Lady’s for a break. This is an older couple who live just 100 yds. off the trail and welcome hikers to get water, camp in their yard, and just relax in the shade on lounge chairs. They have a pick-your-own blueberry operation and, sure enough, there were hikers picking buckets full. We also saw Cage again at the road crossing with his trail magic. He had been in Tennessee when we saw him last. He follows the hikers north with his trail magic. We also saw a lot of south bounders today and one flip flopper, Cozy, who we had met in Virginia. She really is doing crazy flipping; from Gainesville to Katahdin, back to PA, up to VT, and so on. When we saw her, she was atop Warner Hill celebrating only having 499 miles to go. When I met Cozy in VA, she said she was going to thru hike in 25 years when she was 75 in order to best my record. Well, today after hiking this far she said that I don’t have to worry as she won’t be doing this again!

We hiked into Dalton, MA, for a stay at the Shamrock Village Inn for showers and laundry and also because there are predictions of heavy rain tonight. There are lots of other hikes here to wait out the storm also.

On to Katahdin.
Drag’n Fly

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