Date: 2003-07-27
From: Belter's Campsite

To: Salisbury, CT
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: clear sky

Muggy today in the 80's with a short but welcome bit of rain in the p.m.I SAW A BEAR TODAY!!! Okay, he was crossing the road in downtown Salisbury about 7 p.m. and Karen saw him first so I'm not sure if it counts but still it was pretty cool. The bear was big (300 lbs?) and pretty unfazed by the traffic on Main St. After talking to the locals in the hotel bar it turns out that bear sightings in the area have been pretty common.The day started out with a short descent to a 3-mile river walk to the hydroelectric plant in Falls Village, CT. Knocked that off in an hour so I was feeling pretty good. Next came a longer climb up Prospect Mountain over Salisbury, which was grueling and tedious but left me quite undamaged. Finally a nice quick downhill section into Salisbury (with the rain) and a short hitch after walking about half-way into town from the northern trailhead. With stops, I averaged 1.82 mph today which was my best speed to date. To top that off, I played tag with Hyde (one of the NBs) all the way into Salisbury so that left me feeling pretty good.Karen met me in Salisbury at the White Hart Inn. Luckily for me, they have a special hiker's rate of $80 per night for a very nice double room. Normally rooms there go for over $150. It's one of two hotels in town (and the nicer one by the looks of it) in an old house built by Edsel Ford. Luckily for her, I had a chance to take two baths and a shower before she got there. The staff was extremely hiker-friendly, taking no offense at my garb when seating us for dinner (very nice but pricey). My "town garb," by the way, consists of an Old Navy Hawaiian shirt, a pair of $10 Chinese Aqua-Sock knock-offs and a black pair of lightweight jogging shorts. And oh yeah, I haven't shaved in weeks. And oh yeah, I didn't pack a comb. Still, they were happy to host us in the bar for drinks and then in the dining room, and even let me bring my pack into the bar at lunch time on the 28th for a pre-departure meal. I can see why the NBs, who have spent time in the South with its $20 hotel rooms might think that Salisbury is a rip-off but for me it seemed like a real bargain.There were at least 3 NBs in the White Hart that night, not counting me.We did laundry and made a stop at CVS (more blister stuff, more zinc oxide, more Ibuprofen) before dinner. Karen took me to Grand Union in Millerton, NY (the store is a dump, BTW) in the morning before heading back to New Haven. I dawdled around the town most of the morning, checked out at noon, and had a final lunch at the bar. Was planning on updating this journal at the Salisbury library but it's closed Monday. Ended up using a PC in the village's internet cafe for about 10 mins, but couldn't check my AOL email on it so I just paid a couple of bills.Considering the number of thru-hikers Salisbury gets (one of the few towns in the area practically on the trail) it's shocking how few services there are for them. The drugstore doesn't carry 100% DEET. The outfitter didn't have ANY DEET at all. "It's funny," the proprietor said, "we get quite a few through-hikers through here but I really don't carry that much for them." His store was basically a pricier Eddie Bauer with a small selection of boots ("But we only carry a few sizes.") and 4 sets of gaiters (of which I bought one). Still, the stop in Salisbury was a plus and the people in the hotel bar made up for it.