Date: 2005-08-02
From: Schaghticoke Mountain

To: Conn. 341
Miles today: 5.4

Started @ Schaghticoke MountainDestination: Conn. 341Miles today: 5.4Total Miles: 1450.0Stayed in motelDay 144We left the campsite before Snowman. We had gone 2 miles whenwe came to a campsite and we stopped to cook something to eatand filter water. It was not long after we started out again that Toto said he wasready to get off the trail in Kent for a rest.So Toto called a Bed and Breakfast and got a room for the 3 ofus. They said they would pick us up at the trail, too. Theplace is 2.5 miles out of town and they offered to take us totown for whatever we needed also. We got our showers and were ready to go into town to eat and doa little shopping. I wanted to go to the outfitter and buy anew pair of pants that fit me since I have lost so much weight. I did find a pair and do they ever feel better!!We picked up a few things at the grocery store and then calledMary, the innkeeper, to come and get us. We are the only ones staying tonight. The house is an early1800's house and very nice. A bit pricey but everything in thislittle town is. They have a big breakfast planned for us in the morning.Yesterday we met Poet, Serenity, and Feelin Free going south onthe trail. Serenity's mom is slack-packing them. Feelin Freewas sick for a while and they all were off the trail for thattime. A Lymes test was done but she will not get the resultsback for a while. She was given antibiotics to take and she isfeeling better. We met a hiker, Captain Hook, at one of the last shelters whenwe stopped in for a break who had just goten back on the trailafter being off 2 weeks with Lymes disease. Ticks are supposedto be worse up here in this area so we are trying to payparticular attention to ourselves at night when we go to bed. It's hard if you do not have someone to help look for them onyour body. And the trail has been so weedy at times that it isalmost impossible to not get ticks on the body. A week ago as Iwas sitting o a rock during a break a saw one crawling on myarm. Some that get Lymes disease do not ever remember seeing atick on them. So we ned to very careful.When we got to the outfitters we saw Scholar and Freedom andThatch (who we had not seen since early in Virginia). Scholarhad taken several days off or she would have been way ahead ofus. She is a fast hiker.Some other hikers we know met us at the grocery store with foodthey could not carry. They had received it in mail drops. Thatwas less we had to buy. I think we still bought too much tolast us for the next 3 days unless we cook a couple of times aday, which is somethng we probably need to do anyway just tokeep up our strength.Tomorrow we will start out with 4 miles of ups and downs andthen a several mile flat hike. We are beginning to see largermountains ahead of us so the ups and downs will start gettinglonger. We are in a new state as of 2 days ago and soonMassachusetts will be under our feet.It's been a great journey. For both of us it has beenfrustrating over the last almost 3 weeks. I have had to slowdown and Toto has been trying to speed up. Yet I would not wantto be out here by myself again. I could if I had to be but Ihave looked forward too long to having Toto with me and it wouldnot seem right if we were not together now. We need lots ofpatience with each other so need lots of prayers.