Date: 2016-05-27
From: Skiff Mountain Road

To: West Cornwall Road
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: broken clouds

We did a double key swap today, starting at Skiff Mountain Road and ending at West Cornwall Road with an intermediate point at CT 4. The first leg was almost twice the length of the second, but it was the best we could do with the available trail crossings. The biggest issue of the day was the heat and humidity. By the time that I finished the first piece of the section, I looked like I just got out of a swimming pool, I was soaking wet. Today I did the first subsection SoBo and then the second section NoBo. I started off with a moderate climb and descent that took about 2 miles, then I had a long flat walk along the Housatonic River. Long, like 4 or 5 miles. It was pleasant, the river is very wide and scenic, but it was a long walk and it was getting hotter . I saw fishermen along the trail, but not many hikers. I also passed Princess and she warned me about the last 2 miles of this subsection, a difficult climb up St. Johns Ledges. Both of the last 2 years, I¢ve done this part NoBo, meaning that I descended St. Johns ledges. This was the first time that I climbed it, and it was a bear. Very steep and a lot of big rocks. But all in all, I would probably prefer to climb it rather than descend it. Nonetheless, I was wasted when I reached the top, soaking wet and worn out. My remaining challenge was a climb up Caleb¢s Peak and fortunately it was a lot easier.The second half of the day I did NoBo, starting at CT 4. This part starts immediately with a descent and crossing of Guinea Brook. The trail descriptions suggest that the rock hop across the brook is not safe, that many of the rocks are submerged and that hikers should look for a place to ford the brook. There is also a high water bypass trail for hikers who don¢t want to risk the rock hop. The bypass trail is a mile long, compared to 0.2 mile across the brook. So I elected to test the rock crossing. It wasn¢t that bad, a couple of rocks were under water, but they weren¢t slippery and I made it across OK. Then I started climbing and it seemed that I climbed for an hour. Our second subsection was only about 5 miles long, but it seemed a lot longer. I was drinking water like crazy and sweating it all out. There was a long tricky down, but it wasn¢t as bad as the ledges and I took it pretty slow. We both enjoyed the hike. There was a lot of variety in the terrain and plenty of challenging sections. We both agree that these CT trails are very pretty. At the end of the hike, Princess was waiting with the car at West Cornwall Road and we headed straight for the Bearded Woods Bunk & Dine. I¢ve talked about this place before and we really love staying here. Every time it¢s a new and better experience. We¢ve been telling hikers we get to know along the trail about it, and several of them followed up and are here with us tonight. It¢s pretty much everything a hiker could want. Meticulously clean, hot showers, laundry, breakfast & dinner included, free shuttle rides to nearby trail crossings, and the host & hostess love talking about the trail. Hudson and Big Lu have hiked (Hudson has done the trail 2 times) and they are a font of knowledge about the trail. Big Lu is a terrific cook and they eat with the hikers and join in the conversation. We plan to stay here 3 nights. We had a great dinner and now it¢s time to sleep. I¢ll try to post this tomorrow. Good-night.