Date: 2009-08-02
From: Pine Branch Swamp Shelter

To: Salisbury, CT
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: light rain

This morning was a slow one. We all were up really early but elected to lounge around in our sleeping bags for a couple of hours. We didn't want to get up and put on wet clothes. Dillion didn't have a sleeping bag last night and ended up having to pull out his emergency blanket because it got pretty cold. All night we heard the blanket at the slightest move. It sounded like somebody was wrapping Christmas presents all night. We teased him this morning about it and gave him a new name- "Mr. Crinkles." The sun was out this morning and we knew we had to get moving. We packed up qickly to avoid the mosquito's and set foot on trail a little after 8:30am. Otter lead us today on the trail and we started out fast. The four of us had a great day filled with laughs and good conversation. The best part is that the sun was bright all day long! CT was up and down all day- steep climbs- but the trail was open and airy in a lot of places which took our minds off the climbs. The tall pines and smooth trail were enjoyable.After 2 hours of hiking we took our first break at an overlook. We had heard something that sounded like a racetrack for a while. At the overlook we could see the race down below. From there we hiked on over a few more mountains and then down to a hwy detour. We stopped briefly at a local car mechanic shop and got some cold gatorade out of the vending machine We followed the detour which took us right passed the race we had seen and heard earlier. We flipped a coin and debated about seeing what was going on but we knew that it would be wiser to keep moving. We continued to follow the road detour, stopping to take a lunch break and let our wet stuff from yesterday dry out.The detour linked back to the original trail right by the Housatonic River. The river was raging from all the rainfall and flooding. We came to a section of the river that had some falls and it was quite a site. The water was so powerful! Both Berry and I had never seen water this strong before. Also we recieved some trail magic from some college students who hiked the trail last year- soda's and snicker bars.After the falls it was time to get back to business. Up up up we went, climbing over Prospect Mtn, into some beautiful forest and down into the road that would take us to Salisbury in about 3 hours.Salibury is the perfect little New England town. Everything is well manicured and clean...it realy is amazing. It's very small and quiet. The four of us resupplied at the local market/deli and sat outside at some tables eating our dinner sandwiches. Some locals came and visited with us while we were sitting there. We were told about a nice place to camp right in the middle of town so we decided to check it out. Sure enough, a perfect campsite right by the river that flows through the middle of town. We set up our tents at dusk and walked over to the town hall which has a water spigot and filled up our water.Berry and I wanted to take a closer look at what seemed to be an old stone church. Turns out, the large, beautiful stone building is the nations first public library built in the 1700's. It's still a library today! Berry found an outside electrical outlet to plug in her phone at the market. She talked with her family while Stewball, Otter and I sat at one of the outside tables.It's been a full day and we are tired now. Looks like we'll be in MA tomorrow!