Date: 2005-07-21
From: Schaghticoke Mountain

To: Campsite beyond Kent, CT
Miles today: 6.0

After stealth camping at the base of Schaghticoke Mountain last night, we woke up early to beat the heat. It's a good thing too, because we had a 1,000 foot climb in front of us. Not that we haven't done it before, but like I have said in the past...it's been awhile. I must say though, that it was nice and cool and the climb wasn't as tough as I anticipated it to be. From what I have seen so far, Connecticut has been absolutely amazing! The mountains are starting to get a bit bigger again and in some ways a little harder, but it's been worth it! The trail has been very well maintained....I had forgotten what it felt like to actually walk on trail and not rocks.Bug got a little frustrated with me earlier, because he didn't think I was focused on hiking fast enough. We had a "discussion" about it, and all turned out well. Basically, we were trying to get into town today and get back out. We had lots of things we needed to do, plus others that we wanted to do. He knew that it would take time to get them done. I usually don't mind being pushed so hard, but my toes have all kinds of blisters on them, not to mention the heat of the afternoon. Like I said though, we worked everything out. It's just that temperments can flare when the temperatures are up.We got into Kent, CT. A quaint little New England town with lots of little art shops and antique stores. First order of business, was to make our way to the post office. Here, we recieved many, many packages. We had gotten too much food in Unionville, so we bounced the rest of it forward. We also got our old shoes back, which I couldn't wait to get back to. My Merrell's are really starting to pinch my toes. We decided to open our bounce box that we have had bumped since Harpers Ferry. Lastly and most exciting, we recieved our shipment from REI! In the shipment, we got our Jetboil stove, which boils water in a mere 90 seconds. We are really psyched about that. Also, I got a new tanktop. You have to understand that even something as simplistic as a tanktop can make a girl out in the wilds, feel feminine.After sorting through everything (a daunting task that can take well over an hour) and mailing home other things, we made our way to the diner to get some lunch. Then it was off tothe library where I uploaded some photos to this journal. Just to let you all know, uploading photos requires much work. First of all, we can update the actual journal entries easier with our pocketmail, but pictures cannot be transmitted through the device. When we have internet access, it is usually at a public library. So it isn't as simple as popping the memory card into the computer. We have to have access to a CD making maching (ie Rite-Aid, Walgreens, Wal-mart, CVS). The towns we usually come into, are tiny! The biggest town we have come through on the trail has a population of no more than 20,000 people, and even that is unusually large. To top it all off, each picture takes about 2 minutes to upload to the site, even if all the other criteria are met.We stayed until the library closed and then made our way to the outfitter, where we resupplied on some needed items. By this point it was around 6pm. We debated as to whether to stay in town the night, or hike out. We walked over to the Episcopal church to see if we could camp on the grounds (which they sometimes let hikers do). We tried to find the priest, but he was nowhere to be found, however there was a note on the door of the parsonage asking hikers not to camp on the grounds because of construction that was going on. Alas, we decided to hike out of town at 7 in the evening. After a stiff bump, halfway up the mountain, we found a flat place to put up our tents. In other words,we "stealthed" it. You are only supposed to camp in designated areas in Connecticut, but we chose to live on the wild side this evening. Now we are all hanging out having a cup of coffee made with the new lexan french press. It is getting dark, and I am off to bed.