Date: 2003-06-22
From: Ten Mile River Lean-to 

To: CT341, Kent, CT 
Miles today: 8.7

"I'm singing in the rain...I'm singing in the rain... what a glorious feeling... singing in the rain..."   Aloha! Guess what? It's raining. What a surprise. The torrential downpour began last night. It even included lightening and thunder. A follow on to yesterday's dousing I'm sure. The good thing about it though is that it let up briefly right before I turned in for the night allowing for a spectacular firefly show around the field. "Out of my shelter space looking in the night, I could see the fireflies and ohhh what a sight." (An old girl scout song modified.) It was entertaining and almost mystical. Wonder if I should have awakened my shelter mates for the show. Nah. This was mine.   This morning started off misty but became torrential as the day progressed. It seemed that every time I had to climb to some peak, the downpour would begin. Not on the downs or flats of course; just the UPs. Kind of makes you wonder, huh.   In the beginning though it was lovely early CT walking. The trail meandered UPward but alongside the Ten Mile River. With the recent rains the river is running quite high making for some interesting looking rapids. Now I'm not a river kayaker (not a lot of that in Hawaii) but I do remember something about having to "pick your line", so I was "picking my line". I'm glad I was doing it from a trail above. Much easier than from the water view. I probably would have been upside down in no time. I do believe that river kayaking may be my next outdoor sport of choice upon my return. Maybe.   From meandering pine needle covered trail to the rocks of Schaghticoke Mountain. But not before crossing Bulls Bridge Road. Had I read the info pages earlier I would have known that this was probably something I would have walked the extra .8-mile roundtrip to see. This is supposedly one of a handful of covered bridges still standing in CT. A bridge has spanned this part of the river since the mid 1700s. During the Revolutionary War, George Washington and his army used this particular crossing on several occasions. The current bridge dates to the early 1800s. It would have been interesting to see. Oh well, there's always the next one.   Continuing in the misty rain, the next stop was Indian Rocks. Another big UP. This is the only place on the AT where the Trail crosses an Indian reservation. The Schaghticoke Indian tribe, recognized by the state but not the federal government, claims most of the land from here down to the river. The tribe, actually the remnants of several tribes, played a unique communications role during the Revolutionary War by transmitting signals along the ridges between Long Island Sound in NY and Stockbridge, MA, a distance of nearly 100 miles, in about 2 hours.   There wasn't a single vista worth taking the time to stop and look from. Clouds precluded even the slightest of glimpses. I can only imagine what the views may have looked like.      As I was climbing one of the many UPs in the pouring rain I rounded a corner to find Walking, the Ridge Runner... and now trail angel. Walking had had this wonderful idea. Knowing that we were both planning on staying at the Algo shelter for the remaining portion of the day and that I had a cell phone, she had come up with a wonderful idea - let her use the phone and then go to her place two miles off the trail, get a hot shower and meal, wash clothes, sleep on a comfy couch, and just relax out of the pouring rain. Let me think ... break my ban on using a cell phone on the trail and stay on a warm comfy couch or keep my ban and sit for 15 or 16 hours in a dark and dank shelter. How long do you think it took? Yep, about a split second. I may be having a mid life crisis by wanting to hike this trail as some believe but I'm not a dumb mid-lifer if I am! Here's my phone!    Walking called her partner Surefoot to try and arrange a pick-up for us. Unfortunately no one was home to receive the call. Fortunately though there was a gentlemen packing up his own wet hiking gear ready and willing to offer us a ride to the house. Perfect timing. Thank you trail angel number two for the day!   The rest of the day was spent drying out. Walking was kind enough to even do my laundry giving me clothes to wear in the process. One particularly good thing came of that -- they were her clothes and she's quite a bit smaller than I am. Makes me think I'm actually losing a few inches. Wuhuu! Besides that we all spent the day getting to know each other a bit better and stuffing ourselves at the local Italian eatery. It was a wonderfully warm ending to a miserably wet day. To my Trail Angels The Walking Stomach and Surefoot, I thank you. More importantly, my wet feet thank you!   Alright, this sofa is feeling quite comfy. Time for me to stretch out and see if I can't get a bit of sleep. I'm sure it'll be terribly difficult sleeping without my pad, tent or shelter but I'll give it the good ol' girl scout try. See you tomorrow after I run all my errands. Sleep warm and dry. I know I will be ...thank you!BSandTs: who could tell!AandPs: nopeMandGs: not from a comfy cozy couch... of course not!