Date: 2015-06-22
From: Riga Shelter

To: Glen Brook Shelter
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: overcast clouds

It rained hard last evening and it continued during the night. Our clothes and boots were still wet from yesterday's perpetual rain. My feet have suffered. The skin stays wrinkled for prolonged periods and becomes raw from the friction. When my feet finally dry, my toes swell up, like little red balloons.We were only a few miles from leaving Connecticut. Bear Mountain, CT's highest peak (2,300'), was our main obstacle. We had a gradual climb up that included many stream crossings. The great quantities of rain caused the streams to overflow. Gushing waters submerged the intended stepping stones, except for a few larger ones whose tips peaked through the water. I tried to avoid getting my boots excessively wet, but to no avail. It wouldn't have mattered anyway as water was flowing down the Trail as we continued our ascent. We reached the summit and began our descent. Awol's guide warned us that the trip down was tricky. Indeed. It seemed that huge vats of molten rock were poured down the northern side of the mountain, with small ripples interrupting an otherwise smooth surface. The cliff was still wet from the rain and water continued trickling down, like miniature waterfalls. Many small shrubs grew between the cracks of this stony coating, though most have been trampled as hikers had no choice to walk over them to avoid slippery or extremely angled sections. The descent took a very long time to complete (and required much butt-blazing on my part).We crossed into Massachusetts at the base of Bear Mtn, in Sages Ravine. The surrounding nature was quite pleasant as waterfalls gushed powerfully and pine trees populated the forest. We hiked for a few minutes, navigating through thick tree roots, when we realized that we needed to cross the ravine. No bridges, no stepping stones. My boots were already damp so I forded through the suprisingly strong and knee-deep current. I felt my boots resisting the incoming flood for a few seconds then water seeped rapidly through. We hiked uphill and arrived at Mt Race, an open ridgeline whose ledge drops off vertically. The sun was shining and the sky was clear so the view was wide and far reaching; even the clouds seemed low enough to touch. It was a pleasant walk.Finally, we arrived at Mount Everett, MA's second highest peak and prepared ourselves for a very steep climb. I had been slightly irritated by Bear Mountain's descent because southbounders do not have to deal with it - instead, they have the climb which is not as bad. Mt Everett's climb is the mirror version of Bear Mnt's descent. Scrach that: Mt Everett's northern facade is way worse. Sorry would-be southbounders, you have it worse for that one. The climb was long as I heaved myself up a smooth, angled surface on my hands and feet. A "foot" trail, I am not sure about that.Many day hikers were there as Mt Everett has a parking lot a half a mile from its summit. We hiked down and realized that the day hikers were hiking along a wide and smoothly graded path while we, AT hikers, were constrained to take a narrow, steep and rocky one. Both trails were parrallel to each other and both led to the parking lot. It was frustrating to see through the leaves of the trees the day hikers casually strolling along.However, we did have a nice suprise for us waiting in the parking lot: Trail magic! A woman named Dotty had homemade gourmet sandwiches and a dessert platter. It was really, really nice. Thank you!We arrived at the shelter and, notwithstanding the short day, decided to stop. My soaked feet were aching. We were alone at the shelter so we put up a clothes line in the sun and tried to dry our socks and boots. I was grateful for the opportunity to rest as well. We are both quite tired.CONNECTICUT SUMMARY:- CT is very short. The terrain is a mix of very flat, level, nice terrain and useless, sharp yet short elevation changes. - Two very bad sections: the descent after St. Jonh's Ledge (after Kent) and the descent from Bear Mtn. One very nice section: the walk along the Housatonic River.- It rained a lot while we went through CT so the multiple streams to cross were overflowing and the Trail was often flooded. There weren't many bridges either which is strange: you'd think that Connecticut would want to...CONNECT things.When I discussed my CT summary with Shrugs, he made a very nice comparison. He said that the whole Trail was a fractal motif. The overall picture is one of a long, complex, convoluted line and, when you zoom in and observe a smaller section, you see that it retains the exact same pattern, alternating ups and downs, rough and smooth, easy and hard. - Axon  View from Mt Race  Sages Ravine. Had to ford this