Date: 2018-06-21
From: Limestone Springs Campsite

To: Sage's Ravine campsite
Miles today: 10.4

I woke up with a dry tent after a not so great sleep. I think my sleeping pad was too firm and I couldn't get comfortable. After I let some air out I had a better couple of hours of sleep. I cooked my breakfast up at the picnic table by River and the shelter after I had packed up my tent and gear. I had no water left so I filled a liter from the spring and left at 7:30 for the steep climb up and off this half mile blue blaze trail. No how I wanted to start my day but it made sense to stay here last night knowing that I needed to stop in Salisbury CT for my resupply package at the post office. I've been looking forward to Rands view which is only 1/10th of a mile north. Local hikers Sandy and Jason told me about it when I saw them a few days ago and Brian mentioned it also, from notes in the guide he uses. I could see the clearing just before I reached the edge of the woodline but it looked like an ordinary farm field until I got there. It was still before 8am and when I stepped out from the woods I stood and soaked it in. It was beautiful and bucolic. Freshly bailed hay and rolling pasture with a mountain backdrop complete with the morning mist still hanging in the valley. I took a few pictures and soaked in a little more before I headed north. It was a pretty easy 4 miles to town plus a road walk of a half mile or so. Salisbury is adorable. I love the quaint village setting with well maintained local shops and eateries. It feels like an affluent town. I found pharmacy first and bought a Snapple raspberry iced tea and set my pack down next to a bench outside. The post office was next door and I was helped by a very nice clerk and received my package. I opened it and began to sort it after digging my food bag out of my pack. As usual there was too much. Brian had done a great job doubling up my dinners and adding extra oats and brown sugar to my breakfast. I need the larger servings and calories. When I was packing up my stuff Goldie Locks and River arrived and headed to the post office for their packages. River and I eventually took our stuff to the courtyard out back where I enjoyed an ice cream and an iced coffee while we visited with Fixed Gear and Olive Branch and charged our phones. I left first knowing that I had to climb Lion's Head and Bear Mountain before getting to the CT/Mass line and Sages Ravine campsite. And climbs they were. My food bag was HEAVY and I was sweating like crazy. On the backside of Bear Mountain the descent was tough and some was butt sliding by necessity. Today was also summer solstice which happens to be naked hiking day. I opted out, thank you. And I am happy to report I didn't see anyone opting in. However I do know that there were participants and they include River who hiked Lion's Head in the buff. She doesn't recommended it however due to pack chaffing. I wanted to do a Marco Polo and send a picture of the sign to my sister Catie when I got to Mass but there was none. I got to the campsite, climbed up to site #1 and texted River to let her know about the Bear Mountain descent. Then I set up and hiked back down to the water to bathe and filter drinking water. I washed my socks and underwear too and dropped a sock down by the water which meant that later I had to go back down and up again. Exhausting! I was sitting on a log boiling water for my dinner when River arrived. Then I brushed and took the long trip to the bear box, further up in the campsite of course! I drifted off to sleep while River ate her dinner at the log by the foot of my tent. It's quiet here. One other man and Goldie Locks and they're camped out back. I look forward to my first full day in Mass tomorrow. CT has been beautiful!