Date: 2014-07-07
From: US 44 near Salisbury

To: Caesar Brook Campsite
Miles today: 18.1

2014 ¢ Day 6 (07/07/2014) US 44 near Salisbury to Caesar Brook CampsiteDaily Mileage: 18.1 miles on AT + 0.4 mile roadwalk from townHours on trail: 9 AM to 8 PM = 11 hoursSpeed including breaks: 1.68 mphWeather: Partly cloudy, hot, breeze at time, a few showers after 4 PMBig Lou served breakfast of egg sandwiches with cheese and Canadian bacon on English muffins plus watermelon. I had one and a half sandwiches plus several slices of watermelon. Breakfast was done just after 7 AM. Since the post office would not open for another hour, I just lounged around. Hudson took me to Salisbury Post Office at 8:30. I got my resupply package, and purchased a few minor supplies at the pharmacy and grocery store. I sorted my supplies on a bench on the main drag. This was a very fast process. I was ready to road walk to trailhead at 9 am. The highlight of the day was the Great Falls of the Housatonic River. With all the rain, the water was rushing over the falls. Mostly I was walking in CT hardwood forest. Many ups and downs so I got a good workout. By mid-day it was very hot in areas with no breeze. There were a few views from some of the ridges, with the best being from the high corner of a freshly cut hayfield. Nearby were some raspberries ¢ yum! Time wise it would have been best to stay at Pine Swamp Shelter, but I'd heard so many horror stories of the poor water quality (the source was the swamp), and the mosquitoes that I pressed on for another 3 miles to Caesar Brook Campsite. The bottom line is don't stay anywhere with "swamp" in the name. Along the way to Caesar Brook, I scared up two white tailed deer. As I was getting near the campsite, it appeared that a major thunderstorm was eminent. I was on a ridge, so I booked it down the trail as fast as I could. I arrived at the campsite a 8 pm. I rushed to set up my tent and cook dinner. In the end, the storm was a near miss and I got just a few drops of rain. I¢m in my tent tonight. I¢m the only one here.There is a major foundation hole near the campsite indicating that this was once the center of operations for a farm. Although I haven¢t been highlighting this in my journal, the forests nearly everywhere are laced with rock walls, a lasting reminder of the area¢s farming history.Meet 10 or so thru hikers and many more backpackers just out for a few days. Some of the latter group was way out of shape. One of the thru hikers worked for PC Construction, a Vermont-based firm that does lots of work in Maine. ¢Very Mary¢ who stayed at Bearded Woods last night passed me nobo near the falls. She was doing a slack pack for the day, supported by Hudson. A few minutes later, on a short road section, Hudson passed me on his way to pick up Very Mary. By the way, Very Mary is an environmental engineer.With five days of food, my pack felt heavy. However, it will get lighter, with each passing day.Blisters on the bottom of my feet are giving me some problems. These started because of all the rain on July 4 resulting in hiking in soaking wet shoes and feet all day. The July 5th was not much better because the trails were still wet, resulting in wet shoes and feet for a second day. I have the bottom of my feet taped up. I hope this solves the problem.Another thunderstorm in the distance .....