Date: 2004-11-04
From: Salisbury, Ct.

To: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter, Ct.
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: moderate rain

16.4 miles todaySleeping in a shelterPine Swamp Branch Shelter, Ct.I'm back on the trail!! It feels good to be back out walking again after four zeros. I slept in the back of my truck last night at the Salisbury trailhead. When I woke up this morning, it was just starting to get light out. I was going to make coffee, but decided to drive into Salisbury and send in my journal entry and I got coffee while I was there. I got a big coffee!! I have a cup that I keep in my truck that takes almost a whole pot. I drove back to the trailhead and went through my backpack to make sure I was properly equiped for cold weather. I heard on the radio that it was going to be pretty cold the first of the week. They never did say how cold, so I put my winter gear in my backpack. I hate to carry that much, but I won't freeze even if it goes well below zero. It was in the upper 20s this morning and that is just about perfect for me in the mornings...not too cold. I messed around for over an hour and by the time I was organized and ready to hike out, it was 8:20am. There were leaves still falling at that lower elevation, but once I got a little higher, there weren't any leaves left in the trees. I only managed to catch one leaf today, but my liberal female friends have taken the fun out of it for me. They signed my guestbook basicly telling me how to run my own game. It's my game and I made the rules and they are trying to change the rules. Why do liberal women want to ruin my game?? They don't have to play. They said that I shouldn't take two leaves away from Moosie. I don't hear Moosie complaining. Moosie knows I have two of his books and I'm sure he wants them back with all the pages, so I know he won't complain. I'm surprised they didn't try charging me an adminisrative fee or a user fee or something like that. Waaah, waaaah, waaaah.... (Transcriber's note: Libertarian hikers can be such whiners sometimes!) I'm ending the leaf catching game for this year and I declare myself the winner!!! If my two un-named liberal female friends want to play next year, they are going to have to learn how to behave better. They also said something about a butt tattoo when they signed my guestbook. I don't know anything about a butt tattoo. I'm just wondering how my two liberal female friends, Goosebump and Liteshoe (Oops, I mentioned their names) seem to know about a tattoo on Underpants butt. Come on girls, I'm trying to keep this journal "G" rated!! I had a good day for wildlife sightings today. I saw a doe early this morning. Next, I saw an overnight backpacker heading into Sages Ravine for the night. He said he's coming back out tomorrow. I saw another doe and with the lack of leaves, I was able to watch her bound off for quite a distance. I saw two hawks. The second one screamed at me twice before flying off. I love the sound they make. I saw a fox for just a split second before he was gone. I walked by the hydro-electric plant when I was walking down by the Hoosatonic River. It was just after that where Moosie came out last year and took a few of us hikers to his home to get us out of the hurricane. I was walking along and remembered a little side trail that took me 2/10ths of a mile to the Mountainside Cafe. I wasn't really hungry, but I couldn't pass up a hot meal!! I just had a philly steak and cheese sandwich and some hot coffee. I climbed the next mountain and could hear the race cars at the Limerock Raceway. I got up the where the old hang glider ramp used to be and watched the cars racing around the track below for about one minute before it started raining. It was still in the low 40s, so I didn't mess around with getting wet. I put on my rain gear and pack cover and walked the last three plus miles to the shelter in the rain. It worked out great because I was mostly dry when I got there even though it rained pretty good. I walked much slower though because with all the leaves on the ground, when they get wet, it really gets slippery going downhill. There was also alot of hidden rocks under the leaves. I got to the shelter at 4pm and sat down and read through the register. I see that some of the slobos were here about two months ago and Hippie spent the night here two days ago. Other than that overnight backpacker I saw early this morning, I saw no other people on the trail today. Someone left a couple of sleeping pads here at the shelter, so I have them under me for a softer bed.Another great day on the A.T.Hey Dr Dolittle, just in case you try to find me tonight (Friday), I'll be at Mt Algo Lean-to and will be at the Bull's Bridge store at about 10:00am on Saturday...give or take an hour. Bring Maggie's bed with you.