Date: 2022-06-13
From: Stealth camp by river down from Duell Rd

To: Mt Algo Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: overcast clouds

We had no service last night by the river. The rain came in the middle of the night but was gone by the time we awoke at 5:30am. We could see blue sky breaking through the clouds. Today is supposed to be sunny. After breakfast and packing the wet stuff into plastic bags (Coffeebean carries the canopy when it is wet because a wet tent and canopy weigh alot more.) we were still able to cross the river rock hopping. We eventually came to the Ten Mile River. It was really wide and had a nice foot bridge to cross by. Just before it was an open field. The sun was out so we decided to stop and dry everything. We could hold up the canopy and the wind would catch it like a parachute. Everything dried quickly. While we were drying out Teddybear passed us. The day was incredibly hot and humid. I hike with a kerchief tied to my shoulder strap to wipe sweat, I mean perspiration. (I can hear my mother now ¢Animals sweat. Ladies glisten.¢) Well I ¢glistened¢ all day long, by the bucketfuls! There wasn¢t a dry spot on my kerchief! Add to that that this is day 10 without a shower. We do admit that we are tired of being sweaty and wearing wet clothes.We got just about to the top of a hellacious mountain and we decided to stop for lunch. There was another couple there that were section hiking. They would drive farther north and then hike SOBO. His name is Eric and he is a high school computer science teacher and she (we didn¢t get her name) is an RN at the children¢s hospital near Akron, Ohio. They were so fun to talk to. They said they would take their kids backpacking when the kids were younger. He said they knew they were doing it right (parenting) when one day one of the kids yelled from the bathroom ¢It sure is nice to have a flush toilet!¢ He said that was a sign that their kids weren¢t taking things for granted. We all laughed at that. He mentioned that the one thing he misses most on trail is ice. He told us if he saw us tomorrow he would bring a Gatorade. We said our goodbyes and a minute later Teddybear showed up. He told us about the dad and son that he met in one of the shelters a few shelters back. We said we had stopped there to use the privy and the dad suggested that I wash my hands after using it because he had been sick the previous night. They had only been on trail a couple days. Well Teddybear said the boy was now throwing up and he told the dad they had norovirus. The dad didn¢t believe him because he was only sick a day but noro runs 1-3 days. And when I say ¢run¢ I mean it literally, out both ends. A nasty business is noro. Teddybear said he hightailed it out of there!I forgot to mention that Eric had also warned us of a tree covered in bees that we would be coming up to shortly. He said there was supposed to be a warning sign but they never saw one. We saw the sign! Someone had taken sticks and made out the word ¢BEES¢ in a square right on the trail about 20 feet from the tree. You could see the bees all over this tree! So what did we do? We made a ¢beeline¢ down the trail as far from the tree as possible. Pun intended! Haha!We continued the killer climb then went downhill and then another smaller climb and downhill to the Mt Algo Shelter. There was a beautiful big stream in front for water. You crossed the stream walking across 2 big logs. It had beautiful pine-needled tent sites and a privy. There was a gentleman there, with no trail name, that had tried to leave the day before, had slipped crossing a stream nearby, and soaked everything including his phone. He was planning to head into Kent tomorrow to see about his phone. A couple from Pennsylvania, named Thurston (a teacher) and Shauna (a college athletic trainer), were also there. They are section hiking and will have 1400 miles done. I told Shauna that my oldest daughter¢s name is also Shauna. She said ¢With a W or a U?¢ I said with a U and she said ¢Good, you spelled correctly.¢ We all laughed. Teddybear came in a while after and then, when I was down getting water, Clydesdale came in. She is a 20-ish solo flip-flopper from Pennsylvania. She started in Delaware Water Gap on the PA/NJ border. We all sat at the picnic table and ate dinner and had great conversation! We talked until 8:30!! Almost unheard of for hikers! I will miss chatting with these folks for sure! Clydesdale, Shauna, and Thurston will be doing big miles tomorrow and Teddybear is going into Kent, CT to resupply, shower, and laundry and then hiking 6 miles to the shelter so we probably won¢t be seeing any of them again. °­ One of the great things about the trail is the people you meet.Oh another thing we talked about were all the caterpillars! Teddybear asked if we had heard the caterpillars chewing. He said when he stopped for a break he could hear the noise. On the trail you can see leaf pieces that look like green confetti. The trail is loaded with them! These are gypsy moth caterpillars and last year CT had an infestation of these horrible things. They are everywhere! They fall on you when you¢re sitting. Coffeebean had clothes hanging off his pack to dry (he looks like a walking clothesline) and I had to pick the nasty little things off his clothes. Shauna said when she was a child she remembered her mother coming to pick her up at the bus stop because the ground was so littered with caterpillars that your shoes would be black by the time she got home.  So we ended a tough day with lots of laughs and stories and hiked 12.6 miles to boot! (Oh! Another pun! °)