Date: 2004-07-23
From: Mt. Algo Lean-to

To: Kent, CT
Miles today: 0.3

It is amazing how towns suck you in. I did not expect much from Kent. For one thing, I heard there was no shower for passing thru-hikers. One needs to get a room at the local, expensive inn to wash off the sweat.Then I arrived on this hot, humid, cloudy morning and learned from Bucket, Critter, and Baby Blue that the Episcopal Church let us tent on their lawn for free and there is an outdoor, private shower in the back. They were all hungover from participating in a kareoke party at the bar the night before. I had heard that Hawk and Quest left town early that morning. I may be able to catch up with them.First thing after my grueling .3 miles into town was to have breakfast. At Caralees, where you can get a fine cup of coffee, I sat with Cerveza, Siesta, Little Sultan (a six month old), and Doo Dad. They were kind enough to buy me breakfast because, I guess, I let them view my map. I asked Siesta about traveling with a baby. They are only hiking to NH and they blue-blaze if the terrain is dangerous. Okay, that makes me feel better.I got everything done by noontime--picked up my maildrop, showered, laundry, resuppply. The only thing not complete was these journal entries. My pocketmail has been very difficult to read lately because the screen is failing. Hope it holds out 'til September at least. The plan, however, was to do another seven miles to the next shelter.I went to the library to use their computer. It began to pour outside and did not let up for hours. I was trapped. My pack with all my goods was at the campsite near the church covered in plastic. It would be okay. But the weather was not condusive to repacking and sorting everything out.I decided to hold up in Caralee's to figure things out. I'm in one of the most expensive trail towns, the remains of the day diminishing, I don't want to hike out of here while it is pouring and I have no place to sleep. I heard that the inn was full despite the weekend rates. The church, now, could not accommodate hikers due to a tag sale the next day.Thankfully the diner employees, Sarah and Peter, were very kind to me and let me repack my stuff in their dining room while they cleaned up and closed.I figured the best thing to do was search around town for other hikers and commisserate. It was still raining hard when I headed outside with my pack to check every bar for familiar faces. After an hour of searching, I stumbled upon Still Learning walking out of the library."Fellow hiker!" I yelled to his smiling face. He was dressed in a long blue poncho. I didn't recognize him at first but knew he was an AT hiker. I was so happy to find someone that I gave him a hug. He said there were no places in town or in the next town to stay. So we decided to hit the bar to figure things out. It was still pouring.I owed a beer to Still Learning for giving me a battery a few weeks ago. As soon as I bought one for him, he reciprocated by buying me a beer. So I had to buy him another beer. And so the evening went.Then Goose and Bilbo walked into the bar. Goose is a drawl-talking West Virginian. Bilbo ordered a duplicate Tolkien ring and resembles a hobbit. They both started the AT from Springer on May 13th.They also had no place to stay but we had since learned that the rain had stopped.I made a call to the rectory to see if they could help us out. The pastor seemed hesitant but helped us out by letting us sleep behind the church as long as we were out of there by early morning.And that is where we are for the night. It turned out to be a fun evening even though I wanted to head out of town today. The four of us hung out by our cluster of tents and chatted until midnight--probably the latest I have been up while hiking the trail.