Date: 2005-07-26
From: West Cornwall, CT

To: Mile 1479
Miles today: 10.7

Back on the trail at 11:45. It was an excellent weekend at home. We all did a little hiking on some local trails around our house. We went swimming in a few of my old haunts from back in the late 80's when I used to hang out in those areas (doing the same thing as I was now, hiking and swimming). I believe my son Joshua had a good time as well. While riding around the country side I was able to go see my sister's new home. The same flood that almost ended my trail hike in April, almost totally wiped her and her husband out. They lost most everything. They managed to save a few pictures and minor nick knacks but, that was it. A levy gave way and the water rose fast. They had to be rescued by boat. I was glad to see things were coming together for them finally, they are good people.   When Brenda dropped me off there were a number of hikers there that I met for the first time. I saw most of their entries in the logs or heard so much about them down the trail. It was nice to finally see them and put a face to the name or story. There was Doc Narley (from Florida), the Troll Family (Troll, Anchor and Oblivious) and two Trail Angels (Gordon and Sue). Also there were two SOBO's named Stumble and Achilles. Brenda and I walked in to the woods a little before she returned to her car and departed. I told her, "There, now you can call yourself a section hiker".   On the way up the trail I came upon two baby buzzards roosting or rather nesting in the rocks along the trail. I took a photo but it did not come out at all (I should have used a flash). One thing I do recall was just how much these little creatures stunk. Whew, it was a terrible smell. Much worse then hiker funk. They also spit a lot, not just at me but every where else too. Hissing and carrying on, I did not stay long.   It was hot on the trail so I planned to take lots of breaks. The body was rested well however, I did not want to push it to hard. This section of trail traveled along the Housatonic River. A nice river for taking a dip in but, I would not want to drink the water. I found out the week before from a SOBO (Hillbilly) that there was a shower located near the Iron Bridge that crossed the Housatonic at mile 1447.5. It was attached to the outside of a building in a maintenance park. It took a bit to find it however, the cool water was well worth the effort.   I stopped short of where I wanted to go. I ended up just south of Prospect Mountain (mile 1479). Doc Narley was set up in a nice spot and I asked if I could join him. Doc was on his second thru-hike (class of 04). As I wrote he was from Florida and I later found out that he worked seasonally at a Animal Shelter as a rescuer. He told me how they attempt to save Turtles that were run over by cars. He said they would simply use a fiberglass patch with bon do (glue) and repair them like you would a damaged boat. If the Turtle survived then eventually the patch would fall off (I believe). Too Cool.   I was approximately 13 miles from the Massachusetts border. That evening I had a chicken with rice soup for supper and was in the company of a new friend. Doc and I would bounce in to each other for quite some time. In fact we hiked together through a portion of the "White Mountains" in New Hampshire. The mosquitos were out in force that evening and I noticed Doc did not have any netting. I gave him my "head net" and in return he gave me a little something to add to my evenings coffee. The next morning he said he had the best night sleep he had in a while and I told him so did I (you're a good man Doc).    It was good to be back on the trail.... again.