Date: 2008-06-03
From: Silver Hill Campsite CT

To: Limestone Spring Lean-to CT
Miles today: 19.1

Day 107 ¢ Tuesday June 3 ¢ Limestone Spring Lean-to CT ¢ Miles Today: 19.1 Total Miles: 1483.0We had a 19-mile day planned today plus the half-mile off trail to the shelter, so we got up at our normal 5:00 and got ready as quickly as possible. We were hiking by 5:30. Unfortunately though, the water that we filtered last night from the rusty pump had become even rustier colored through the night. We dumped all but a little bit of it and hoped that we could get fresh stream water soon down the trail. Sure enough, by breakfast time we crossed a stream and stopped to filter. The water coming out of the filter was still a bit discolored due to rust in our cartridge but hopefully over time it will get better. Boy are we glad we stopped at the stream for filtering! The trail was confusing and Grasshopper actually headed alongside the stream for a while before we stopped, filtered and realized that we were no longer on the AT. The AT crosses the stream, rather than running alongside it. We can't afford to be lost on a 19-mile day, so life was good at that point in time. Since we were stopped, we also decided to take our breakfast break before heading on.At 10:00, about 7 miles up the trail, we took a break at a shelter junction and debated a go/no go decision to the next shelter. We did not know if we had the stamina to go on 19 miles today. While we were tossing around ideas, 2 hikers and a dog came out of the shelter. Their packs looked mighty small so we didn't think they were thru-hikers. Turned out they are section hikers from New York to Maine. They were hoping to start in Georgia in late February, but were delayed selling the condo and getting the job wrapped up. Their names were Shannon, Tyler and the dog, a golden German Sheppard mix with one blue eye and one brown eye, was called Blue. The dog was real well behaved, friendly and didn¢t bark. Shannon and Tyler are a real nice couple perhaps in their mid to late 20s.   They've been signing the registers as ¢T&S and Blue¢ and we figured we were going to come across them today, as we¢ve been gauging their progress each day. Turns out they were headed to the same place we had planned to hike to - Limestone Spring Lean-to. After talking to them, their energy wore off on us, and we thought, ¢If they¢re going to hike to Limestone, then so can we.¢ So off we went, leap frogging each other during the day.Today's excitement was a rattlesnake. We heard the rattlesnake before we saw it. It was just off the trail, all coiled up and when we got within 4' of it, its rattler did an excellent job of informing us to back off. Brakeman took some pictures and then we made a WIDE detour around it. Luckily, the terrain allowed us to take a wide berth and we got around it safely. Later in the day when we talked to T&S, they said that the dog was headed down the trail first and alerted them to the potential issue. We all made it around safely.Today was a little on the hot side. This afternoon while walking through Falls Village near a school, a fellow hikers thermometer read 93 degrees! It didn¢t feel as hot as some other days on the trail - as one day in Virginia our thermometer read 103!   Everything¢s relative ¢ today¢s a little on the warm side but not so bad. Along the Housatonic River were a couple resting benches as well as plagues showing the location of the old gauging station. We didn't take advantage of the benches, due to our 19-mile day, though it would have been a neat place to just sit down and relax a while. We walked through another area with super tall ferns ¢ perhaps 3.5 - 4' tall. Quite amazing. We got a picture of similar ones the other day. They are so tall that it reminded us of walking in the Hoh Rain Forest in Washington. Today was our first full day of hiking in long pants and it appears to do a good job defensively against the ticks on our legs. We're not wearing our tall socks nor are we tucking our pants into our socks although we probably should be, but today is the first day we've been tick free on our legs for a while. However, we did not have the same good fortune on the rest of our body. Brakeman had a tick crawling on his arm. Grasshopper had one on her arm and one on her back underneath her right shoulder blade. We walked through some fields today with very, very tall plants that were hitting our arms and I'm sure that's where we picked up the ticks. We are making a conscientious effort each night to do an entire body check for ticks and during the day we try to do quick scans on our arms and legs and our backs. Apparently if we get the tick removed within 24 hours, we¢ll be fine, but who really knows, I'm sure.Limestone Spring Lean-to is not only a horrible 12-mile down a steep ridge, it's also in a location that is a haven for mosquitoes and black flies. The bugs made it very uncomfortable setting up camp, cooking and eating. We finally put on rain jackets to add another layer of defense. The biting bugs were just atrocious. Here with us tonight are T&S and Blue. It looks like they have done a tremendous job preparing for the trip in terms of small, compact, lightweight packs. Her base weight is just 14 pounds, but she's not carrying any rain gear. They¢ve removed all the labels from everything. They have a single wall tent by Six Moons that weighs about 3 pounds and is quite spacious. It will be interesting to see how it does in the rain. They are probably not carrying any heavyweight gear, as we still are, and, of course, our sleeping bags are old so they don't compact down as small as theirs. They expressed their sadness of not being able to start in Georgia so they could use their new heavyweight sleeping bags. Hopefully another time for them. Also at the shelter tonight is an AMC ridge runner, a 20¢ish guy from California who just arrived to the east coast 2 days ago. As a ridge runner, his job is to hike the various trails, visit each of the shelters, make sure things are being done per code, destroy any illegal fire rings and educate hikers on proper safety and regulations. He invited us up to the shelter for peppermint tea but we declined, as it was a very long day and we just wanted to sleep. We did learn from him the reason the Lean-to is a 12-mile off the trail.   The AT used to run through here, but 2 years ago it was re-routed. So unfortunately if you want to stay here, you end up walking an extra mile but when it's your water source and only legal camping area, it's what you do. We're now officially under700 miles left!! Woo Hoo!! We're seriously thinking of doing a couple shorter days to recover a bit both mentally and physically. We need to get our stamina back. Tomorrow, we'll play it by ear. Goodnight.