Date: 2018-08-03
From: Mt Algo shelter

To: Kent, CT
Miles today: 0.3

Last night rain hit my tent pretty hard. I thought some trees were going to collapse. My rain fly was also leaking and I needed to repair it soon before more rain hits.  I didn't sleep that well since my right foot had been hurting. It felt like tendon pain but I hope it isn't a stress fracture. That would take me off trail. I tried to get some sleep in the early morning but it was no use. Even if I had to get off trail I feel that I got what I needed. For me it's about the journey not the goal. I woke up at 6 am and worked on a few journal entries. I didn't pack up until 9 am. I met a hiker named Shepherd who had been interviewing people on the trail. He was collecting data for a book about what a thru hike is like. The book would explain the community around a thru hike. Shepherd was also traveling with a large white dog named Ghost. The dog had pulled Shepherd off the trail numerous times chasing wildlife. Shepherd was injured a few times when this happened. I eventually left the shelter at 10 am and headed into Kent, CT.French Toast was at the access road to Kent. Trish was getting dropped off from a hostel. Her driver was able to give us a ride into town. We went to the coffee shop to hang out. French Toast was from Michigan and we talked about the upper peninsula. I'd would love to see that part of the state. After coffee we walked over to the post office and the grocery store. We ran into Tree Beard and Pappa Bear playing Pokemon Go. They were heading over to the visitors center that catered to hikers. I got food at the IGA then headed over to the hardware store to get fuel. They had tools I could borrow to fix my pack. I cut off the old ladder locks on my shoulder straps and replaced them. They had been slipping for awhile now.  At the visitors center all the hikers were hanging out. Charlie was cooking up some bacon in his skillet. He would pack out bags of cooked bacon and sausage. He offered me a beer and I gladly accepted. Everyone was also drying out their stuff in the front lawn. It looked like a hiker yard sale. I broke down my food and packed my bag. I headed over to shoe store. I was looking to get new shoes since my Chacos had been slipping a lot. I also wanted to have more protection for my feet. At the shoe store they had one pair of Merrell moabs in size 15. I knew those would work. I headed over to the post office to grab my box with my foot inserts and my Ultras. The Ultras I'll be returning to REI after the end of this trip since they tore my toes up. I headed back over to the shoe store and got the Merrells. I then headed to the outfitters which was in an ice cream shop and bought seam sealer for my rain fly. I went back over to the visitors center and setup my rain fly inside out. I applied a thin coat of sealant to all the seams. As I was finishing up I saw huge rain clouds in the distance coming our way. I moved the tent under the awning before it came down. About 7 of us were hunkered under the awning as the rain hit. Silver bullet was sitting under my rain fly. The rain started going sideways under the awning. It was pretty intense. I made my way to the post office in the rain to bounce my old shoes forward to the next town. When the rain died down mostly everyone headed to the next shelter about 7 miles away. I stayed behind to wait for the seams to dry.A girl named Toast and Easy Win were still at the visitors center. We were trying to figure out if we should get back on trail and camp close to the road. With all this rain most spots would mostly be muddy. Easy Win talked to a bartender earlier on and mentioned there was a pavilion down the road where no one would bother us. That seemed like the perfect place to camp for the night. I ordered Chinese from the local restaurant and brought it back to the visitors center. As we were hanging out we heard someone in a car yell "hikers"! There were three guys in a car who stopped in the parking lot next to us. They asked us if we wanted a drink and we said of course! The driver had a large bottle of vodka in his lap. He may have been a little intoxicated as well. The trio had been slacking sections of the trail with the car. They were really excited to do specific areas. They let us take a few swigs of vodka from the bottle and then they headed out. I packed up my rain fly and headed over to the pavilion. It was a little bit out of town but there was a large pavilion with a few picnic tables. It even had an outlet. I setup my tent quickly because the mosquitos were starting to attack. Easy Win rolled in with a hamburger. He setup his tent outside the pavilion since it wasn't free standing. A motion sensor light turned on. Luckily no one was in the house in front of us. I quickly turned in for the night.Tonight I hope the cops don't show up.