Date: 2015-06-08
From: Native Landscapes Garden center

To: Mt Algo shelter
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: broken clouds

I am certain early this morning that the train drivers did not honk their horns until they saw the tents beside the railway. This meant that the horn was extremely loud and panic inducing each time. It scared Pack, who was camping beside me, so much that he jumped and landed on my hiking stick. He was very worried that he had bent the pole, and very relieved when I told him that it had been bent for about a month now. I stayed in my sleeping bag about 30 minutes longer than usual, I think because the weather was so dire and miserable that I had no motivation to move. I didn't leave the garden center until nearly 8am. The rain started about 10 minutes later, and lasted for most of the morning. It wasn't too heavy, and the tree cover kept me quite dry. The trail wasn't too terrible today, even with the rain. There were only 3 climbs of a couple hundred feet, but the trail did its usual thing of going over the most annoying rocks. I passed by two shelters (one of of hitch contained a Swiss hiker named 10 Gears). All the shelters I've seen around here are more traditional lean-to styles, which are fine but not as impressive as the modern two floor ones back near Harpers Ferry. Still, there are more privies here and some shelters have actual water pumps. Regardless, tonight I have set up my tent nearby the shelter as there are too many bugs. Before lunchtime, I passed a mother and young son who were just parked beside the trail. Apparently they live in Georgia, and the mum asked me a few questions about my hike and took a photo with me and her son. She asked if I was injured and I didn't know how to reply. My ankle has been scaring me lately, frequently it shifts out of place and feels as if a bone is about to snap. It even happens when I'm laying down. I told her that the trail is wearing me down, but I was okay.I officially passed into Connecticut today. I briefly went back into New York for a couple miles then back into CT. I'll be here for the next couple days, and I'm in the so called "New England" states from hereon out. I'm somewhat interested to see what New England looks like. I wonder if it has any resemblance to old England. I guess I will find out when I head into Kent tomorrow. Kent is less than a mile off the trail, but the round trip will be 1.6 miles. However, I desperately need new bug spray, painkillers, and to visit the post office. I will likely get into town far too early for the stores to be open, so I hope there will be a diner or something I can sit in and wait. It will hopefully take me a short time to get everything done, then hike 17 odd miles out. Quick gear review:- My roll mat has lost most of the silver reflective material that was supposed to keep me a little warmer. Instead now the roll mat is just unnecessarily slippery with no additional heat benefits.- My pack is showing so significant wear on all the straps and hip areas. A tiny rope strap has managed to break from the friction. There are a couple points on the frame and hip pockets where the material is tearing. I hope it can last me until the end. - My rain coat finally got a wash in NYC, as it had lost most of its waterproofing anyway. Currently it just acts as an additional layer that eventually soaks through.- My rain trousers have a few more tiny holes along the seams that I need to patch up.- My shoes are holding up well, considering they are now nearly double the miles past their life expectancy. There is significant wear to the tread though, with a couple sizeable chunks having been torn out completely at some point. The material on the top of the shoe is also fraying a bit. - All my cooking gear is still fine. - The Sawyer and Platypus are still the same. (Platypus still occasionally leaks.)- My sleeping bag is fine, though could do with a wash and revitalising the down loft. - My tent is still the same. It doesn't have any signs of wear and tear though, which is good. Though I certainly haven't been using it much until PA.