Date: 2013-08-19
From: US 7 & CT 112

To: Limestone Spring Shelter
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: overcast clouds

This is my first AT hike since I went off trail in Tennesee. By way of getting back in the swing of things, I figured I would pick up the few miles I had left in CT. I left my car at the trail head parking lot on CT Rte 41 a/k/a Under Mountain Road. Jim from Lakeville Taxi took me to my starting point, and showed me the various places where you do road walks. Before he picked me up, I stopped at Cafe Au Lait in Salisbury and had coffee and donuts, as well as packing out a turkey club for lunch on the trail. I experienced trail magic before I got on the trail. There were two hikers passing out soda and pastries from the back of their car. I drank a soda and talked to them for a while. They are slackpacking by hiking in opposite directions on the same section, passing the car keys at the midpoint. That's another way to do it, I never thought of that. I also packed one coke out with me. The trail goes off to the right alongside a corn field, close to the Housatonic River, on relatively level ground. It went on like that for a while, with a small uphill before I reached the dam, falls and power station. There was a picnic table at the site, I talked with Puck for about half an hour while eating lunch, the aforementioned turkey club. Puck is using a hockey stick for a hiking pole, hence the trailname. I told him a little bit about my experience losing excessive weight, and mentioned that this portion of CT, as well as NY, has many opportunities to supplement trail food with real food, deli sandwiches and the like. From there the trail was more uphill, to the top of Prospect Mountain, then I ended by taking a .5 mile sidetrail down to Limestone Spring Shelter. The descent was quite steep, causing many hikers to anticipate a tough start tomorrow. The shelter filled up during the afternoon, a group of SoBos, while I set up my tent.I had some new equipment, in the interest of cutting down my pack weight. A 34 degree half down/half syntethic sleeping bag from REI saves 3 lbs and is more appropriate for the warmer weather than the 15 degree Mountain Hardwear bag I was using down South. The thinking is, the bottom half is synthetic, after all it gets squished down by your weight and doesn't contribute much to warmth. The top half is down, to apply the better quality filling where it will do the most good. It was comfortable, although the warm, humid weather was hardly a test. My pack was less than 25 lbs with food for the overnighter and 2 liters of water. I found it much easier on the back and less tiring, even if I add another 5 lbs to carry more food it will be a big improvement. A lighter weight air mattress will be delivered by the end of the week, it's an Exped SynMat UL 7, and saves a pound off the Exped SynMat 7 I was using. It also has a fairly good R value.Most of the hikers I met on the trail were southbound through hikers, there were also a number of couples my age who were doing short section hikes or slack-packing. CT doesn't allow fires, you can only use stoves to cook with. Absent a fire as a social focus, we all turned in very early, before hiker midnight for the most part.