Date: 2018-12-02
From: Undermountain Road

To: Route 7 
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

The one thing that stays the same is that everything changes. Oh how those words fit my life right now!  One of my readers, Dan, suggested I start at Salisbury and go south from there. I¢m taking his advice. That means I¢ve now created another gap of 12.1 miles. At least that¢s something I can knock out in one day when I come back.  It was raining when I started hiking today, and the temperature was much warmer than it has been.  The snow was melting rapidly. About 10 minutes into my hike I came around a bend in the trail to see the biggest White Tail Buck I¢ve ever seen! He darted off into the woods on my left. Then I looked right, and there was a doe! A great start to a great day! I hiked in, around,  and through a lot of residential areas today. As a matter of fact, I was sort of in someone¢s back yard when I saw the deers. Wayyy wayyyy back yard, but I could see houses. I followed the backyard path to a little cemetery. I stepped over a pile of ¢deer raisinettes¢ on the way. This was not a military cemetery, but there were lots of American flags out there.  I walked along the blacktop road to a crossroad. I hiked up that crossroad a bit until I crossed over into the woods and started going UP.  I was now in the woods for a good while. There was quite a bite of rock today, but I did no bouldering. The one time I would have needed to climb, there was a nice log ladder in place.  Originally I was planning to hike only 6 miles,  but once I was out there, I decided to do more. What a pleasant hike this was!  I ate peanut butter crackers for lunch as I hiked up Prospect Mountain. This will be my only climb today at 1461 ft elevation. I have no idea why this is classified as a mountain, but my 2000ft climb the other day was classified as a hill?  It¢s befuddling.  Just as I reached the summit gunfire began to echo. There were 2 shots, then a pause, then a succession of 4 shots. I heard no more gunfire the rest of the day. The squirrels were out in abundance today. They are definitely getting their winter fat! Even their tails are big, fat, and bushy. I came to a fallen log on the trail. It was one of those logs that are just the right height for sitting. The rain had stopped, so I decided to sit. I just sat there and soaked it all in. It¢s so peaceful and calming.  I reluctantly left my log. The forest was busy today. I saw a group of Jays flying around. I don¢t think I¢ve seen any Jays since Mount Jackson.I popped out of the woods to cross a road and past a dam. Just beyond the dam was Great Falls. The water was really rushing from the dam. It was the Housatonic River. I hiked near or beside that river most of the rest of my hike. It was nice. I came back out of the woods near a residential area called Amesville. Amesville is a ¢hamlet¢ of Salisbury. I thought Hamlet was a Shakespeare play!  HahaI started across an iron bridge into the hamlet. When I reached the center of the bridge a little pick-up truck came towards me from around the curve. I¢m sure it was a stick shift as the kid driving put it in neutral revved up the engine and popped it into gear. He pretended he was going to hit me.  Oddly I wasn¢t even afraid. He and his buddy started laughing as they each raised their beer can to me and nodded their heads while driving by. He did the same thing on the next curve. I could hear them laughing again.  I remember saying to myself dear God, please let me get back into the woods before they drive by again.  And then I was there.  I hiked beside the Housatonic again. I watched a crane take flight from the bank. I love  watching cranes fly up. Their legs seem to take forever to get off the ground and in the flight position. Eventually I came out onto a road for the last time. I hiked past the local high school towards a parking lot. Papa Big Swig picked me up before I reached the lot.  This day was great! I have now hiked in all 14 states of the A.T.  Of course I have unfinished business in four of them! I¢ll get¢er done! Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018)Where¢s your faith?