Date: 2017-07-26
From: CT 341, Kent, CT

To: West Cornwall Rd.
Miles today: 15.9

We woke up in our comfy hotel room this morning at 6:00, an hour later than usual.  The restaurant we found for breakfast didn't open until 7:00, so we told Warren to pick us up at the hotel at 7:45.  He had told us yesterday there was no rush in the morning because today was a shorter day.  We had big breakfasts and lots of coffee at the restaurant.  When we got to the van, however, Warren told us we needed to get ready as quickly as possible so that the southbound hikers wouldn't be too delayed.  Suddenly we were frantically putting stuff away: putting our clean clothes into our clothes bins, putting our groceries into our food bins, and packing our food into our daypacks for the day.  These are tasks that we normally do at night so that in the morning we can just pack up our tents, grab our daypacks, and go.  We finally were ready to leave at 8:45, nearly three hours later than usual.The first part of the hike was through pastures still wet with dew and bordered by Queen Anne's lace and bergamot (see photo).  The sun was shining, and the temperature was pleasantly cool.  There was a long climb that ended at a large rock outcropping.  We stopped to look at the view.  While we were there a hiker wearing a kilt came along, and we had an interesting conversation about how to get home from Katahdin (see photo).  Gourmet, so named because he cooks homemade dehydrated meals, is from Georgia.  His mother wants to drive to Katahdin to meet him at the end of the hike, but he's thinking he'll need some reentry time.  He's planning to drive to Portland, ME and take a train home from there.  What an interesting idea. About noon we reached a steep descent called St.Johns Ledges.  It had very steep stone steps down to the Housatonic River.  This was one of the steepest and scariest downhills we've had so far, and it took us a long time to pick our way down.  At the bottom, there was a long section that was on flat road and flat trail following the Housatonic River.  It was easy and pleasant walking with constant views of the river.  About halfway through this section we stopped at Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter.  We joined Blue Smurf, Gourmet, and Ranger Rick for lunch.  Blue Smurf had cowboy camped near the visitors center in Kent last night but had gotten no sleep because it was so cold.  (I'm not sure how cold it was, but when we walked to the restaurant this morning I wore my down jacket.). He wanted to hike slowly and offered to set a pace of two miles an hour for us.  This may be slow for him but is fast for us on anything but easy terrain.  Arlene and I took off and stayed with him until we reached the end of the long flat section.  Then Blue Smurf and I continued.  I ended up hiking with him all afternoon, and his pace helped me finish the day earlier than I would have otherwise.Blue Smurf is from Taiwan but has a green card.  He speaks perfect English from having lived in the United States.  In Taiwan he makes a living appraising jewelry.  He decided to hike the AT because his older brother had done it; before starting he had not hiked at all.  Where other than the AT would I have met a person from such a different background!  When I arrived at the endpoint Lizzie was back!  We've really missed her.  Her knee wound is not totally closed, but the part that went clear to the bone is.  So she's going to try hiking with us tomorrow.  While she was gone she drove up Mt. Washington in New Hampshire.  The day she was there it was 42 degrees and foggy with winds of 30 to 40 miles an hour.  Another day recently the temperature was in the 20s.  We hope it will be better weather the day we hike it.  This evening we had time to set up our camp chairs, eat together, and relax.  A friend of Bill's from his navy years 35 years ago joined our little party by the side of the road.  From listening to his funny stories it was obvious why they were friends.  They both have a well-developed sense of the absurd.  Connie, you asked whether Rennie was still with us.  He is, but he starts hiking so early (around 5:00 AM), finishes so early, and goes to bed so early (8:00 PM) that we hardly see him.  It's almost like he's on a different hike.  Morph, Lizzie says to tell you that she's having a hard time getting back into hiking because she's crusty.