Date: 2017-04-28
From: Mt. Algo Shelter

To: Dawn Hill Road
Miles today: 9.8

This entry covers two days: a full day to the Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter and then a few miles the second day to Dawn Hill Road. There were a number of views, the Connecticut countryside was turning a light green color as the leaves came out, very pretty but it didn't photograph well. The main feature was yhe descent of St. John's Ledges, very steep and bad footing due to a large amount of dried oak leaves, which are very slippery. There was very little breeze, and the UVI hit 7 during the day. The heat was oppressive going down with the afternoon sun heating the rocks. Memory plays tricks on you. The last time I did the section, St. John's Ledges was shockingly steep. I remember looking down over the edge and asking myself if I was really going to go down that thing, and then thinking it was too far to turn back so I didn't have a choice. Once I started, it was easy, handholds where you needed them and no situations that required any thought before proceeding. So this time around it didn't seem that steep, but I got into a number of situations including one where my boot got wedged between the rocks and it took some effort to force it through so I could go forward. I pitched my pack and poles down once, to avoid being encumbered when lowering myself with my arms. Once down from the ledges, I strolled along a road and stopped at a stream to treat some water. I had lost a plastic bag with a couple of pages from the AWOL book, and a fellow hiker carried it forward and presented it to me. I was pleased, my phone was running low and I was trying not to use it, to check Guthook's. We become so dependent on our phones, but I like to carry a paper backup. From there it was flat-landing to Stewart Hollow, where I had the shelter to myself while two hikers tented nearby. One of them, I didn't catch his name, was a newbie, he came up to the shelter doing the survival shuffle, carrying a 60 pound back and wearing jeans. The other was Glen, more experience and he has a lady friend who is thru-hiking this year. He had a new tent he wanted to try out. In the morning they both came over and we got into a political discussion. I'm a liberal, Glen is a libertarian, and the other fellow had a mixture of common complaints and alternate facts. These type of discussions on-line can be aggravating and get down to a pretty low level, but face to face and with the common bond as hikers we had a spirited discussion. One view we all shared was that the elite in this country are running it for their own benefit and the rest of us are not getting much traction on changing things. From there is was a stroll along the river, then a meadow walk on some old farmland the ATC owns and keeps it mowed to maintain the agricultural flavor of this section of the trail. I did a short uphill to Dawn Hill Road, where I ended the hike and headed down to Cornwall Bridge, where there is a parking area and a gas station. I got a cup of real coffee and some junky pastry, then called for a shuttle. Unfortunately none was available. Or fortunately, I stuck out my thumb and got a ride direct to my car within about 5 minutes. Kent being an expensive town, I had visions of standing there for hours watching the occasional late-model German-made car or SUV go by. But an elderly gentleman picked me up and drove me back to my car, very generous of him. On the way home, I stopped at the Gooseboro Drive-in, a seasonal business and well-known locally. The parking lot was full of cars, so I stopped and had a famous burger, way better than McDonald's. As a hiker it's important to eat large quantities of real food when the opportunity presents itself.