Date: 2022-06-16
From: Sharon Mountain Campsite

To: Riga Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: scattered clouds

We walked 16+ miles today - a long haul for us and our longest day ever. Here¢s the story of how it went down. I awoke this morning at 5:40. Joni was awake too. She said, ¢The rain begins at 7:00.¢ ¢Can I lay here for 10 more minutes?¢  But I didn¢t. I knew getting out before the rain would be better than trying to pack up in it. So we set to stuffing all the big things into their small bags. As we were about finished inside the tent we heard Baxter awake in the other. He got tent #2 moving. We were walking trail north at 6:20 with a breakfast in our bellies. We often leave camp after 8:30. On a good day we¢ll get out at 8. We¢ve never come close to 6:20. With easy terrain, cool temps, and the threat of rain hanging over us like the sword of Damocles. The forecast pushed the rain back to 8:00 with 96% chance. Eight came and went and still all we got was a spitting. We kept hiking. At 9:20 we reached Falls Village and the Falls Village Cafe. We had covered more than 5 miles in 3 hours and it could still be considered ¢breakfast¢. Here¢s a breakdown of the credit card statement generated during our hour there:Falls Village Cafe$30.33Falls Village Cafe$28.18Falls Village Cafe$11.54Falls Village Cafe$9.93Falls Village Cafe$6.44Total$86.42Muffins, coffees, hot chocolate, breakfast sandwiches, breakfast burritos, and sodas. Bathrooms and Wi-Fi to boot. It was glorious. I called a lady in Salisbury - the next town north and our mile 12 for the day - to see if she had room to fit us into her house. She charges $40 per person and I admit I was hoping for a ¢buy four get one free¢ deal or something. She tried to accommodate us but the price was $200. Salisbury is on a stretch of trail between shelters and devoid of ¢official¢ campsites. The next shelter after Salisbury was 4 miles and I was skeptical of our ability (or need) to make it that far.Two-hundred dollars was too much. We all agreed on dinner in Salisbury and that we would talk out the evening possibilities then.We left town before 11:00 heading north again, past the impressive waterfalls and accompanying power-generating infrastructure. Easy trails, high spirits, full bellies, and cold root beers made the next six miles roll. We met Coffeebean and Happy Feet at the road and walked the 0.6 into town with them. They aim to finish a thru hike they started in 2019. They¢ve been on the trail about a month and have walked from Warwick. We¢ve been a day or two behind them for two weeks.We landed at LaBonne¢s market and spent another $58.08 on chicken salad, fried chicken, Chex mix, chicken tenders, cracklin oat bran, sourdough bread, avocado-cucumber-tomato salad, Belgian waffle to go, and 5 drinks. We sat in the ¢hiker square¢ and partook. I fixed twin blisters on Grayson¢s big toes. We all agreed we could do the last 4 miles. The first 1.5 out of town were smooth sailing past a cemetery and trough a remarkable hemlock forest. Then up 900 feet to Lion¢s Head and down to the shelter. Grayson and I nearly walked by the side trail talking about friends back home. So we¢re here tucked into the shelter with Hoosier waiting on the ¢occasional thunderstorms before midnight¢. Grayson is reading The Hobbit, Baxter got a book from the free library in Salisbury, and Jasper is reading ¢Hell in the Pacific¢. So early start, cool temps, rolling terrain, two food stops, and $9.32 per mile (spent on GOOD food) all just 2 days after a restful zero made for smiles at the shelter. I hiked this section of trail alone in April 2003. I have frustratingly not remembered anything we have walked past: Housatonic Valley Regional High School, Falls Village and it¢s infrastructure, a beautiful cemetery, Lion¢s Head¢¦ Nothing makes the light come on. I musta been thinking about some deep stuff.