Date: 2016-07-14
From: Stealth Camp north of Salisbury, CT

To: Hemlock Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: broken clouds

I take back all the times I said Massachusetts and Connecticut would be easy. Connecticut went out with several steep rocky climbs up Lions Head and Bear Mtn, and then Massachusetts equaled that with climbs up Mt. Race and Mt. Everett. On a day hike these peaks would be fun but with a 35 pound pack I found them to be brutal. The weather today was warm and overcast. Climbing up Lions Head all the views were obscured with clouds. The next climb was up Bear Mountain and at 2354 ft it was the highest peak in Connecticut and we were up in the clouds. Some day hikers told me there were some gorgeous views up there. Nice to know. Descending down Bear Mountain was a bear. The descent consisted of climbing down large slabs of wet and slippery granite. It was slow progress. At the bottom was an area called Sages Ravine which had a nice stream with several waterfalls and pools. On a hot sunny day they would have made for nice swimming holes, but on a cloudy humid day like today they didn't look so inviting. Somewhere coming down Bear Mtn. I crossed the Massachusetts- Connecticut border but it wasn't marked. However crossing the stream at Sages Ravine they had a sign that said Welcome to Massachusetts. My birth state! Massachusetts didn't give you much a chance to celebrate with climbs up Mt. Race and Mt. Everett. The climbs weren't that big, only 600-700 feet, but straight up and very steep and rocky. As you get close to the summit of these peaks the trees were getting stunted and it looked like you were getting close to treeline even though they were below 3000 feet. New England winters can be brutal. I was not making good time today and got into a dry section and ran out of water going up Mount Everett. About that time it started thundering and pouring and so I stopped midway up and let the storm pass through. I got soaked waiting out the storm, but it was a case where if you put on a rain jacket you got soaked with sweat or you can just "embrace nature" and get soaked with cool rain water. The storm did help cool things down a little and after it let up a bit I continued my climb up the wet and slippery rocks of Mt. Everett. By the time I got to the top the sun was peaking out and it was clearing a bit. There used to be a fire tower on Mt. Everett which would have been nice to have today so you could get a view over the trees. The descent down Everett was fairly easy with few rocky sections. At the bottom there was a picnic area and a trail angel left large jugs of water on a picnic table for the thru hikers. I tanked up with water and continued on to the first shelter. I hadn't seen any hikers all afternoon and when I got to the shelter the only person there was a ridge runner. Her name was Smoke Signal and she had thru hiked the AT in 2015. It was nice to have someone there and we talked as I made my dinner. She was the ridge runner for all of Connecticut and the first part of Massachusetts. She checked on shelters and trail conditions as well as assisting hikers if they needed help. It was getting dark by 9 pm and I was exhausted from the rocks, so I climbed into my sleeping bag. Only 12 miles today but they were hard miles. Welcome to Massachusetts.