Date: 2005-07-22
From: Schaghticoke Mountain

To: West Cornwall, CT
Miles today: 21.3

Up by the alarm at 5:00, gone as planned by 6:00. That was the norm for me, about an hour to pack up and get out of camp (that is if I cooked a hot meal in the morning, and I normally did). I stopped to check out the vista from the top of Indian Rocks (1320 feet). The picture came out beautiful and the actual view was gorgeous.   I stopped in to the Mount Algo Lean-to to take care of a promise I made to a friend. A former member of my unit by the last name of O'Neill attempted a thru-hike back in 1999 soon after he retired from the military (I knew of him but did not know him). Evidently he made it as far as this lean-to and unbelievably died of a heart attack there within. A hiker from that time sent a picture to my unit and I remember reading the plaque (and seeing that photo) that was put up in his memory. It was mounted on a wall in a place we called "The Garden of Eden" there where I was stationed in Stuttgart Germany.    The picture showed, from the rear of the shelter, a group of hikers (some praying) while he was being cared for or while his body was being removed. I told my friend Elijah Murphy that I would announce who I was, out loud, when I arrived. Also that I would ask his spirit, if it were there, "would you like to walk with me to Mount Katahdin". My exact final words were, "Come on, lets finish this Bi**h". English Bob and a section SOBO by the trail name of Hillbilly was there and witnessed what I did. Other hikers who were in the area was Mr Clean, Bug and Miss Priss.    As far as Mr O'Neill was concerned, I never felt his presence and I never witnessed anything that would be considered "different" happen. It made me feel good to know that perhaps I took a brother soldier to the end of the trail and his dream. Perhaps I helped in some way for him to find his peace, God only knows.      I needed to go in to town and see if I could get some more Aqui-Mira from the outfitters there in Kent, CT. I hitched and was almost immediately picked up along CT 431 by a local tradesman. I was in town early so I decided to get something to eat. My ride recommended an outdoor cafe (Caralee's I believe) where I had the special, Salmon and Cream Cheese on a toasted Garlic Bagel (it was very good). Paparazzi stopped by and we talked for a while, he was heading to the outfitters as well. Once done in town I hitched a ride back to the trail head from a nice younger man who claimed to always let hikers ride in the back of his pickup. On behalf of all the thru-hikers, I thanked him.   What a long day this was. I got to the West Cornwall road and hitched a ride to town from two ridge runners working that section of trail. For the first time ever I arrived at the link up spot (the Post office) before my wife. In fact it soon became apparent that she must have gotten lost trying to find me. I called my son Joshua and left a message for my wife if she called looking for me. I was at the West Cornwall Post Office as planned and much to my delight, the store next to it made some excellent pizza. I ordered and hoped my wife would join me before it was finished. Unfortunately for her it was done before she arrived. In fact I took what I had left over and carried it over the covered bridge there and made my way to highway 7 hoping to catch her driving by. As soon as I got there she pulled up as if it were pre-planned. She did in fact have a difficult time finding her way to where I was.    We live almost directly west from where she picked me up, unfortunately there aren't to many west to east roads that give drivers a simple direct route through that portion of our country. There are plenty of highly improved north to south routes in and out of New York City but, not the way we wanted to go. I took a long time to make our way home. It was nice once again to be home with the family. I did not return to the trail until the 26th, a Tuesday. All this time off the trail was just part of the adventure. Looking back I must admit, it was the right thing to do. The only sad thing was I lost contact with friends on the trail.