Date: 2006-06-23
From: Belter's Campsite

To: Riga Lean-to
Miles today: 14.6

June 23, Riga Lean-toWoke up to a quiet woods. Started breakfast and broke camp. Hit the trail by six. A bit ridiculously early for a fourteen mile day. And the elevation topo showed it would be easy. Hah! The stretch to the road to Salisbury was a humdinger. Probably because I was being careful about my foot. It felt better today but paranoid as I am about banging it up again, I decided to be careful.    But the stretch to there was pleasant enough. Rolling hills through the woods. And a nice little walk on the road in a fog. I got a bit bent when I found the trail was detoured for half a mile due to a railroad accident. So what's a girl to do? Walk the detour. It's official. Then a walk along the river. This part is interesting. It's also an "accessible trail". That means it's groomed for handicap use. There is an interpretive trail. Historic sites are marked. It weaves close to the river and then away from the river. Benches every hundred feet or so. The fog lifted. Not much in the way of flowers but it's interesting to notice all the different ferns growing under the canopy. The trail follows along this massive stone wall once out of the interpretive trail. It's a left over from canal system built in the 1800's. It never got used because the engineers forgot to use mortar! Nonetheless, there is now a hydroelectric plant there using the river. It was built in 1912 and still in use. I could se in the windows and it's pretty cool. Cross an old iron bridge built in the late 1800's. There is a spectacular water fall, Great Falls. With all the rain, it was a gusher today. Not in that it has alot of height, but lots of steps. The Prospect Mountain. Not a bad climb. I even got a view at one of the vistas that is recommended, at Rand's View. It opens out onto a field that rolls down the hill and I could see for miles. This where I saw the first person today. A tent! There was an older gentleman standing there. I stopped and yakked with him. He's out for the weekend. Apparently it's field day for Ham operators and he wanted to broad cast from somewhere different. Then came the down hill to Salisbury after an interesting geological formation called Giant¢s Thumb. Sticks up straight out of the ground. It was early enough that I decided to go in for lunch. Half mile down the road and the quintessential New England town sat before me. I went to the "package Store" Asked the young man where was a good place for a hiker to eat lunch. He said his favorite place is the deli located in the grocery store. He gave me direction and off I went. I found the deli overwhelming in the selections. Ended up getting a precipitator and cheese wrap and fruit salad. They have this grassy area and tables and chairs. So sat there eating with my foot propped on the other chair, people watching. A nice little diversion from the trail. As I walked out of town I saw three other hikers. Not anyone I knew, but they waved me over. They had stayed in town last night and one of the three was getting off the trail. His dog decided he didn't want to be out anymore. The dog refused to carry his own food. Tough life. We chatted for awhile. Got two names, Barefoot ( he wasn't)and SherpaChef. I didn't get the dogs' names and the third hiker wasn't talking. Then for the last four miles. I ran into a section south-bounder. He said he heard there was going to be rain. I agreed that was what I had heard. He also told me there was a Boy Scout troop ahead of me. I thanked him and started my last climb for the day. Two older guys with shovels and pruning tools were coming down as thunder started to roll. I chatted with them and thanked them for doing a wonderful job of maintaining the trail. One told me of a detour around Lion's Head if it should start to rain. In fact, the rain did start. I went ahead and climbed LionKs head. No view. And stumbled in the rain to the shelter. And what a nice view when the clouds move out of the way. But for now. The clouds keep moving in and out.I have one other person with me this evening. A young man training for the Long Trail. We're a quiet bunch. He's reading a book and I'm doing this. It looks like either more rain or we'll be socked in tonight. Oh, my memory bank dredged up a piece of information. The balloon flower's name is Balloon Champion. Now if I could get the other flowers.A humming bird has come to visit us. And the tapping of rain on the tin roof.   Namaste'