Date: 2006-09-27
From: Salisbury, Ct

To: Surdam Mountain, Ct
Miles today: 18.0

Today was a fun day. When I woke up, I plugged in the coffee maker in the room. That alone would make for a great day. :-))) I had my coffee and watched the local news and when Mrs Gorp got ready, we went to the Inn and had a nice sit-down breakfast with cloth napkins...I like places that have cloth napkins. I had a cheddar and tomato three egg omelet with home-fries and bacon and plenty of good coffee. The waiter knew I meant business when I said to keep the coffee coming. :-))) He got an extra tip because of keeping the coffee cup full. We walked down to the PO and mailed a few things ahead, then went to the market and bought a couple snacks for the day. There was a coffee house on the way back to the room, so I popped in and got one last cup of brew. I love towns. :-))) Mrs Gorp and I went back to the room and finished packing and we were on our way. We had a nice climb out of town. We came to a place called Billy's View first, then Rand's View. From Rand's View, we could see the mountain range we walked over yesterday. I could even see the rocky ledges where I caught up to Mrs Gorp yesterday. We kept walking and went by the side trail to Limestone Spring Lean-to before we climbed to the summit of Prospect Mountain. We walked by a nice spring, but I had so much coffee this morning, that I hadn't even drank any of the water I was carrying. We kept walking down the mountain and came to the Great Falls of the Housatonic River. I took a few pictures. The falls were really flowing nicely today. I remember last year they were just a trickle. We walked over the old iron bridge, then by the hydroelectric plant before walking through a really flat piece of trail. We took the road walk where there had been a train wreck a couple years ago. I guess they still haven't opened that part of the Trail yet. We took the Mohawk Trail a short ways to Mountainside Cafe. When we walked in we saw Superstar, Mark and Twain. We got a table next to them and ordered lunch. Breakfast and now, lunch...two meals that someone else cooked for me in the same day!!! Life really is good. :-))) Mark and Twain are an older couple doing a sobo thru hike. They took those names because Mark's real name is Tom Sawyer...really!! I had an 8 ounce hamburger with Swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato, french fries, potato salad, coke and for desert, a two scoop ice cream cone. That first mountain after lunch was a tough climb on a full belly. :-))) Mrs Gorp and I caught up to the others and walked with them up to the Hang Glider View. We got a few group pictures, then Mrs Gorp and I walked on. We stopped at Sharon Mountain Campsite and filled up with water for the night, then walked on. We kept climbing and got up to Mt Easter, then walked down to where the side trail to Pine Swamp Brook Lean-to was. We walked by without stopping. We kept going downhill until we crossed W Cornwall Rd, then crossed Carse Brook before claiming to the summit of Surdam Mountain. I spotted an area big enough for our tents and while I set my tent up, Mrs Gorp decided to eat first. There were a few mosquito's out, so I said good night and crawled into my tent for the night. I could hear a deer off in the distance blowing at us. I don't see any deer in the daytime, but it seems like right now, they come out at dark...and almost never approve of my tent site. :-))) I'm up to 55 leaves now. Mrs Gorp hasn't gotten used to the leaf catching game yet. She has been walking behind me and she gets startled when all of a sudden, I take off real fast after a falling leaf. She said it scares her each time I move that fast. That's OK, I'm adding to my total count. Ha!!