Date: 2022-07-02
From: Glen Brook Shelter Mile 1517.2

To: Memorial Chapel on MA 23 Mile 1533.5
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: overcast clouds

So we got up and got out of camp and had a relatively uneventful morning until we got to trail magic in the late morning. This one had a full camp set up under a huge tent in the middle of a field. They do this six days a week during the summer. They had a grill, water resupply, snacks, fruit and stuff like that along with  , phone chargers and an actual wooden dining room table. We all had a burger or veggie burger and chased it with a hotdog. After early we stayed and chatted for a while. The church group is about 20 minutes away and the people that were running it today had never done the trail magic before. I¢m not sure if it¢s a big congregation or if there are regulars that typically run it. Just as we were finishing up Cool Whip, Smooth, and Cool Cucumber pulled up as well.It was a weird day as it felt like we were going every direction but north. At one point we were walking along the Housatonic river with the flow, whereas in Connecticut we were walking against the flow. We were heading towards a bridge over the Housatonic to get to the other side which is why we were heading south. However the entire day felt significantly more twisty and turny. In that general area, Pilgrim saw a water moccasin crossing the trail right in front of him. So of course that put checking for snakes back on the radar.Most of the rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully and we got some views. As we were starting to approach the Tom Leonard Shelter we were getting notifications for severe thunderstorm watches and there definitely were some dark clouds in the sky. When we got to the shelter we decided to push on the 2 miles to trail magic 600 steps west on MA23. Shortly past the shelter we came to Ice Gulch which is a really cool deep ravine between two peaks that is pretty long. Apparently the ice and snow lingers well into the spring as the ravine does not get that much sun. With about 1 mile to go the heavens opened and it started to pour. We got rain coats on but not before we already pretty wet. The trail became a pretty nice river very quickly. Shoes and shorts were drenched. So it only took almost 50 days for it to really rain hard on a duck. Didn¢t really want to get soaked but we really do need the rain. Hopefully this will help replenish some of the streams and springs that are dry or have a very low flow right now.When we got to the trail magic camp they had pop-ups set up and the Tornado Memorial Chapel was open. We were drenched from the waist down. My dry bag had a teeny amount water in it so I¢m glad I have the second plastic bag inside as well. Although we were inside the chapel, it¢s hard to dry off much when it¢s humid out. The sun came back out so we hung wet clothes all over a tree. This trail magic was run by Sue, who had just purchased the property recently, along with a bunch of other ANC chapter friends. She plans to turn it into a hostel eventually and retire there as well. Once the storms passed we got a ham egg and cheese breakfast sandwich, a cheeseburger, veggies, fruit, and some delicious homemade cookies and blueberry cake. We were able to camp overnight in the chapel so we were able to stay dry all night. In the morning we got breakfast sandwiches again as well as pancakes. This was one of the best trail magic I have come across so far. The group was super friendly and very welcoming and it was a great experience overall. Definitely worth getting wet for.Steps 35100Weather Forecast: 80/57 with TstormsJen (my awesome video editor) also created a website to consolidate info: https://atwithduckie.wixsite.c...