Date: 2016-07-11
From: Toy Maker Cafe Tentsite; Fall River, CT

To: Hemlocks Shelter
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up at 6am this morning. If you've been following by blog at all, you'll know that's not the norm. I got a great night of sleep and was ready for the day! We got going by 7:45am (maybe we'll actually get into camp before dark!)The second we get back on the trail we ran into trail magic! It was the remnants from the trail magic picnic we missed yesterday! Yay! I grabbed a couple granola bars, an apple, and some peanut butter to go packets. Score!I then hiked with Sweets for a while until we caught up with Jingle who was rock climbing. Neat! The weather was perfect today: 70, sunny, and windy. Thank you New England! I needed a break from all that rain and humidity! As we walked towards Salisbury, CT we did some road walking. Jingle and I were chatting and we saw Sweets cross the road and start running. We were confused until we saw that she was trying to get the road speedometer to pick up her speed! So funny! So, obviously, jingle and I went over and did the same thing! What a riot. Wheels caught up and we debated going into town for the bakery but found out it was closed. Too bad so sad--carry on!Soon after, we came upon the 1500 mile marker! Woah! I don't remember paying attention to the actual miles since like 500 miles ago! Funny how they just start flying by. The scenery was gorgeous today--rocks, roots, pines, open forest, views, babbling brooks covered in moss, etc. it was great! The terrain was pretty darn difficult, but I was on cloud nine. I got to hike with my buddies! I haven't in a while, so it was a nice change of pace. We stopped at a shelter for lunch, and it had a lovely picnic table with a view. We stayed longer than we meant to but got to book a room at a hotel we're splitting in Great Barrington tomorrow! Awesome. I also gave Sweets a back massage in exchange for the rest of her goldfish...I think I should make this a thing--food in exchange for back massages. Mmm pizza flavored goldfish.I then plugged in and listened to music to push me up some difficult hills (fun) and crossed the border into Massachusetts! Hallelujah! Unbelievable! Truly! Such an exciting milestone. Getting into New England really has given me the boost in morale that I'd been needing. I'm very grateful to have made it this far, and I am excited for what else the trail has in store.Verge and I met up and we ran into a girl named Lionheart. She was a hoot. It was fun to chat with her down Mt. Everett (the last tough climb of the day). I then ran into a buddy I needed to have a chat with, and although it cleared things up, it brought my mood down a bit. It was old news that I already knew but that hadn't been blatantly discussed. All water under the bridge now. We also found trail magic water though, which was great!Thankfully, Verge and I got to the shelter and Lionheart and some section hikers were there and we had dinner with them (around 7pm--earlier than the past few days at least). Lionheart is so funny! I loved hearing her talk about how much she hates mint. That picked my mood up a bit! It was further improved when I was about to blog and saw all the wonderful comments people had left in my guestbook. Being told "you're a rockstar" is one of the sweetest pick-me-ups I've gotten! Thanks Kezzybaum! It means so much to me when someone goes out of their way to encourage me on my adventure. Also, sad I missed Switchback who wanted to meet Verge and me! That would have been cool! Thank you all for your support, as always!A wonderful day overall. Definitely one of the better ones. I'm pretty darn proud of myself (and of Verge!)