Date: 2011-07-08
From: Bulls Bridge Rd

To: Schaghticoke Road
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: overcast clouds

It stared raining on us at around 5:30am. I know this because I started getting a wet face at this point. I usually pull back my rain fly when I sleep to prevent any moisture build up. The solution did not require more than two zips from my horizontal position. The poor kids however, had to jump up and locate their fly and chuck it on entirely. Unfortunate for them. Due to the rain we got a much later start. No one had the enthusiasm of the previous few days. We didn't get started hiking before about 8:30am. At the top of the first big hill we ran into Doc Boom. I didn't think that I would see him again since he had such a fast pace. The last time I saw his name in a shelter log he was over a week ahead of me. It turns out that he stepped off the trail to see family for July 4th celebrations. His twin brother was hiking with him for a small section through CT. It was hysterical to see two exactly the same Doc Boom's, both in personality and appearance. The terrain througout most of CT was lots of little ups and downs. None of them were substantial, but they wee rather tiring. I was having flashbacks to the tortureous "roller coaster" section just south of Harpers Ferry. The rain stopped early into our hike, but left behind a muggy and humid day. We stopped at a shelter for a quick breaher and ran into Blue Eyes, who happens to live in Nashville when he's not living in the woods for five months with the rest us nut jobs. Flowers gave Tera a ring to schedule a cheeky lunch pickup into Kent. It was a good thing we called because she needed a phoney CT address to give the campsite since I told them that I was indeed a CT resident to obtain the cheaper campsite rate. Goldylocks hopped on trusty ole Google and searched for anyone with the last name of "Snow" in CT. Success! I will now use the address of uncle Phil Snow in northern CT. Tera met us at the next road gap and drove us into town. We opted for hotdogs and ice cream at the outfitters. Tera was also nice enough to give H^3 a lift back to the trail as we were chomping our fancy dogs. Another wrench was thrown our way. since we setup our tents late last night when no one was around, we didn't realize that there was a magic "do not cross this line and pitch your damn tents" line. We inadvertantly crossed the damn line. Tera had to dismantle all of our tents and set hem up in approved areas four feet away from where they were. Pillocks... while she was moving our tents she found that the kids' tent had an olympic swimming pool inside it. this is not desirable. Goldylocks also has a down sleeping bag which was trying to mimic an inflatable raft. In case you don't know, down feather sleeping bags and water do not mix. It is the best way to ruin a down bag outside of just chucking it into a bonfire. We opted to head back to camp and see to the tent and sleeping bag situation rather than keep hiking and limiting the amount of drying daylight they would have left. After sorting out the tent situation we made a run to the booze shop for a few essentials. The store was very hiker friendly. So much in fact, that they gave free beers to thru hikers! This was great news. Flowers and I could select any one beer from a decent selection of imports. We also picked up a cheeky bottle of jack daniels and coke. The campsite has a bit of a rule (more of a suggestion) of alcohol on site. I took the liberty of disguising the jack by pouring it into my gatorade bottle. No problem. Flowers and I had a couple of sly bevs before the damn rain hit us again. We all turned in early due to the weather. Probably a wise choice.