Date: 2015-06-19
From: Schaghticoke Mountain Campsite

To: Silver Hill Campsite
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: light rain

We started the day with a sustained downhill leading us to Kent, CT. Kent is slightly over a mile from the AT so it's a short walk to resupply. The town is very pretty and is clearly more upscale and expensive. The guide even warns us that the laundromat is NOT welcoming to hikers. No laundry for us, I guess.We went to the store and sat down in a nearby park to organize our food bags. Exhausted by this daunting task, we left our numerous grocery bags sprawled out around us and took a break to eat a recently purchased pint of ice cream. We received many intrigued looks.Another observation. When we hike, we, of course, have numerous insects buzzing around us. I have always assumed that day hikers, who smell strongly of perfume, deodorant and, above all else, laundry detergent, would attract even more flies and gnats than us smelly thru-hikers. Well, while we were sitting in the park, Shrugs and I had a swarm of flies following us while all the locals were left undisturbed. Confirmed: perfume repels bugs and BO lures them in.We stopped at the outfitter where Shrugs bought new trekking poles. Then, we attempted to leave Kent, but we could barely exit the town as our food bags were ridiculously heavy. We had planned for a long stretch without resupply, though we somehow went overboard with all our snack foods (crackers, trail mix, Poptarts and other "pastries" and candy bars). We do eat a "proper" breakfast (energy bars and a breakfast supplement that is mixed with water to make a vaguely chocolatey drink. I mix it with instant coffee too) and we have a cooked supper (Sidekick noodle packs, mainly), but we don't have lunch. We eat snacks during the day, which is admittedly quite unhealthy.The day was dragging on as we were overburdened by our huge food bags. We had never had such a heavy pack - it was kind of ridiculous. There were many pointless up and downs which would have been easy to do normally without a mammoth pack.We passed St. John's Ledges, a view, and arrived to very steep and stony stairs. Awol's guide warns us about this section and with reason: it is not easy. The first portion consisted of irregular but defined stones steps, though they somehow faded away into the rocky cliff after a few minutes. The rest of the descent was climbing and sliding down very smooth and angled rocks that were covered with finely crumpled, almost powdered, dead leaves. As I crouched down to butt-blaze a section, I slipped and my pack pulled me backwards. I slid all the way down. It was a very fast and efficient way to get down!We were tired in the late afternoon. Thankfully, we had 5 miles on very level terrain during which the Trail skirted the Housatonic River. The late afternoon sun cast a warm glow on the forest's green leaves and thedark earth and the air felt warm. It was a nice walk. There were also many excited gnats that greeted us by flying into our eyes. My feet and especially my knees hurt once we arrived at the campsite. Even this late into the game, we still deal with many aches and pains. Our bodies are accustomed to hiking, though imperfectly; a basal level of pain seems to be the norm, unfortunately.Unrelated note: many of the previous campsites/shelters have had water pumps. Evidently, water from these pumps still needs to be treated, though nothing can be done for its god awful metallic taste. I spat it out the second it touched my tongue (Shrugs said I was exaggerating). I am so glad to have flavor packs!- Axon