Date: 2015-07-20
From: Cobble Road Mile 1499.2

To: Glen Brook Shelter
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was a weird day. First though, when I went to tell Maria, who was in the kitchen with her friend Tim, that I was going to bed last night, they were just going for ice cream at McDonald's and invited me to come. Well, can't say no to ice cream while hiking, so off we went for a little fun excursion.I did sleep well but did not much feel like getting up this morning for some reason. Still, I was back on the trail at a very respectable 6:30. We had lots of highlights today, and the first was the 1500 mile sign. I ran into Miami Vice there who started around the same time at Springer but who I had not met before. We leapfrogged the rest of the day.Next up was Bear Mountain with a somewhat tricky descent. Very steep and rocky but fortunately also pretty short. On the uphill I had run into two young locals and we chatted for quite some time while enjoying the view from the top. Which, incidentally, is the highest point in Connecticut.Next up was Sages Ravine, which was beautiful. All moss covered rocks and babbling brooks, with the occasional waterfall thrown in for good measure. I decided to have lunch here while soaking my feet in one of the streams. Oh, and the ravine also marked the end of Connecticut and the beginning of Massachusetts.With all this dilly-dallying I was not making very good progress and I still had at least two climbs to go. First was the gradual but long Mt. Race and then the short and steep Mt. Everett. Somewhere on Mt. Race I ran out of steam and from that point on, progress was fairly glacial. The views from the long ridge on top however, were some of the best I have seen in weeks and weeks. But the ridge was exposed and it was mid day , so I was getting really hot and even more lethargic going down.I ran into Iron Lady towards the end of the descent and she gave me some orange slices. Somehow this re-energized me and I actually went up the hard climb of Mt Everett relatively easily. And then there was no view worth mentioning at the top! Pfff. Good thing Mt. Race was so impressive.Iron Lady had told me there was trail magic at the road at the bottom of Everett so I hurried down hoping they'd still be there. They were packed up but there were still coolers with sodas and other goodies, and they had some macaroni salad too. Miami Vice, Lightning Bolt and Goatsbeard and I spent an hour or so chatting and drinking soda.The picnic area was next to a swimming pond and I decided to check it out. It was lovely! Nice water temperature and a sunny rocky shore to dry up. Goatsbeard was there as well and he is camped here too. We chatted over dinner, which is a lot more fun than eating by yourself.It turned out to be a very low mileage day, but I'm justifying it by saying there is no camping opportunity or shelter listed for the next 7 miles and I was tired anyway. I'm contemplating if I should take a zero, but we'll see how it goes.After I was all comfortable in my tent, the Texas hiking family showed up. I haven't seen them since I think Daleville, so we did some catching up.Tomorrow looks easy in the profile, but I'm sure there is a catch somewhere. According to Frank in the comments, there will be a bug or two...Open map in new windowWant to add a map to your journal?