Date: 2010-05-26
From: Sharon Mtn Campsite

To: Salisbury
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: clear sky

2. Report After yesterday¢s beating, I was whipped. I checked out the weather report before going to bed and discovered that Tue was only supposed to get up to the high 80s, but that today was going to be up in the mid-90s. With that, I set my alarm for early and turned out my Iphone. I think I was asleep before all the lights went outI was up before my alarm and today¢s goal was to make Salisbury, no lolly gagging along, no photo ops, minimum rests, head¢em up and move¢ em out. I was on the trail before 0530 and kinda wishing I had started even earlier. I was on a mission and blazing along when I did stop for a photo op. This one might become a ¢wall hanger¢: great vista, early morning blue sky, high mtns in background, heavy fog/clouds below, with short mtns popping thru in the fore ground. I was blazing thru when I came upon an AT Detour around the Iron Bridge. McIntyre gave me a heads up about this and said he walked 4 miserable miles on the pavement and had heard about others being able to walk over the bridge. I read the sign carefully but couldn¢t really decipher it all because I didn¢t know the roads they were discussing and not all were on my maps. The signs were quite specific about a bridge being closed to non vehicular traffic. So my plan was to hike up the Iron Bridge. If it was closed to hikers, try to hitch a ride across. Failing this, I planned to go to Falls Village and try to hitch a ride to Salisbury. And my third option (Note: all us NASA troopers try to always be 2 fault tolerant) would be to hike back and follow the detour. I soon discovered the ¢real detour¢ was US7. There was considerable construction going on, one lane was closed and there was a temporary construction stop light allowing one lane to pass at a time. I went up to the stop light, waited for it to turn red, and then looked for a bubba in a pickem up truck. I asked to jump in the bed of his truck for a lift past the construction. He agreed and took me over the bridge, past the first road (the AT trail) and let me off at the second road, which fortuitously was at the Mohawk Trail which ran into the AT.I continued hiking at flank speed and soon came up to the Iron Bridge. I passed on the sidewalk shower but did take a photo. Later, I passed a great swimming hole at Great Falls and had to take some more photos A swim later in the afternoon would feel super great. Next, I hiked a very short distance in an alfalfa field and saw three grouse chicks in the trail. I followed them awhile before they flushed. Then I flushed out about another 12 dozen or so. They didn¢t fly far and were soon running on the ground. You could see the alfalfa moving and I tried to flush them again. They were moving faster than I when I remembered my last venture off the trail and immediately retreated. I watered and fueled up on a regular basis and continued cruising. I stopped at a shelter trail around 1030 and was pleased to discover I had hiked 10 miles. I continued another 3 miles where I was met at the road by the lady who owns the house where I will be staying the next 2 days. She is extremely nice and very hiker friendly. I¢m at the library now filing this report.Got an e-mail from Grandpa and Red Dragon. He became a tick magnet and got off the trail. I¢ve seen a lot of youth on the trail and its very easy to spot those who are having a good time and those who are not. Unfortunately, there are far too many in the latter case. Note to Red Dragon: keep practicing the mourning dove call and you will soon be able to have them call back to you. Note to Tick Magnet: when I was a kid on the farm, Aunt Grace made us dust our boots with sulfur powder, and then swallow a spoon of sulfur dust with molasses. Never had a problem with ticks, mosquitoes, knats or any other creatures after that. Don¢t know that the FDA would approve of this though 6.Country Store, Bulls Bridge. 1 Greasy Spoon. Convenient, historical and quite picturesque. Good coffee, limited short term resupply and the sausage, egg, cheese biscuit I had for breakfast I also tasted the rest of the morningThe Village Restaurant, Kent 1.5 Greasy Spoons (I generally view ¢1/2¢ ratings as a sign of indecisions, but you¢ll see¢¦) I ordered the sausage/cheese omelets with home fries and toast. It was very good and worthy of 2 spoons. I was interested in letting my phone charge some more, so I ordered a second breakfast. I had heard the cooks talking. Couldn¢t catch what they were saying; but recognized they were speaking Spanish. So against my better judgment, I ordered a chorizo burrito. It came out like one of those California foo foo places: cut on the diagonal and wrapped in some paper. The tortilla was poor, but the filling was good. The refried beans had 2 pretty colors of cheese on it and the salsa ¢ I Was thinking about asking for a cup of it to go. My resupply plans included a box of spaghetti and if I had the salsa I wouldn¢t need to buy any marinara sauce. 1 very generous spoonLife is Great!