Date: 2007-07-27
From: Falls Village, CT

To: Sages Ravine Campsite
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: scattered clouds

What a dayI had every intention of being at the cafe when it opened at 7, but I didn't roll out of bed until 8. It rained a bit last night and I had to set my tarp up on the ground without trees. This took me probably 10 min and I was pretty wet by the time I was done. I had it covering my stuff as I was seting up, so nothing got wet, except me. When I thought I had it all set up, the stake behind my head pulled out and catapulted over the tarp and into annies tomatoe garden. The whole tarp and hammock bug neting fell, with me inside. I was tempted to leave it and fall back asleep, but I got up and fixed it. Breakfast was the best I've had on the trail since smoky mtn diner in hot springs, nc. I had one of annies famous sweet potatoe waffles with real maple syrup and 4 sausage links. I said thank you one more time to annie and greg and walked out of town.I crossed the Housatonic again on a circa 1903 berlin bridge co, iron bridge. I walked over to great falls and sat there for a while marveling at the power of the huge falling water. Then I headed back into the mountains. The trail was smooth and rock free all the way to limestone spring shelter. I couldn't believe that I just hiked 4 miles it went by that easliy. I saw a tom turkey along the way and a family of 6 mice scurrying around in the leaves. After the shelter I came to rand's view, my favorite in CT. You can see the mountain ridge coming up after salisbury all the way to the jug end, with views of bear and race mtns as well as mt everett. I sat there for a while then hiked on. As I came up to the giants thumb, which is a strange geological formation shaped like a thumb, I saw a barred owl fly from the forest floor up into a tree limb. I was able to get pretty close and got a most excellent view of this magnificient bird. I even got a few photos before it flew off in! to the forest. I was so psyched for that spotting. I had never seen an owl that close in the daytime, let alone get a photo. The trail continued to be kind with minimal rocks and elevation gain all the way to Salisbury. I hiked .5 down lower cobble road into town and went to LeBonne's market. I got a small, day and a half resupply and an excellent lunch. The hot bar was half price since it was after lunch time. I got 2 pieces of fried chicken, mac and cheese, and then some regular priced fresh sushi (not from the buffet). I scarfed lunch then went and got 3 scoops of ice cream. Lastly, I got 2 heineken cans to pack out before heading out of town. All the people I met in Salisbury were super friendly and asked about my hike and whatnot. Back in the woods the trail climbed to 1700ft at the lions head. I sat at this excellent view of the valley below and the trail I just hiked, then decided to push on to sages ravine. I passed riga lean-to and climbed up to the 2316ft bear mountain. It felt sooo good to be back in higher elevation mountains. The wind blowing through the trees even sounds different, more intense. I sat on the stone observation platform for a bit admiring the views then dropped down to sages ravine and into Massachusetts. I have now hiked through 10 states almost 1500 miles! The trail is only going to get better and better. The Sages ravine setting is what I pictured the AT being like before I started hiking it. A flowing, cascading cold mountain brook under a dense hemlock canopy with the trail paralleling the brook. Simply beautiful! I arrived at the campsite to find 2 groups of city kids on a guided hike and lots of weekend hikers. Not quite the camp scene I was expecting. I managed to find an open designated campsite, number 6, away from everyone. I cooked and drank my beers and battened down the hatches for tonights thunderstorm. It just started to rain as I am writing this. The bugs went away and the temperature dropped. Life is good! I find it true that always, after a really tough day or days, one day coming up is going to be super amazingly awesome, like today. Ahh, the highs and lows of long distance hiking. Today's StatsStarting Point:Falls Village, CTEnding Point:Sages Ravine CampsiteMileage:15.0Elevation Gain:3490ftElevation Loss:2500ftHiking Time:7:33Weather:Hot humid sunny 80'sPain Factor:2