Date: 2006-06-12
From: Leather Hill Rd.(Trail Angels)

To: Mt. Algo Shelter
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 98 Out of Rob and Katie's early; on the Trail by 6:25AM. Great folks and great hospitality. Weather is beautiful. Should be a nice 12 miles to Kent,CT. 8:45AM...Messenger and I are stopped at Ten Mile River Shelter for a break and snack. Trail is mostly deep woods so far...a few mud holes to slog through. I'm now officially in CT...9 down, 5 to go. 5PM...I'm in Kent (downtown) writing while Messenger is on the pay phone. It's been a hectic and eventful day. We had a long climb of over 1,000 feet up Schaghticoke Mountain (an Indian word meaning "the chief has a chicken bone stuck in his throat"). Probably the longest sustained climb since before Rock Fish Gap. Near the top I heard a distinctive rattling sound and go from 4th gear to reverse in a hurry...scrambling backwards so fast I fell, but I kept scrambling. Messenger had his Ipod on and didn't hear the noise...he just saw me backing up fast and didn't know why. After I stood back up we saw the snake, about 6 feet off the Trail, coiled up, and shaking his rattlers constantly, with his tail straight up. We both took some pictures (from a safe distance), and the snake never moved toward us or away; he stayed in the same position and rattled. We did not poke at him or throw anything his way. We didn't want him coming after us. Although we did not get close enough to get a good look, I would guess that his maximum diameter was 2" or 3" and his length 4 to 6 feet. Seems ironic that I walk through all the rocks of VA, WV, MD, PA, NJ, and NY and see no rattlers, then see one on my first day in CT. And this was the 3rd snake we saw today. At the first shelter this morning (about 15 minutes after we started hiking) we saw 2 very small ring-neck snakes on a rock pile; one was molting. GEAR REPORT: Got my new boots at the Post Office, where Jane had mailed them. Also got my bent pole fixed by the staff at Backcountry Outfitters. These folks are great at trying to help thru-hikers find what they need. I recommend them to all future thru-hikers...high praise! Unfortunately, solving the camera problem won't be so easy. Neither Canon nor Best Buy seems impressed that a thru-hiker would like a new camera, for free. I did confirm that the camera is actually taking pictures on the storage disk. I just can't review them or change any of the settings. Pete at the Video Store in Kent was very helpful, as best he could.   HIKER REPORT: Met Cedar Moe in town today; he was heading out to the next shelter. I got to talk with Jane and learned some bad news...Piece of Work got off the Trail 5 days ago and went home. I had hoped we could hook up and finish together at Katahdin. Here at Mt. Algo Shelter are the 4 who have been together on and off for several days: Restless, Two Shoes, Messenger, and me. Now that P.O.W. is off, I'm going to have to consider other options for hiking speed and companions. I definitely want to be part of a group when I go into the White Mountains. P.S. I walked along and above the Housatonic River for awhile today. It was wide and loud...reminded me of the Nolichucky above Chestoa.