Date: 2003-08-27
From: Telephone Pioneers Shelter

To: Kent, CT
Miles today: 21.8

Originally we intended to get into Kent on Thursday morning, but have decided to push and make it tonight. I¢m glad ¢ always ready for the chance to have a shower and do laundry, but also I always feel good about getting somewhere ahead of schedule.Of course Bushwhack and Bramble took off first as I was just getting up and eating breakfast. Rodent was still in his tent when I left a short time later. Somewhere between Hurds Corners Road and the Wiley Shelter the Trail was hard-packed sandy mud. Bushwhack and Bramble had traced their initials and the time they¢d passed through; that was neat. I was only about 20 minutes behind them. Soon enough I came across them sitting in the Trail with another hiker. My heart skipped a beat at who I thought it was, but it was Toby after all ¢ he was wearing a new bandana and in it he resembled a former hiking partner of mine.We sat here for awhile, hiked to Leather Hill Road and sat some more. As we filled up on water Bushwhack had a brainstorm that maybe it¢s the iodine I¢ve been using to treat my water that is toying with my metabolism and zapping my strength. I¢ll get something else in Kent.Then we hiked to Wiley Shelter and sat some more and Rodent came along. You see he starts later than the rest of us, but usually ends up arriving at our destination before us! Counting the 1.2 miles we had left until we crossed into Connecticut motivated us to get moving again, and we did. Rodent insisted I try out his trekking poles for the rest of the day; they all think that might also be part of the reason I¢m so slow. They were all right; but I think they made me more tired in a way. I¢m sure one has to get used to them, and then they are supposed to help with speed, and of course lessen the impact on the knees ¢ especially going downhill.Just over the New York-Connecticut line (the first one, that is; like most border crossings, the Trail weaves back and forth a time or two before settling in for good in the new state) was Ten Mile Hill ¢ thankfully it was not a ten-mile climb, nor was it ten miles high! At the bottom Bushwhack and Bramble took a dip in the creek; Toby and I eyed the water. We wanted to get in, but probably wouldn¢t have in our clothes¢¦so we declined this time. The first shelter in Connecticut is Ten Mile River Lean-to ¢ as soon as we¢re into New England they¢re known as lean-tos rather than shelters. The Trail crosses Ten Mile River and then parallels it for a short distance. This was a very pretty section; we walked it together, Rodent, myself, and Bushwhack and Bramble. Toby stayed behind at the river for a while longer.Next up: Schaghticoke Mountain. Not a bad climb, but I came upon the gang resting at the top, and Toby came along soon. At least we thought it was the top¢¦ It had several tops, as many of these mountains do. I¢d looked at Toby¢s Wingfoot book, which includes the elevation for every place it lists. Strangely, however, I seemed to keep going up. Consequently I was soon far, far behind everyone else and hiking alone again. My spirits dropped. On one final thrust upwards, I had to stop. I could see how beautiful the landscape was; I asked myself, ¢How can I not be enjoying this?¢ But physically I was so incredibly drained I felt I could hardly make it, and it simply was not fun. In addition, the shoes I¢ve been wearing for the last 750 miles had begun to seriously wear out and were causing blisters. My feet hurt terribly. I¢d tried to plaster the hot spots with duct tape, to no avail. Each step felt like agony. More tears, I¢m ashamed to admit.The Mt. Algo Lean-to was only .4 miles from the road that led into Kent; when I came to the trail that led to the lean-to I heard people. I wasn¢t sure whether to go in or not. There was no sign of the group I knew, although I had thought moments before I heard Toby and Rodent laughing and tried to catch up to them. I went ahead down to the road. Admittedly I was a little disappointed there was still no sign of anyone, but I turned and started walking. It was .8 miles into town; I may have half-heartedly stuck my thumb out a time or two, but really I¢m kind of skittish of hitching alone. Probably smart after all.The .8 went fast, and I found the others quickly, sitting in front of the church where we¢d heard there was a new hostel of sorts. There were people around, but none of them knew anything about letting hikers stay, and the pastor was not at home in his parsonage next door, so we went to eat at the local pizza place in the meantime. What a meal!!! I¢d been craving pasta; it was very good. And Bushwhack and Bramble treated us ¢ thank you so much!Here we had a little dissension. It was getting late, getting dark. Bushwhack and Bramble weren¢t sure about trying to stay at the church when we couldn¢t find the pastor, but the rest of us weren¢t too enthusiastic about paying for the Fife and Drum Inn ¢ a cool $85 or so per night¢¦ In the end they went to the inn and us three ¢kids¢ walked back over to the church. Still no sign of the pastor, so Rodent and I dropped our packs and hopped the fence into the little playground in the yard and sat on the swings while Toby used the phone. We were brainstorming about what to do: stretch out our bags here in the playground? Set up our tents in the grass beside the church? I was torn between the adventurous uncertainty of the moment, and the adult worry over what we were going to do. Just about the time Toby came along the pastor drove up. Toby caught him and asked about staying.Turns out it¢s not actually a hostel, and they don¢t really encourage hikers to stay, even though they do provide a solar-heated shower outdoors in the corner of the parking lot. But since we were there and it was about 10:00pm and had nowhere to go, he let us in to their fellowship hall where they do occasionally allow hikers to sleep. I took off my shoes and hurled them across the room, exactly what I¢d been envisioning myself doing all day. I will not wear those for one more mile. The boys let me have the couch while they took the floor and a pew bench. We stayed up talking for awhile of course; more about my being ¢burned out¢ and what my options were, about the events of the week, and etc.I slept soon and well.