Date: 2012-05-18
From: Goddard Shelter

To: Story Spring Shelter
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: clear sky

It was a beautiful, but cold 36 degree morning. In our tent it was somewhat warmer at 42 degrees. It was easier packing today since the tent and gear were dry in the shelter. We were on the trail, headed north, at 7:08 am. We started the day with a 200 foot climb to the summit of Glastenbury Mountain. The trail was in awful condition, probably due to last August¢s Hurricane Irene. There was erosion, water stops had been dislodged, and steps were hanging in space in some areas. There is a fire tower atop Glastenbury Mountain but we elected not to climb it. We met a trail maintainer as we descended the mountain. We talked with him for a while and thanked him for his efforts in keeping the trail open for us. He was an older gentleman as are most of the maintainers we meet.We were dressed for bug protection even though we knew it would be uncomfortably hot. We had on long sleeve shirts, and long pants tucked into our socks. The bugs started harassing us about a mile before we reached Kid Gore Shelter. We put on DEET which seemed to help a little.We reached Kid Gore Shelter at 10:40 am. We thought briefly about stopping at the shelter for lunch, but the bugs made us move on. However, we did load up on water to last us to the stream which was 0.9 mile before the next shelter. Rocky put on a mosquito head net before we started the next climb of 700 feet. We met a SoBo, No Cook, on the way up. We didn¢t talk as long as we generally do because of the harassment by bugs. Shortly after we reached the top of the climb we stopped for lunch at 11:40 am. There was a great view from our lunch spot but we couldn¢t enjoy it due to the bugs. Swamp Fox also put on a head net, which we wore for the rest of the day. On a sunny day, with temperatures in the 70¢s, it was quite uncomfortable and energy sapping. This was a day for shorts and t-shirts, not long sleeve shirts and long pants. We began the descent to South Alder Brook. We wanted to stop there and rest as we were tired and hurting. The bugs made the rest stops short and we didn¢t take off our packs when we stopped. We reached South Alder Brook at 2:30 pm and got water for the remaining 0.9 mile hike to Story Spring Shelter. We passed beaver dams and ponds on the way to the shelter. (photo) It was a difficult climb for us, even though it was only 210 feet, due to the heat and the bugs. We reached the shelter at 3:10 pm. Surprisingly, there were fewer bugs, but they were still biting. We set up the tent, without the fly, in the shelter. There was a lot of food left in the shelter by a previous occupant, probably Tress, who we met two days ago. We enjoyed the Cliff bars and other snacks he had left. Rocky soon fell asleep in the tent. Neither of us was very ambitious this afternoon.   Later two NoBo thru hikers came into the shelter. They were Iceman and Viking. Both were young men from southeastern Kentucky. They had no tent and no bug protection. They immediately got into sleeping bag liners for bug protection. They did not come out of their liners to make dinner until after dark when the bugs eased off. Later Samas came to the shelter, but he tented. All three of these young men are doing big miles, 20 or more miles in a day. Their daily mileages seem incomprehensible to us.