Date: 2005-07-25
From: Sharon Mtn campsite

To: Brassie Brook lean to
Miles today: 18.6

Nice morning stroll till i hit US7. I could not see where the trail went but as always i eventually found my way. The trail was really smooth all morning and i took a few minutes to watch a waterfall display its power before i began my climb up Prospect mtn. I always fall into a state of fascination watching water, whether its a quiet rippling lake or a roaring waterfall. Im almost feel like if i watch it long enough i will have a deep revolutionary thought or find some answers to those big questions. I had my lunch break up on top and then descended down to the lower cobble road. After a tough introduction to CT i was really enjoying the hiking. I decided to go into the town of Salisbury which was only 0.5m off the trail. It was a cool town with that New England charm. Like towns at home everything is in walking distance and they have pedestrian crossings!!!First port of call was to ring home, i enjoy ringing home when im happy and full of energy - puts mum at ease. I found out she still has not recieved my package containing my films i sent home nearly a month ago!! I was pretty upset, my image i had in my head of taking a folder of all pictures around to my friends homes and talking them through my journey was at risk. Erverytime i walked past the PO for the rest of my stay here i would curse it 'this would never happen with the Royal mail'.I eventually got over it and went to resupply. Met some cool SOBO's, i enjoy their positive vibes. I think im becoming a wannabe SOBO. I also met Hamburger, he is from Germany and is recovering from lyme disease. Its was scary to meet someone who actually got it, fortunately he caught it early. He spent the whole day in the libary reading up on the disease and thus was full of interesting facts. I finally did leave town after hitting the libary. I stuck my thumb out and walked back to the trail hoping to save a 10 minute walk.I walked for a while and an elderly couple pulled over. The man got out and walked acrossed the road to buy some lemonade from this little girl. It reminded me of when i tried to sell flowers from our doorstep in Leeds when i was around 5. It was a great business plan, i would pull up the flowers from next door and then sell them. I dont recall ever makin a sale thou.Anyhow, the gentlemen bought me a drink and offered a lift. I got all my stuff loaded into the car and off we went. I soon realised that i had actually walked nearly the entire distance back to the trail. I was in effect hitch hiking 200ft!!!! I started saying this will do and they were like 'nah, we can take you further than this'. I was trying not to shout but i became assertive in asking them to stop. They ended up dropping me down the trail i had not done yet. I got out and started walking back to where i had left the trail, i could only laugh at myself for the whole episode. However it was not quite over, i passed this old lady walking a dog and somehow got into a 2 minute arguement about where the trail was. I tried to explain why i was walking back but it was like trying to train a pig to fly. I managed to get away from her but i could hear she was saying things about me to her dog, such as 'he was a strange boy'.I did finally get back on the trail again, what should of been a 10 min walk from town became a 30 min hitch from hell. I ran into Kaboos and Shagwell at Brassie brook lean-to. This will be my last night in CT.Dandylion