August 8 – August 10

August 8 Mile 694.2 Limestone Spring shelter

Well, I somehow deleted the last few days of this blog, and even this entry; I’m rewriting a lot and so please forgive me for my brevity. It’s been a long day and I am exhausted. 

I left the odd and discombobulated energy of the East Mountain Retreat Center yesterday morning and had a tough day hiking. I had very little energy and took lots of breaks and had a hard time keeping a good pace. I was happy when I finally made it to the Hemlocks shelter, 18 miles down the trail. I set up my tent just as it started to rain. Feeing very PMS-ish, grumpy and yet somehow content I burrowed into my sleeping bag after dinner with my tramily. 

And slept for 10.5 hours.

So today was a great day. I had lots of energy and crushed 14.5 miles into Salisbury, Connecticut in 6.5 hours, which is a good time for me. I went to the bakery and got scones to pack out and picked up a few things at the store. I had some great late afternoon views from a spot called Rand’s View, fields and the mountains I had just climbed in the background. 

Progress.

August 9 Mile 712.4 Silver Hill Campsite

Ah, today. Got going early and got a great shot of the morning fog down in a valley, small green hills peaking up, the sun through the trees. 

After a few miles I arrived at the hydroelectric dam at the Housatonic river. AWOL’s guide book says there’s an outdoor shower on the side of one of the buildings, a power outlet and a garbage can. Everything a hiker needs. Almost! AWOL was not wrong. I stripped down to sports bra and panties and took a luxurious semi warm shower. I had planned accordingly, so I had travel sized shampoo, conditioner and soap. These are things I never carry, but I wanted to have them for this shower. Small luxuries.

As I was getting ready to leave two NOBOs, Cookie Monster and Dirty Hairy walked up with their dogs and we talked trail for a good half hour. Super nice folks from Alabama. We parted like old friends. 

After a flat stretch close to the river and through some corn fields the trail was up and down for the rest of the day. Exhausting. I was very glad to see the side trail leading here to this lovely campsite. Picnic tables, a bench swing and plenty of tentsites. I was here about 45 minutes when my friends rolled into camp. Tomorrow is Fern’s birthday and I have a small lemon pie for her; I’ll make a little card and give it to her first thing tomorrow. Trail birthdays are very special. 

August 10 Mile 722.3 Kent

Hiked 10 miles here to Kent, just ate a huge ice cream cone and now I have wifi so Incan post this and sync my Fitbit before I do laundry. So much to do! It’s hot and sunny with thunderheads on the horizon. Need to check the weather. Hiker chores.

Tomorrow we hike into New York. 

Boom! Progress is a beautiful thing. This is something I have thought about a lot these last few days. That, and Skyman. And newts. Always the newts.