Unencumbered by the dark and claustrophobia-inducing tight walls of a traditional privy, this is the perfect throne for any queen. I only wish it were facing the other direction so I could take advantage of the sunshine coming over the ridge.
We are on our way at 6:50 and immediately start uphill. Nothing like an incline first thing in the morning to get the blood pumping. One mile and 600 ft later, we crest a ridge and descend another mile when we come to a stream. It's going to be blazing hot today so my intention is to camel up and drink a half of a liter at every water crossing, in addition to the 1.5 liters in my pack, reserving that for the challenging vertical climbs.
We collect water and head up our second hill of the day, where we go through a wider, easier version of the Lemon Squeezer, through which we don't tear up the sides of our backpacks. In 2 miles and another 600 feet we reach the Pine Swamp Brooke shelter, which we pass without stopping, as it's on a side trail.
For the next six miles we hike up and over ridges. We've been passing through a lovely pine forest for the last three miles and the ground underneath is wonderfully soft, cushioned by the pine duff. The day is getting hot, and by the time we've done almost 7 miles, we have climbed over 1,700 feet. The trail rewards us for the effort with a beautiful view of the valley below, with Bear Mountain and the Southern Taconic Range in the distance. The Lime Rock Speedway is in the valley, and cars are visible circling the track.
The trail descends 1,000 feet and leaves the woods to cross US Route 7. We skirt the edge of a pasture, and as we walk along the edge I find a mulberry trees full of ripe fruit. We go a little crazy picking handfuls of mulberries and stuffing our faces with the fresh fruit, staining our hands and lips a dark purple.
For the next few miles the trail is delightfully flat as we walk along the Housatonic River once again. I was really worried that once we were off the mountain we would be much hotter, but it's actually cooler due to a really nice breeze.
The trail emerges onto a road and I pull out my umbrella to shield me from the intense rays of the midday sun. The roadwalk only lasts 10 minutes before the trail returns into the woods to continue along the river upstream.
The trail comes out at an electrical station and we have to get on a road for a short while. A man with a stop/slow sign is waiting to direct oncoming traffic through a road construction zone. As we walk up, the slow side of his sign is pointing towards us, and Kelly remarks that we can't walk any slower. He turns the sign to stop and asks if that is better for us, and I respond we only stop for Gatorade. I was only joking, but then he says that he has a Gatorade for us and he gives us one out of his cooler. It's delightfully cold and we split the bottle. What a nice gesture! Giving us his cold beverage on such a hot day.
We chug the Gatorade and walk over a bridge once again. On the left Is a picnic area that's reported to have a dumpster, so we walk over to drop off our trash. While we are there we see Toad sitting at a picnic table in the shade of a tree. We decide to sit with him and eat lunch.
Lunch and trash taken care of, we jump back on the trail and within minutes take a side trail down to a gorgeous roaring waterfall called, simply enough, Great Falls. We shed our backpacks and some clothes and I sit in the cool water. The water isn't very cold and it's the perfect temperature for me to sit on a submerged rock and cool off, splashing water all over to get the sweat and dirt off.
Refreshed by the dip, and with hunger and thirst satiated, we throw on our packs and jump back on the trail. It is almost three o'clock and we have a thousand foot climb to get up the next ridge in the 90° heat.
A short time later we reach a sign that marks the 1500 mile mark. Only 694 miles left to get to Mt. Katahdin!
Three miles and 1,000 feet later we are on top of Mount Prospect, which offers a decent view to the north. I don't tarry, because I'm sweating so badly that I think I'm melting, and the air is stifling without a breeze.
Leaving Mt. Prospect, the trail meanders along the ridge until we reach the side trail to the Limestone Spring Shelter. We originally planned on stopping here for the day, but now we both agree on continuing on to town, which means over 20 miles today. We are tired, but feeling up to the additional four miles and extra vertical gain.
We play hopscotch with Toad, who plans on going into town for a beer at a tavern. He mentions it each time we pass him or he passes us, which makes us giggle about priorities. He is lounging by a stream eating when we pass and I spy the most amazing golden oyster mushrooms. I really wish I had a bag or some way to transport these beauties.
The drop into Salisbury is very steep as advertised, but not crazy, boot-scooting steep. The path is disorienting because the trail literally goes straight down in some places. I am trying to focus on each step down and not get distracted, but I can see the trail just beyond where I walk even though it's much farther down the hill, like the trail is folding back on itself. I have to shake my head a few times and refocus on each footfall, because I really don't want to fall here. Fortunately, the trail remains dirt, which is good; rocks would certainly be harrowing to go down in poor weather. We are glad to be making this descent on a good-weather day.
The trail levels off fairly quickly, and we are happy to have that part of the day behind us. Even though the drop was indeed steep, it wasn't ridiculously so, and I am glad we are done just for Kelly's sake because I know it was stressful for her.
We make the .7 mile road walk to Maria McCabe's House, the hostel which is our home base for this section. Kelly asks if I would like to go back to the Boathouse for dinner again tonight, but it's already 5:30 and by the time we both shower and start laundry I will be so hungry I think I will gnaw my arm off. 7 pm is just too late for dinner. She agrees and we decide to head straight over to the market for some ready-made deli food and then get cleaned up.
At the market, we see Tad, Toad, and Earthstar out front, drinking sodas and packing their resupply into their packs. Toad decided to skip the tavern, and they are all going to continue on the trail to make some more miles to the next shelter. We say goodbye and head back to the hostel with a delicious assortment of deli foods to eat.
On arrival we are delighted to see Dirt and Late Start, and meet a new face; Peanut, who will be sharing a room with Kelly and me. The house a a flurry of activity with hikers showering, eating dinner, and working at one of the provided computers. I shower and sit down with Dirt to eat my fried chicken, when he offers me the most delicious pesto and bacon pizza. He encourages me to take more than one slice, and I end up eating three, in addition to all the tomatoes and peppers from his sizable salad (he doesn't like the veggies).
Stuffed to the gills, my hunger satiated, I say goodnight and sit in bed to type this up. Kelly comes in a short time later with Late Start's shirt, which he tore on the trail and would like to salvage. She stitches it up for him and then we say goodnight.
Today's Stats: 20.5 miles, 4,400 feet gain
Trail Stats: 1,507 miles, 293K feet gain
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