I pack up camp quickly, and 30 minutes later we are in front of the shelter finishing our packing, eating a snack, and chatting with Tad, his daughter Earthstar, and another hiker named Day-oh. By the time we say farewell we are on the trail at 7:20.
I am really dragging today, and my legs feel like they weigh a thousand pounds. I had my morning coffee, but maybe a little extra caffeine will help, so I suck on a Nu'un electrolyte+caffeine tab. They are pretty gross when not dissolved in water, but it should do the trick.
One and a half miles after leaving the shelter we cross Hoyt Road and re-enter the woods and find a sign stating that we are leaving New York and are now in Connecticut. The celebration is short-lived, however, since this is the first of three border crossings between New York and Connecticut. Just as in the Smokies, where we had one foot in Tennessee and the other in North Carolina, we will do the same with New York and Connecticut for the next 10 miles.
The trail climbs up and over in a hill, and after ascending over 600 feet the trail goes right back down again to meander beside the Ten Mile River for a short stretch, before crossing the river on a footbridge that's big by Appalachian Trail standards.
After traversing the Ten Mile River, the trail heads upstream against the Housatonic River. The depth of the Housatonic is low, judging by the amount of exposed rock above the water level. Because the river appears to be lower than normal doesn't mean the river is calm, by any stretch, as the water is rushing around the huge boulders and the sound it makes as it violently crashes down the hill is deafening.
We descend the hill and cross Wood's Road, where one can take a short walk to a covered bridge called Bulls Bridge. The trail continues straight onto Schagticoke Road and turns from paved to stone, and we walk along it for some time before the trail leaves the gravel road and turns back up the mountain for another 8 miles and 1,800 feet of climbing.
I am dreading the climb; the extra caffeine I ingested earlier did nothing to help me feel better, and I want nothing more than to take a nap. I almost feel like I'm getting sick. I need to get my life together because we still have a big ridge to hike.
I am looking at the map when I have an epiphany. The trail leaves this road but then descends to the same road on the other side of the ridge. I tell Kelly this; throwing it out there, not expecting for a second that she would want to skip any of the trail, even if it is only a couple miles. Surprisingly, she expresses that she feels the same!
So we continue on the road, which parallels the Housatonic River for the next four miles. We giggle when we think of how Ladybug came up the road after leaving the Fingerboard Shelter with her arms over her head, poles extended in her hands, shouting "I'm walking to Maine!," and we do the same.
The road takes us through the ground of a prestigious boarding school called the Kent School, and we gasp when we Google the tuition: $75,000 per year for high school!! The school is empty and the ground eerily quiet this time of year, but I can imagine the bustle of the grounds during the school year.
The only activity we now witness, other than bicyclists and cars going by, is that of a bald eagle on the side of the river, paying attention to the water. It launches into the air and I get a grainy picture of it in flight. I am so glad we walked this way.
We are almost to our vehicle and picking blackberries on the side of the road when we hear a loud crack from just behind us to our left. We turn just in time to see a huge tree branch crash to the ground, taking some smaller trees with it. We have seen a lot of downed trees on the trail, but haven't witnessed any actually falling. Thankfully the trees fell away from the road and towards the river.
Within 10 minutes of the falling tree, we are back at the vehicle and thrilled with our decision. It's only noon, so by the time we drive down to Fahnestock and pick up my car and then drive to Salisbury, we can have a leisurely afternoon, which is exactly what we do.
By 4pm, we are at Maria McCabe's House, a hostel in Salisbury, Connecticut, and showered, our laundry is running, all the belongings of my pack are spread out in the backyard airing out, and we go into the affluent but quaint town for a delicious dinner of cioppino for me and lobster risotto for Kelly.
We are delighted to see Daddy Long Legs once again, as he is staying here as well! And another gentleman is here named Chicken Legs. I am thrilled to finally meet him, since I have been reading his shelter log entries for the last two months. We chat before we retire to bed, ready for another day in the trail tomorrow!
Good night!
Today's Stats: 10.5 miles, 1,176 feet gain
Trail Stats: 1,473 miles, 286K gain
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