Month: June 2021

I woke up sometime before 7:30, but didn’t move until the guys got up. They packed what they could and then darted over to the little grocery store to get their food for the next few days. When they came back, Derby told me he saw Cholula and Curmudgeon in town already, getting breakfast, and he shared half of his breakfast sandwich with me. Damn I’m motivated by food! Ha, but I also didn’t want to miss them and I wanted to see how Cholula was doing after her fall yesterday. I got ready and started walking while Derby and Beaver packed their food in their bags, planning to get their day started soon.

I found them at a little restaurant with outdoor seating.. my god her leg was black and blue from her fall. She was planning to take the brunt of the weight of their stuff, let Curmy hike on, and she’d meet him in 2 days in the next town up on trail. She’d zero those two days he’d be hiking light, hopefully she’d be healing up some and getting new shoes. Her plan was to Uber to that other town, Salisbury, today. I quickly talked her into staying with me today in Kent, and heading to Salisbury tomorrow when I got back on the trail. It wasn’t hard to convince her, and I was so glad!

I got my second breakfast to go, and walked with her to the welcome center where Curmy was charging his stuff and they were repacking for him to start hiking and her to hang out with me. Derby and Beaver came by moments later, and the guys planned to meet up on trail and camp together at a shelter close to 17 miles out.
Cholula and I went back to the inn, I figured out what I needed from the grocery store, she gathered their laundry and we set out to run errands. Grocery store, laundromat, post office. I took my new shoes and some snack stuff mom sent me back to the room, and then we went to the little outfitter, shoe store, and back to the inn.

At the outfitter, I got new trekking poles. Yay for being able to secure my tent upright again!
At the shoe store, Cholula shows the man her boots and how they split apart, and he got busy trying to find a new pair of boots for her. Sadly, it was to no avail. None of the boots he had came up high enough to support her ankle. I browsed while there, realizing I needed to try on my shoes when I got back to the room.. because this man had several brands of shoes and insoles, too.

Back at the inn.. my new shoes come no where near fitting. Like I couldn’t even get my left foot inside the shoe. Lord. I quickly make my way back to the shoe store, tell him my predicament, and he sets to work attempting to help me. The only shoes that my toes felt good in, with enough space, was the Altras. The brand of shoes I’ve been wearing. Ugh. He didn’t have an 8.5, but he did have a 9. I tried them on, and while a little big, they seemed to be my only option. We put in some cushier insoles, and walking around the store, my feet felt great! Sold!

I stopped by the wine store when walking back to the room, and then when I got there I showed Cholula my new stuff, and she informed me that she emailed Solomon about her boots splitting apart, and they offered her voucher due to a manufacturer’s defect of the boot because of how they fell apart! Holy crap! Then, she checked the tracking for my cellphone (it was 3pm at this point) and—MY PHONE WAS DELIVERED! I all but ran back to the post office (my new, non fitting shoes in tow)! They handed me my package and I squealed like a kid on Christmas. While the man working was putting in the info for my shoes to get shipped back, I opened my package and then choked up. Sweet Pete had put a card in there with my phone! I forced the post office guy to get excited with me, as I read the card to him. Someone was going to celebrate this very thoughtful moment with me right now, dang it! I am just so blown away by his kindness, even still as I’m writing this. The good you put out into the world always finds its way back to you. I know good things must be coming back tenfold to Pete and his family.

I walked back to the inn taking pictures the whole way. I showed Cholula the card and she found it as kind as I did. The two of us had some wine and snacks to celebrate all the good things that have been happening.. this awesome room, my phone, her voucher and soon to be new boots, my new shoes. I checked in on a few things and sat my phone on the charger, then went to finally take that awesome bath I’ve planning since yesterday. I soaked my sore muscles and updated what I could on the blog.

When I got out, we walked to the Asian restaurant. They aren’t doing indoor seating, so we ordered at the door and ate outside. It was some of the best pad Thai I’ve had in a long time! So stinking good! Back at the room, Cholula took her a hot soaking bath and I continued to write out my blog entries. I don’t know what time I finally fell asleep, but I do know that I really enjoyed everything about this whole day. The people we encountered, spending the day with Cholula talking and doing errands, the rest and relaxation that came with this nice room. I thought I’d be sad about being 1-2 days behind everyone (which, I still sort of am), but I’m thankful I decided to stay in town tonight and not rush out when I got my phone.

Something tells me tomorrow will be tough. Only one way to find out!

Start: Kent, Connecticut (AT mi 1470.2). Stop: Caesar Brook Campsite (AT mi 1483.8). Today’s miles: 13.6 miles. Total AT mileage: 459.1 miles

I was proud of me today. I actually got up a little after 7, packed and ate my left over pad Thai, chatting with Cholula a bit before heading out. I was out of town and on the trail by 8:30, but before I actually started hiking, I had to sit down and change my insoles back to the ones that came with the shoes. Just that little road walk to the trail from town left me with numb toes. Yikes.

There was a trail angel and his wife there, offering breakfast stuff, but I declined. He said he’d be up trail this afternoon doing trail magic lunch.. so I told him I’d hope to see him then. My morning started off by hiking with BakedPotato, a NOBO thru hiker that was at the trail magic. We maybe hiked and talked for a few miles before I needed to stop again because of my shoes. He carried on, I sat down and I realized the heel of my new shoe rubbed a hole into my sock and was attempting to rub a nasty blister on my heel! I taped up my foot, put my ripped sock back on, stretched and carried on.

It was a pretty day, sunny and low 60s mostly. The trail was beautiful, but the same old ups and downs with trees and creeks. Sometimes describing it feels monotonous, because while it changes dramatically, it also feels the exact same, too. I did walk a long stretch right beside a big river though, the Housatonic River. and that was stunning. I also saw 2 garter snakes, one that quickly got away from me after BakedPotato pointed it out (I still got a picture), and then another one sunbathing mid trail, that I had to dance around to pass. He wasn’t going to move and could care less about me. I, of course, still did my yell/jump/full body shutter when I spotted each one, but managed to get pictures of both.

My best friend, Sarah, told me her daughter, Kylie, liked my snake stories. She’s going to have to tell me if it’s because of how scared I am of the snakes, or because she likes them. Ever since Sarah told me that, I’ve been looking for them more. I still see at least one garter a day (for the most part), but I haven’t seen any more black snakes yet, and no rattlesnakes at all. I kinda think the long snake I saw go under a rock the other day may have been a copperhead, but because I only saw the back end of him, I can’t confirm.. and I was DEFINITELY not sticking around to see him come back out! God those little boogers totally freak me out, still! I get the cold chill down my spine every single time I spot anything slithering. So creepy. (Also, hi Kyliebug! I love you!)

I crossed a few roads and never saw the trail angel, so I stopped at the first shelter and ate my lunch. There were caterpillars everywhere. I chatted with some trail maintenance folks, very grateful for their hard work. And then I carried on. I was on an uphill that came to a road crossing when I ran back into BakedPotato and the trail angel! I caught a ride down the hill with the angel to where he and his wife had a little spread set up by the river! It was so perfect! I had a hotdog (I wasn’t actually hungry at all) and a Gatorade, oh and a banana, too. We hung out and chatted with another thru hiker I hadnt met before. The trail angel, PTL (for Praise The Lord), did a flip flop in 2020, and only took 3 zero days the whole time! His wife was his support so he had easy access to a vehicle and whatnot. They were so dang nice. Now they’ve been giving back to the trail community, since he said so many people helped him along his journey.

He drove me back up the hill and I carried on. The miles seemed to be passing slowly. I had told myself however far I got today would be enough, regardless of where everyone else is, because of the whole breaking in new shoes thing. I had options to camp at mile 10, 13.6, and 17.

I only made it to the 13.6 mile campsite and decided that would do. It was already 5:30pm and I was beat. Plus the creek nearby was a nice one. I set up my tent and sleep stuff, filtered water, bathed, and cooked dinner. I cleaned up, put my food bag in the bear box, and chatted a little with the other people staying here tonight. 3 women appear to be doing a section hike (I didn’t ask them, and I shouldn’t assume, but they look so clean!) and then another couple is thruhiking from springer mountain.

My spot was heavenly and far from the others until the couple came. They camped technically in the other campsite area, but I can literally here them talking to each other now, from inside my tent and them in theirs. Thank goodness for earplugs!

Now that I’ve gotten everything semi up to date, I’m going to plan out my day tomorrow and then fall asleep. Either way, I’m getting up early in the morning to try to get in some decent miles. Towely, FarOut and HotSauce all made it to Massachusetts today. Lizard has to zero to get a package (but I can’t remember if that’s today or tomorrow) and I’m not sure where everyone else is. Massachusetts is 40 miles from where I am, too bad I can’t knock that out tomorrow! Hahaha wishful and delusional thinking there! Lol

Goodnight, y’all.

Start: Caesar Brook Campsite (AT mi 1483.8). Stop: Salisbury, Connecticut (AT mi 1502.2). Today’s miles: 18.4 miles. Total AT mileage: 477.5 miles

I got up at 6:30 and started packing my things. I was attempting to be quiet, but for once I didn’t care that I was the first up making noise.

I was on the trail by 7:30, and it went well. I listened to an audiobook and kept at it all morning. There were literally thousands of caterpillars, everywhere! If you stopped moving for a second, at least 2-3 would be on your shoes. I walked into them dangling their strings from trees.. I started off attempting to avoid stepping on them, like I always do with the cute tiny little newt/salamander/lizard thingies we see a lot when it rains. However, peta and probably Buddha himself would be disappointed to hear that at some point I just couldn’t even attempt to avoid them anymore. There were SO MANY!

I made it to a beautiful rocky area to eat lunch at just after 12:30. I was disheartened because I had only hiked 8.6 miles in 5 hours. My plan was to get to either a shelter that everyone says has a treacherous descent to get to (therefore a more treacherous ascent in the morning to get out of), hike on to Salisbury, CT and spend the night at a hostel of sorts, or hike on to the next shelter which would put me at over 22 miles in a day. Once I realized how slow I had been moving, that last option was off the table.

I text Cholula and she gave me a pep talk, and also mentioned that today is Lizard’s zero in Salisbury, so if I did make it the 10 more miles there, she’d be there, too! That’s pretty much all the motivation I needed. I started hiking again and ended up getting into Salisbury just after 5pm.. so I did 18.4 miles today, with the second half being faster than the first half! Sheesh, a first for everything I guess!

Right before getting to the road to get into Salisbury, I almost stepped on a baby bird. I tried to get it to move off the trail, and when it wouldn’t budge, I called Cholula again. She’s worked in veterinary medicine a long time so I knew she’d know what I should do. Essentially, all I could do was pick the sweet babe up and set it on the side of the trail to not get squashed, although that would have probably been a quicker and easier death than the one coming to it by most likely getting kicked out of the nest. Poor baby.

I got to the road and messaged the lady who said she had a bunk for me. She didn’t message back, but she did quickly appear on the road to pick me up. She told me she accidentally overbooked tonight, and that I could have the couch or she could drop me off at Maria’s place. Maria offers rooms in her home, too, but she doesn’t do laundry.. which I didn’t need. I just washed my clothes. So, she took me to Maria’s house.

My goodness, what a doll Maria is. She’s 91 years old, has a gorgeous older house, and offered me the private twin room. Heck yes! She’s so sassy, but kind! She recently wrecked her car into a tree and says she’s just not going to drive anymore. I told her she deserves to be chauffeured everywhere anyway. She found that cute. Lol

After my shower and settling into my room, I left to meet Lizard and Beaver for dinner. We ate at the only restaurant in town, and it was damn good. I got ravioli carbonara, and just so you know, I’m still thinking about how great it was! So much flavor! Yum! Lizard, Beaver, and this dish was totally worth the 18+ miles hiked today.

After dinner we went back to the hostel they were staying at. We sat on the back patio, sharing a couple beers and enjoying each other’s company. Man I missed my first tramily member like crazy! I’m so happy we get to hike out together tomorrow. Sadly for us, Beaver is taking a zero here tomorrow, so he will be missed until he catches back up.

A little after 8, I rushed back to Maria’s place. She was waiting up for me, and told me a few more hikers had shown up, but I don’t know them. I showed her the slice of carrot cake I got her and she seemed excited. We put it in the refrigerator, she said, “I’m going to eat that tomorrow. You’ll have to sign my hiker book when you come down in the morning. I won’t get up until 9am, you’ll be gone. Don’t forget to sign it!” Such a sweetheart.
I’m laying in my cute twin bed, with baby dolls in a basket in the corner and a pretty little wooden desk. This room feels the way my grandpa’s room used to feel when I was a little kid, just with a smaller bed. Memories just come back whenever they please it seems. I hope Maria’s family cherishes their time with her, she’s incredible and I’m so grateful things worked out the way they did today. I’m happy I ended up here.