Category: Long Distance Trails

Start: The Hemlocks Shelter (AT mi 1515.9). Stop: Tom Leonard Shelter (AT mi 1530.3). Today’s miles: 14.4 miles. Total AT mileage: 505.6 miles

I had another bad night of sleep. I tossed and turned and just couldn’t stay asleep.. it’s extremely frustrating, especially when you’ve taken all the steps to ensure you should be sleeping well. Pad went flat? Got a new one. Way too cold? Got my warmer bag. Feet aching? Make sure to take ibuprofen before bed. Other people snore? I have earplugs. And yet-I still can’t sleep.

This morning was the first time on this adventure that I said to myself, “I don’t want to do this.”
Tie-dye said he slept poorly too, that he was just restless. We ate breakfast together and then I started to slowly pack. Lizard got up while I was stretching, and we ended up hiking together some of the morning. The plan was to get 8 miles to road crossing to town, hitch in, resupply, hitch back, and knock out another 6+ miles to the next shelter.

That 8 miles had me in a fit. First it was a downhill that takes careful foot consideration. I’ve fallen in every state (except NY, I just rolled my ankle twice there), so being in a new state makes me cautious! The downhill wasn’t too terrible, but it started getting muggy, and with muggy comes buggies. So when you’re me and can’t move quickly downhill, suddenly you’re peppered with gnats absolutely everywhere. Ugh.
Then, once we got to the bottom, where the nice, flat, easy rolling trail appears.. it’s also swampy/boggy/standing water. Cool. So the easiest part of my day had me smacking my arms and legs every 4-6 seconds because the mosquitos were flipping swarming me! Bees were burrowing into my hair, mosquitos were biting me through my shirt, all over my arms, hands, legs, neck, face, and gnats were diving into my eyeballs and mouth. I most definitely got choked by a couple bugs today.

I was so absolutely over it. But, at some point early morning, FarOut messaged me and I found out they were planning to get to the same shelter! So, even though I was completely miserable, her little message was able to help sway my mood.
We made it to the road. As we started walking to town, with our thumbs out, we quickly got a hitch (in a Lexus no less). He dropped us off at the market and grocery store. We ate lunch from there, I sucked down Gatorade like my life currently depended on it. After we got everything we needed, we sat outside in the shade for a bit.. packed and then hit the road again. It was close to 3pm I think, maybe a little earlier.

So many cars and trucks flew past us on the way back, none stopping. Lizard even tried walking backwards so they could see her better and want to pick us up! Lol.. we walked a good 10 minutes or so before an older gentleman stopped and got us. He was actually a trail angel going to pick another hiker up to bring into town. How perfect.

We had just over 6 miles to go to get to the shelter. It took me forever. I didn’t show up til after 6pm. All the tent sites were snagged by then, so I’m in the shelter again. It was a trek to get water from here.. so after doing that we ate dinner. Tonight it’s Lizard, FarOut, HotSauce, Towely, wizard, killer, a hammocker, 2 weekenders, Swepes, and his wife. Big group!

When I laid down I was immediately attacked by bugs. So, I’ve haphazardly “hung” my tent in the bunk space I’m in. It’s not the best, but it’s bug free, so I don’t care. I’m just praying I sleep well.
I hope you do, too.

Start: Salisbury, Connecticut (AT mi 1502.2). Stop: The Hemlocks Shelter (AT mi 1515.9). Today’s miles: 13.7 miles. Total AT mileage: 491.2 miles. States Completed: Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut

I didn’t sleep too well at Maria’s. Not sure why, because it was comfortable and I had a fan on me, but I just couldn’t stay asleep. I was awake after midnight, stretching in the floor. Then back to tossing and turning in the bed. Frustrating to say the least.

I got up and packed quickly and as quietly as I could. I walked down the street and met Lizard by the road we were starting on. We hiked together for a few miles, then she pulled ahead. It was another gorgeous day. Bright but in the 70s, so not terribly hot. I felt a little nauseous though, which could have been from a number of things.. I ate that huge dinner last night, I was probably dehydrated from yesterday’s long mileage but I didn’t drink any water really after getting to town, and-I had a slice of cheesecake for breakfast. Hahaha

Connecticut’s trail maintenance people are some of the best I’ve seen so far, I’ve truly loved almost all of it. There has been a couple rocky descents that felt rough underfoot, but that’s seriously it. I’ve really enjoyed all the beauty this state has shown me.

Today’s terrain when up and over 3 mountains. The first was Bear Mountain in Connecticut, the highest peak in the state, on the way down we crossed into Massachusetts. I met Lizard at a large stream and we ate lunch (she was mostly done by the time I got there lol). I didn’t see the sign saying we were in Massachusetts, but according to my maps, we definitely were. I was sad about missing two stateline signs now (I missed NY/CT because of not having my phone).
After eating, I continued down the path beside the stream for awhile, and once I crossed over, boom! There’s the sign! I hadn’t missed it after all! I was so excited! Another state down! Only.. a lot more to go lol, but getting closer to half of the states being completed 😉

The next mountain was a 2+ mile ascent and I was just so dang slow. I couldn’t bring myself to pick up the pace. Also, I knew once I got to the top, I had to go down and come back up an even steeper ascent before going all the way down again to get to the shelter. Lord. Every single time the wind would pick up and blow through, I’d stop to let it cool me off. I never took my pack off and sat down, but I did do way too many pauses.
The final climb was damn brutal. It went straight up for close to a mile. Like 70-80 degree rock faces that at points were so steep they had put wooden “steps” to help you not slip to your death. Ok, that’s slightly dramatic, but the way the gnats were attacking my face and making me nutty the whole way up, I could see how easy it would be for me to slip and have a significant fall, all due to making sure I smashed the bug flying in my face. Things near my face make me a bit crazy. Clearly.

I made it to the shelter close to 6pm, a whole hour after Lizard. I went and got water to filter. Once back at camp I decided to sleep in the shelter (which is crazy.. because you know, gnats) but I didn’t see anywhere I wanted my tent and the weather app says it’s supposed to rain overnight. Annnnd, honestly, I was just too tired to deal with setting it up.

Tie-dye ended up coming in a bit after me! He’s staying in the shelter, too. Lizard has her hammock up. The three of us ate dinner together and chatted about life. Tie-dye started in GA,I didn’t realize that until today.

We were all three about ready to turn into bed when a weekender comes barreling up to us. Im not sure if he’s retired or still active army, but he has definitely served.. and man he came up the little hill to us quick! He lives nearby and is doing weekend backpacking trips over the summer. We stayed up and chatted with him for awhile. Then as he started setting up his tent, I came and got on my bunk in the shelter.

There’s another group of people down the way some, and they’re quite loud. If you ever forget what day of the week it is, you’ll quickly be reminded when it’s a weekend! Haha I don’t think they’ll be loud for long, it’s sprinkling a little.
I’m putting in my earplugs and hoping for some restful sleep tonight. Maybe I’ll get lucky.

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.