Day 22 on the Trail - July 4th! - in CT

It was a very short conversation with Dave tonight.  I called after getting home from the Lindgren's annual July 4th party; Dave left the shelter so he wouldn't disturb the others while we talked.  In a few minutes he said, I don't want to be rude, but I'm getting eaten up by mosquitos.  Okay, get under that netting!!

As of July 4, 2011
Miles today - about 11
Miles to date- 256.4

It was another hard day of steep ascents and descents, with a short flat period along the Housatonic River Dave said was really pretty.  One of the climbs was over St. John's Ledges.  Dave said the trail was so steep going down, he had to use both hands and therefore had to let his pack and poles slide down ahead of him.  It must have been nerve-wracking to let go of his pack - hoping it would land where he wanted it to!

I found several pictures of St. John's Ledges on the internet, most showing sheer walls where hikers rappel down, but I could not upload them to the blog.  Here's one picture, though it's hard to see how almost vertical these rocks are compared to other pictures I saw.  Some parts were so steep "steps" had been carved out, but they were about 16-inches tall.  That's hard enough to climb, but imagine adding a 30-40 pound pack on your back.  Whew - what a day for Dave.

He's been meeting up with a couple of guys - Tin Man from Baltimore and Sherpa and his female companion.  Tin Man hopes to do the entire trail this summer, from GA to ME.  He asked Dave when he started.  Dave replied, "March 28th."  Tin Man said, "Really?  I started on March 27th.  I can't believe I haven't run into you before now."  Dave said, "Maybe that's because I started on March 28th, 2006." ha ha ha

Sherpa carries the same water hydration system (bladder) as does Dave.  He was filling it up in a stream today, and let it sit there by itself for awhile.  Later he had it lying on a table in the shelter.  Dave looked at it and told Sherpa there was a fish in it!!  I forgot to ask if it was big enough to have for dinner.  Probably not if it could swim into a water bladder.

A few of the hikers were going to climb the next mountain to see fireworks tonight, but Dave had had all the climbing he wanted for one day.  Happy 4th of July from here at home to Dave at the Pine Swamp Branch Lean-to near Cornwall, CT!