Appalachian Trail - Day 100 - Finerty Pond to Crystal Mountain Campsite

Day: 100

Date: Wednesday, 02 August 2023

Start:  Finerty Pond (AT Mile 1561.2)

Finish:  Crystal Mountain Campsite (AT Mile 1582.0)

Daily Kilometres:  33.5 (Ascent 2940', Descent 2910')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  2608.2

Weather:  Mild and sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent 

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Hot dogs

  Lunch:  Pop tarts/Trail mix 

  Dinner:  Chicken cheesesteak sub/chicken & bacon sub, ice-cream 

Aches:  Dave - left knee sore; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  When we reached the road crossing where we planned to have breakfast, six miles into our day's hiking, we found two former AT hikers (brothers who completed the trail over three years) just setting up to provide breakfast to any passing thru-hikers.  We had cold Cokes to drink, some donuts and a couple of hot dogs each while chatting to the interesting guys and another young thru-hiking couple who turned up.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Another fairly unremarkable day's hiking apart, perhaps, from the culinary side.  We were lucky enough to get breakfast provided by some "trail angels" (see above) and then we passed through the pretty and well-kept village of Dalton late in the afternoon and bought a hot meal for dinner at a sub shop, followed by an ice-cream as we walked out of town.

Otherwise, the day was very similar to yesterday, with pleasant conifer forest, generally good hiking, though punctuated with lots of short ups and downs and plenty of boggy sections.  Although in the forest for most of the time we did cross several roads and pass near houses occasionally.  Views were scarce, with only Warner Hill (2048') offering a vista to the north including Mt Greylock, Massachusetts' highest peak, which we will climb tomorrow.

After our early dinner in Dalton, we hiked for another couple of hours until 7:00pm when we stopped at a nice designated hikers' campsite for the night.  Also camped there were the French-Canadian couple we have got to know over the past few weeks and Julie socialised with them while Dave wrote the blog.

Appalachian Trail - Day 099 - South Mount Wilcox Shelter to Finerty Pond

Day: 099

Date: Tuesday, 01 August 2023

Start:  South Mount Wilcox Shelter (AT Mile 1540.6)

Finish:  Finerty Pond (AT Mile 1561.2)

Daily Kilometres:  32.5 (Ascent 4052', 4042')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  2608.2

Weather:  Mild and sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts, ice-cream 

  Lunch:  Trail mix

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals.

Aches:  Dave - multiple niggles; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  A little over seven miles into today's hike we crossed a very quiet rural road near an immaculate country farm house outside of which was set up a farm stall for AT thru-hikers.  It consisted of a small shed with a fridge and shelving inside and all sorts of goodies ranging from ice cream sandwiches to cold drinks to snacks and eggs.  It had power points for recharging devices, a wifi hotspot and a gas BBQ.  Payment was all on an honour system with a price list and a zipped bag to put your money in.  Soon after we got there and bought our treats, several other thru-hikers we had got to know turned up and we had a very social half-hour on the adjacent picnic table comparing trail stories.

Lowlight:  It was largely a very welcome mosquito-less day, but they emerged in their hundreds as we set up camp and we had to eat our dinner wearing our full rain gear as protection.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We were hiking by 6:40am on a cool morning with relatively few mosquitoes through mostly conifer pine needle-carpeted forest.

Apart from the farm stall (see above), it was a pleasant, but unremarkable day.  The mild weather with low humidity made for enjoyable hiking and the scenery was picturesque.

Again, we were often reminded we were not in the wilderness by frequent road crossings, the occasional residence and some rural views.  We had to cross a couple of valleys on boardwalks and there were plenty of boggy patches to negotiate.

There were also some significant climbs including Cobble Hill from which there were excellent views and we also passed by some lovely ponds.

Around 5:00pm we climbed our last mountain for the day, Becket Mountain, and then descended to Finerty Pond where we found a very nice campsite (apart from the mosquitoes) near the pond.  Strictly speaking, we don't think we're allowed to camp here, but we will "leave no trace" when we leave in the morning.  All in all, we had a good day.

Appalachian Trail - Day 098 - Sheffield-Egremont Road to South Mount Wilcox Shelter

Day: 098

Date: Monday, 31 July 2023

Start:  Sheffield-Egremont Road (AT Mile 1527.2)

Finish:  South Mount Wilcox Shelter (AT Mile 1540.6)

Daily Kilometres:  23.4 (Ascent 2933', Descent 1795')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  2575.7

Weather:  Mild and mostly sunny with a couple of showers in the afternoon.

Accommodation:  Tent 

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Motel's buffet breakfast 

  Lunch:  Ham, cheese & tomato sandwiches 

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals 

Aches:  Dave - some niggles; Julie - mosquito bites.

Highlight:  None really.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

It was late by the time we got to bed last night, so we slept in, having booked our shuttle back to the trail for 9:30am.  We had the motel's modest buffet breakfast in their dining room and Julie then bought supplies for the next couple of days from the nearby organic supermarket, which didn't have a lot of options.

Our shuttle driver arrived on time and we were at the trailhead 15 minutes later, where we met Grits, the old thru-hiker we first met way back in the Smoky Mountains about 10 weeks ago.  It was good to see he was still going (and he is camped at the same place as us tonight).  At the trailhead we were told there was Trail Magic at a road crossing a couple of miles further on, which we didn't really need, having just gorged ourselves at the motel.  However, never ones to pass up a cold drink, we did stop and also had pressed on us some food.  The Trail Magic was provided by a church organization who apparently do it every day of the week during hiker season.

By the time we left there it was 10:45am and we clearly weren't going to get a lot of miles done today.  Although the early trail was flat as it crossed a valley, we were soon climbing again onto a forested mountain.  This part of Massachusetts has been settled for a long time so, although the trail could often have been passing through wilderness miles from anywhere given what we could see in the forest, we often suddenly emerged onto a road or by a field with houses visible in the distance.  In the forest there were frequent gnarly climbs that slowed us down, but also long stretches of quite walkable trail in the pretty pine-needle-carpeted conifer forest.  There was also a lot of muddy sections which could not be bypassed.

At one road crossing, someone had left out water, energy bars and two freeze-dried meals.  We didn't need any extra meals, but they were more appetising than the noodles Julie had been able to find at the organic grocery this morning so we took them and left our noodles!  We are becoming quite mercenary when it comes to Trail Magic.

After three fairly long and arduous days, we decided, while having our late lunch break, to set more modest daily goals for the remainder of the trip so we don't feel so pressured.  It has been harder to crank out the 20-mile days in the last week or two - maybe because the trail has been more difficult or maybe because Dave is becoming bone-weary and hiking more slowly.  Anyway, with likely less than seven weeks to go and well inside our rough schedule, we can afford to take a few extra days.

With that philosophy in mind, we camped near a shelter around 6:30pm, just as a rain shower finished, comfortable with our meagre 13.4 mile day.

Appalachian Trail - Day 097 - US Route 44 to Sheffield-Egremont Road

Day: 097

Date: Sunday, 30 July 2023

Start:  US Route 44 (AT Mile 1507.6)

Finish:  Sheffield-Egremont Road (AT Mile 1527.2)

Daily Kilometres:  31.1 (Ascent 4452', Descent 4462')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  2552.3

Weather:  Mild and sunny.

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs

  Lunch:  Pop tarts & trail mix

  Dinner:  Hamburger & fries, ice-cream.

Aches:  Dave - a few niggles; Julie - mosquito bites.

Highlight:  Walking the Mt Race Ledges on a beautiful clear day with splendid views across Connecticut and Massachusetts was special.

Lowlight:  Once again the hiking was slower than anticipated and we ended up hiking much later than hoped.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Our host of last night, Ben (a retired airline pilot), cooked us scrambled eggs for breakfast before driving us back to the trailhead at 7:00am on a cool clear morning.  The storm of last evening had brought a cool change and humidity was low for the first time in weeks. It was wonderful to hike without feeling overheated and being bathed in sweat.

After road-walking a mile or so, we reached the trailhead for the climb up Bear Mountain and found a cooler with soft drinks left there for thru-hikers and helped ourselves to one each - a good omen for the day.  Then, as we climbed up the mountain in the forest, we noticed even the mosquitoes were few and far between. The contrast with yesterday was marked and very welcome.

The climb up Bear Mountain evoked memories for Dave of climbing the same mountain about 25 years ago with his then 9 or 10 year old son, Aaron, who sadly passed away almost exactly two years ago.  It was poignant to meet a father and his young enthusiastic son climbing the mountain as we made the very steep gnarly descent.

The good views from Bear Mountain, soon after which we crossed the border from Connecticut into Massachusetts, were surpassed by the excellent walk along the Mt Race Ledges (see above) which followed.  It really was a special day.

Along with the views went a lot of very slow climbing and ascending on rocky and often wet and slippery trail.  Overall, the trail was also very wet, with frequent boggy patches, large puddles and water flowing down the path, the consequence of lots of recent rainfall. (Sadly, we read yesterday that the body of a missing thru-hiker had been found in Vermont, apparently the victim of drowning while trying to ford a creek two weeks ago following heavy rain.)

The climb up Mt Everett was particularly arduous and slow, fortunately offset by more great views, and we realized we would be lucky to reach out goal, Route 7, from where we planned to hitchhike into Great Barrington where we had a motel room booked.  We continued on, hoping the hiking would become easier and faster, but it did not happen.  The final descent from the mountain ridge was exceptionally slow so when we reached the valley floor we decided to get in touch with a hiker shuttle driver who agreed to pick us up at a minor road crossing, two miles short of Route 7, at 7:15pm.  The last couple of miles to the shuttle was through boggy mosquito-infested forest which made us doubly glad of our decision to get the shuttle.

We checked into the motel in Great Barrington around 7:30pm and bought take-out dinner.  We will have a sleep-in tomorrow morning then buy supplies for the next few days, before getting shuttled back to the trailhead.

Appalachian Trail - Day 096 - Cesar Brook Campsite to US Route 44

Day: 096

Date: Saturday, 29 July 2023

Start:  Cesar Brook Campsite (AT Mile 1488.0)

Finish:  US Route 44 (AT Mile 1507.6)

Daily Kilometres:  31.7 (Ascent 3625', Descent 3547')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  2521.2

Weather:  Very warm and humid with a rain shower in the morning and a thunderstorm with rain in the afternoon.

Accommodation:  Room in a private home near Salisbury.

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Trail mix

  Lunch:  Western Omelette & hash browns/Skillet & hash browns 

  Dinner:  Clam chowder, lasagna.

Aches:  Dave - very tired; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  To save time at the end of the day, when we needed to resupply in the village of Salisbury which was about half a mile off the trail, Julie went ahead to go into the village with the plan being for her to get the supplies and rejoin the slower Dave back on the trail.  As Julie reached the road which she was going to follow into town it began to rain as thunder rolled overhead.  A car which had just passed her did a U-turn, came back and the driver suggested Julie hop in and he would take her to his home nearby where could have a feed and stay the night.  She explained that she was with her "husband" who would be along shortly and the driver, Ben, said that was fine and that it was a genuine offer and no "funny business" and that he has done it for other hikers on occasion.  Julie said she needed to get supplies in Salisbury then return to meet Dave, so Ben drove her to the grocery and back to the trailhead where Dave had arrived.  We then went to Ben's big 100-y-o house on a large property by a lake and he gave us dinner and a room with an ensuite and let us wash our wet and smelly gear.  We had anticipated camping in the rain, so felt very lucky.  Ben will drive us back to the trailhead in the morning.

Lowlight:  The first eight miles of the day seemed to take forever with the rocky gnarly trail twisting and turning and going up and down and never seeming to get anywhere. It felt like we were just going in circles.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We were walking by 6:40am on a day when we hoped to do 21 miles to put us in reach of Great Barrington tomorrow night where we have a hotel booked.  Ideally we would reach the village of Salisbury at the end of the day and resupply for tomorrow before going a little further to camp.  However, after yesterday we were becoming a bit wary of the Connecticut trails which were often slow going and hard work.

Our fears were well-founded, and the first eight miles of the day were slow (see above), with few views and some heavy rain.  The mosquitoes were also quite bad, so our mood wasn't that good when we finally came down from a mountain at a road crossing, but it improved when we found a young couple offering "trail magic" treats to thru-hikers there.  We stopped for a while, eating, drinking and chatting before moving on to our planned brunch stop at a cafe a few hundred yards off the trail a mile further on.  There we enjoyed an excellent brunch before resuming our journey with the trail now following the Housatonic River again on a beautiful path through the woods.

Near Falls Village we crossed the river and hiked past the impressive falls before climbing away from the river into the mosquito-infested forest again.  At least the trail was easier going and the scenery and views good.  We made reasonable progress though it was getting late in the day.

To save time we decided Julie would go on ahead and get our supplies in Salisbury, which she did, but not in the manner expected (see above).  Given that it was raining and we were both quite wet, the very unexpected offer of a room in a private home was most welcome.

We didn't get quite as far as hoped today, but should still be able to make it to Great Barrington tomorrow if the Connecticut trails cooperate.

Appalachian Trail - Day 095 - Bull's Covered Bridge to Cesar Brook Campsite

Day: 095

Date: Friday, 28 July 2023

Start:  Bull's Covered Bridge (AT Mile 1466.4)

Finish:  Cesar Brook Campsite (AT Mile 1488.0)

Daily Kilometres:  36.4 (Ascent 4984', Descent 4590')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  2489.5

Weather:  Hot, humid and sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  McDonalds breakfast sandwiches & hash browns

  Lunch:  Trail mix, ice-creams

  Dinner:  Italian sub

Aches:  Dave - left ankle and knee giving him problems; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  There was a very pleasant stretch of easy walking on a sun-dappled trail alongside the fast-flowing Housatonic River during the afternoon when the mosquitoes were absent.

Lowlight:  The last four miles were not fun.  We were already later than we had hoped because of a distance miscalculation Dave made but decided to continue on to our target campsite even though we knew we would be late.  We didn't know how late!  Firstly, there was a technical and slow climb away from the river up and over a mountain that offered no views.  Then, after crossing a road, we descended to Guinea Brook which was running fast and at least knee-deep at its shallowest points.  There was a sign suggesting a roadwalk alternative that added a mile (why wasn't there a similar sign back at the road crossing?). At the end of a long day, we didn't fancy a difficult ford so we did the road walk.  Then, when we got back on the trail, there was more slow technical climbing followed by a gnarly long detour around another section of trail that had been washed away.  It was getting late and there were no alternative campsites so we just kept going, eventually donning our headlights when it got too dark to see around 8:30pm.  We finally reached our campsite at 8:45pm.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

The day started well.  Rob drove us from New Haven back to Bull's Covered Bridge and the trail with a stop along the way to get breakfast.  We, including Rob who was going to join us for a few hours, were hiking by 7:45am on an already very warm and humid morning.

Soon we were on the long ascent of Mt Schaghticoke.  Early on, Julie and Rob saw a large unconcerned black bear amble across the trail in front of them, which provided a bit of excitement.  At the top of the climb there were good views in a few places, but also lots of slow gnarly rocky trail that had Dave lagging behind.

Eventually, we descended to a busy road where there was a sign saying a bridge ahead had been damaged by flood water and recommending a roadwalk detour.  This was near the point where Rob was leaving us to walk back to his car via a road along the river but, before he left, he pointed out that the detour would take us close to the village of Kent where we might get an ice-cream.

We took the roadwalk detour and then detoured from that by a quarter mile to buy ice-creams and cold drinks which we ate and drank on a shady spot next to the gas station.

Returning to the detour, we had a long and pretty walk along the Housatonic River before beginning our last four miles of the day which became a bit of a nightmare (see above).

Having arrived so late we set up camp, washed and went to bed.  Dave ate his lunch roll for dinner, but Julie didn't want anything.  Hopefully we'll get to stop earlier tomorrow.

Appalachian Trail - Day 094 - Two days' off at Bull's Covered Bridge (but staying in New Haven)

Day: 093 & 094

Date: Wednesday & Thursday, 26 & 27 July 2023

Start:  Bull's Covered Bridge (AT Mile 1466.4) but staying in New Haven

Finish:  Bull's Covered Bridge (AT Mile 1466.4) but staying in New Haven 

Daily Kilometres:  0

GPX Track:  Click here and here for Julie’s Strava & Photos from her walks around New Haven.

Total Kilometres:  2453.1

Weather:  Hot and partly sunny

Accommodation:  Friend's apartment in New Haven

Aches:  None reported.

Highlight:  None really.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: No pictures

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We've enjoyed two very relaxing days staying with friend, Rob, in his lovely New Haven apartment about a mile from the centre of town and close to some of Yale University's campus.

Yesterday, Rob drove us to REI, an outdoor store, and we bought insect headnets, long-sleeved hiking shirts and stronger insect repellent (100% DEET) to improve our mosquito defences, along with some other supplies.

Today, Dave managed to watch on TV the Women's World Cup soccer match between Australia and Nigeria with Rob, a keen soccer fan, and then took it easy for the rest of the day.

Julie, of course, went on a few local exploration trips to help pass the time.

Rob will drive us back to the trail early tomorrow morning and hike with us for much of tomorrow as a day hike.  There is a heat warning out for tomorrow and Saturday.