5a comes early in the morning, especially after only okay sleep. I imagine that it won’t be until I’m home and back in my own bed that I’ll get a solid night of sleep. Only two more months. I can do that. Partway through the night Warthog shook me awake. “Do you hear them?” He asked. How could I not? There was a chorus of coyotes just off in the distance. They were making all kinds of noise. It’s probably the most coyotes I’ve heard in one place. Just earlier in the day I was talking about how surprised I am that I haven’t heard them yet. It seems like I hear them anytime we go camping in Michigan, why not on the AT? Now I have. It’s like I’m crossing off another thing on the list. See a snake, check. Hitchhike, check. Go to Trail Days, check. Bears, check. Moose, wait until Maine. Listen to coyotes, check.
We woke up right at dawn, or maybe even a little before it. We were moving so early that I was even the first at the shelter to use the privy. I looked up when I stepped in and wished I hadn’t. In addition to the sea of cobwebs, I watched a little furry body scramble in the ceiling boards. Mouse droppings in the structure confirmed what I figured it was. I’m not afraid of mice, I just don’t love having the diseases they carry all around me.
We were hitting the trail at 6:25a – five minutes earlier than our goal. It was a little victory, but one we needed. Warthog warned me that we had a tough day ahead of us. 4,400 feet of elevation gain. It’s like climbing out of the Natahalla Outdoor Center (NOC), only a little bit more. The NOC is a famous spot on the trail that most backpackers dread because of the continuous climb. We were shooting for a twenty three mile day, so the climbing would be a little more dispersed. Still, it’s a lot of legwork… literally.
Early in the day we left New York and entered Connecticut. With temperatures reaching the high 80’s, we were exhausted. We took a few more breaks than normal. Our first section for the day was about ten miles. Then we could arrive at a road crossing that is only .8 miles to Kent, CT – a town with a store that Darn Tough socks offers warranty exchanges at. Snow Monkey and Wonder Woman both had socks with holes that needed to be warrantied. Our goal was to get in and get out. We got in okay. In less than a minute with our thumbs out, a local man stopped. He was very kind and dropped us off right in the center of town.
We walked over to the shoe store and made the necessary exchanges. There I met a woman who is also a photographer. Only, she’s staff for a newspaper. I was shocked. Most people probably aren’t aware, but newspapers rarely have staff photographers anymore. If they are buying professional photos, it’s usually from freelance photographers. In fact, she told me that in the twenty or so years she’s worked there, the paper went from having twelve staff photographers to just one – her. We talked shop for a bit and I enjoyed meeting both her and her family. They wished us all luck and headed on their way.
The next stop in town was the outfitters store. We bought a water bladder in Harper’s Ferry for our filter. You fill it with the water straight from the source, screw on the filter, and then squeeze out the filtered water into your drinking bottle or bladder. Warthog followed the salesman’s suggestion and bought a particular brand. He was sold on the promised lifetime warranty. It lasted a couple of weeks and sprung a leak. He’s been pinching off the hole in the bladder, a method that’s worked for now but isn’t the solution. We were hoping the outfitter would have an alternative or at best would be willing to exchange the broken bladder for a new one. No such luck. This is more of a boutique than an outfitter. We will wait for another town and will try again. In the meantime, Warthog bought a Smart Water at the gas station and will use that.
After the outfitter we walked across the street to a hotdog stand. It was probably one of the better decisions of our day. The owner gave us all kinds of dogs at a discounted price because they were a bit overdone. We each had two and a half hotdogs, split a potato knish, all with popcorn and drinks we got at the gas station next door.
The hotdog stand owner was incredibly kind. He also was incredibly proud of his hometown. You could tell by the way he shared details about the town; the movies that were filmed here, the famous people who lived in the area, local amenities for hikers, etc. We sat there for probably the better part of an hour. A good chunk of that time was spent visiting with him. We could have stayed and ate until we burst, but if we had any hope of reaching our goal, we needed to leave. It was 4:15p.
The hitch out of town was so much harder to get than the hitch into it. Finally a woman stopped and we piled into her car. It wasn’t far to the trail, but far enough we’d rather drive. Especially on an already long day. The woman saw a local man coming off of the trail with his dog and waved at him. “Hi friend!” She said. He came over and they continued a conversation that obviously had not been finished the last time they crossed paths. As I briefly interrupted to wave and say thank you, the man turned to me to chat a bit as well. I learned that both he and the woman were photographers. From what I overheard, I think they are putting together a show and she needs him to become a member to a gallery or something first. We talked just for a moment before we said our goodbyes and turned to cross the road, setting foot on the AT once again.
We did not reach our goal mileage. The afternoon only had a couple of harder uphill pushes. We started immediately with one. At the top of that we were all melted and needed a break. We hadn’t been back on the trail for more than a half hour, it was just so hot that the breaks were necessary. At that point I think we decided that we would need to fall short of our goal by a couple of miles. We still hit twenty miles or just over. It was still a big day, one I am proud of. In fact, we hit the 2/3rds mark for the trail today!
The timing for calling it was perfect. We hiked down a steep rocky descent with the final hour of daylight. All of us slipped a bit here and there, but we reached the end and still had thirty minutes until sunset. The last three miles were flat and we flew through them. It was 9p when we arrived at camp. Our sites were .1 miles off of the river and surprisingly have their own privy. We are about a half mile beyond the shelter. Two trail privies so close is almost unheard of.
We set up camp as quickly as possible and I made lunch tortillas for dinner. We aren’t overly hungry but know we ought to eat. The deep, nighttime dark was on us when we arrived. Warthog hung the food bags and then came back to pass out. I’m ready to do the same. It’s been a long day. Unfortunately for Warthog, he found out he has some poison ivy on his feet and legs. He’s weathering it like a champ though. I was worried he’d get it out here. I think this makes round two now.
-Ansel