Day 115 – Rain Threats

The campsite next to the Deli we arrived at the night prior was precariously placed. It was located between a fairly busy road and a fairly busy train station. Not exactly ideal. Sleeping would have been close to impossible for me if it weren’t for my earplugs. Even then, I still woke up a little tired.

When we went to sleep the night prior, there was one other tent there. When we woke up, we found that tent belonged to Hatcher and Stanley (there’s only so many models of tents out here and they all look the same). We caught up on the previous few days’ happenings and played with Stanley.

It had rained overnight and there was more rain in the forecast this evening. There wasn’t exactly a plan for the day, miles-wise, but it was a short seven miles to cross into Connecticut, so at a minimum we would accomplish that milestone. We ate breakfast at the deli together and got on trail after 10:00 a.m.

We hiked through some damp pastureland before the trail took us to the forest. There was a damp mist that hung in the air for the majority of the day. Overall, most of the trail today was fairly cruise-y.

Random Thought of the Day:

This tree looks like a character in the Nightmare Before Christmas (comment the answer down below).

At a shelter a few miles in we heard that up ahead, there was a bridge out. The water crossing required you to ford the stream or take a reroute and road walk around it. We looked on our maps, there was nothing indicating a bridge being out. I passed a few SOBO (southbound) hikers who looked dry and thought perhaps it was not the difficult crossing people made it out to be.

I arrived there with Hatcher at the same time. He had put his crocs on and was about to cross. I scanned up and down the stream for other suitable places for crossing, none were particularly appealing. Off the shoes came and I crossed in my flip flops. The water came just up above my knees at its highest point. The crossing went well minus one little wobble on a slippery rock. I emerged on the other side dry from the knees up. Nobody got dysentery. You can see my crossing on Hatchers Instagram @bcbrown58

We hiked on and all met up at the next shelter around 4:00 p.m. I was informed the next shelter after this one was 16 miles up ahead and not a feasible target for today. Also, with the impending rain, the suggestion was made we stay at this one.

I have all but abandoned shelter sleeping since New Jersey. The reason being is that I am a tasty little morsel for mosquitoes, and a shelter does nothing to protect you from those evil elements. My tent, however, provides excellent protection provided I mind the flap when getting in and out and mosquitoes don’t sneak in.

So we ended up stopping early due to rain and no better places to stay. The shorter ten-mile day today might do me well, as my right achilles has been mildly sore for a few days now. Sleep came early, before 10:00 p.m., which has been the earliest night for some time.

Stow away in my pack for day 116 of the Appalachian Trail.