Day 73 - The Origin of WallabyMan (12/9/2016)

I felt much better today. Sleeping on a beach next to a river and waking up cold was a nice antidote to the last few days (that's right, COLD!!). I made coffee and headed out. There was a deli about 10 miles into today's walk, so that was the goal for lunch.

Instead of the deli, I ended up at a Garden Centre that offered an outdoor showerhead (with roughly zero privacy), cold drinks, ice cream, and power supply for charging devices. I stayed on their porch for a couple of hours to eat my own food and lighten my pack, and charge my phone.

As usual these days, I headed back on the trail with no idea where the next water source would be.  It turns out that the answer was Nuclear Lake. I'd been warned not to touch the water here, and my trail guide notably did not include it as a water source. That said, there were no warnings about water or fish toxicity posted anywhere near the lake. Ponds aren't my favourite water source, but these days I'm not very picky. I did what I usually do when faced with a substandard water option - take some with me, but don't use it unless it becomes necessary.

It's a good thing I brought it, since there were no other water sources around. I may be radioactive, but at least I'm not thirsty.

Besides, maybe this is going to be my origin story.

Start: Ten Mile River
End: South end of Nuclear Lake
Distance: 16.2 miles

* At some point today I crossed into New York. New York must just assume we'll feel the difference, because there were no signs.

Day 72 - Kent (11/9/2016)

This morning started with a thunderstorm and a short walk into Kent, CT. I ended up there for a long time, so it's now late. Here are the bullet points:

• Walked two miles into Kent, the richest town I've ever seen. I walked past Kent School whose tuition is probably more than I've ever earned in a year.
• Rich kids are everywhere.
• I bought new socks and a pair of Crocs!
• I found Eskimo!!!! He's back on trail after a short, giardia-induced break
• There were some beautiful views of sunsets.
• I camped on a beach after a few hours of night hiking!

Start: Skiff Mtn Rd.

End: Ten Mile River

Distance: 11.5 miles

Day 71 - My Kingdom for a Glass of Water (10/9/2016)

Another morning where putting the pack on hurt. A bit of rain made the morning temperatures bearable, but I fell hard for the first time since New Hampshire, Pouch's rain cover is now torn, and the tip on one of my trekking poles is broken. I've been walking in the same socks for 6 straight days, lost one of my camp shoes, and messed things up so I won't be able to make my next maildrop. The rain also didn't last and we were back to hot, humid, and water-less. To try and help stay comfortable I spent most of the afternoon walking in just my underwear. I still ran out of water before coming on a really sad source where I fought frogs for access. I called it a day and camped down there.

I have to say that the best parts of the last few weeks of hiking have been the days I wasn't hiking. I'm not sure how much more drought I can [or want to] endure. No one who attempted the Connecticut challenge today made it.

Start: Pine Swamp Brook
End: Skiff Mtn Road
Distance: 14.2 miles

Day 70 - Snake Safety: A cross-cultural study (9/9/2016)

Another slow start today. Long breaks make it tough to get going. Still, I fought the through. The weather is hot and humid, and water remains scarce which means carrying a lot more than I'd like. The word is it'll be like this all the way to Maryland, so if I'm honest, I'll be really glad to get the hell out of the mid-Atlantic.

On the other hand, I'm seeing a lot of new SOBO faces. Who knew there were so many behind us!

Also some familiar SOBO faces! I found Pancake! It's been three whole states since our paths diverged, so it was really cool to finally cross paths again. We'll likely see each other for the next few days/weeks before she takes some time to visit and hike with friends in her home state (New Jersey).

Today also resulted in an exciting first: my first rattlesnake! Here is how I deal with coming face to face with a venomous snake:

Australia: give the snake a very wide berth, and hope that snakes don't have a good memory for faces.

North America: get my camera out and try to get a good picture until it finally rears up into a strike coil and rattles its tail.

I couldn't get a good shot, but trust me: rattlesnakes are kind of ugly.

Start: Streams under Lion's Head
End: Pine Swamp Brook
Distance: 17 miles

Day 69 - Challenge (un)accepted! (8/9/2016)

Farewelled the Colin, Dave & Rebecca crew today after a great coffee, bacon and egg breakfast and a resupply trip. Dave even got to play trail angel to some hikers with some leftover water.

Falling back a week means I'm meeting a whole new set of hikers. A few have decided to do the Connecticut Challenge - hiking all 51 miles of CT in a single day. This typically means starting at midnight, and walking fast-ish for 24 hours. It also usually means several days of suffering and recovery.

Other trail challenges:

12x12: do 12 miles before noon.

Marathon: do 26.2 miles in a day

4 State Challenge: touch 4 states in a single day. Typically this is Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia. It works because MD and WV are 44 miles between them.

At the top of Bear Mountain in CT, I met two hikers who gave me bananas and a nectarine that they thought was a pluot (cross between a plum and an apricot). It turns out one is the pastry/pantry chef at Zinc in New Haven - a fancy farm to table restaurant that I'm hoping to visit some day. I'll try to bring her a pluot.

I met a guy who assured me there was water at Riga. Since the area I'm in is suffering a drought, that information is worth gold. He was also a rude opinionated ex-hiker, so I shouldn't have been surprised that he was wrong. (not everyone i meet on trail is great...)

Start: Mt Everett Rd

End: Lion's Head + a bit

Distance: 11.5 miles