Connecticut in a Flash

It seems like just yesterday that we entered the beautiful state of Connecticut and she is already behind us. I woke to a light rain coming down on the tent and it ended just before I needed to get up and on the Trail. Our first stop was just six miles out of town in the picture perfect town of Falls River for breakfast at the Toymakers Cafe.

I ordered the peanut butter cup waffles and they were amazing. I don’t think I could have eaten all of this off Trail but it went down quickly being no match for the hiker hunger. The hike out of Falls River was gorgeous and the Trail was lined with tall purple wildflowers that created a colorful tunnel.

The Trail crosses several large fields up over steep Bear Mountain. On the other side of Bear Mountain, I walked into Salisbury to finally retrieve my sleeping pad that I had sent home. It had arrived at the post office in Kent (thank you Bryan!) a day after I left. Bryan called the post office to have it forwarded along to Massachusetts. Instead, a sweet postal employee offered to leave it in her front yard in Salisbury for me to pick up. It was such a kind gesture and got me back to comfortable sleep a few days early.

About nine miles out of Salisbury we stopped at a famous swimming hole with unbelievably ice cold water. It felt so good but I could only stand it for a few minutes. Fortunately, that is all it took for my legs and feet to feel better. Cold water does the trick every time. Then we passed across then border into Massachusetts – my tenth state. I can’t believe that I’ve covered 1,500 miles in just three months.

Our final climb of the day was really steep but the views were worth it. It was so clear that we could see the Catskills off to the west. We didn’t stay at the top too long though because a big storm was moving in and we had to run down the mountain to get to our campsite before the winds and rain started. We made it in time and ate dinner quickly and got tucked into our sleeping bags. It’s going to be a cold night but tomorrow’s weather is supposed to be ideal for hiking.