Day One
Monday, May 1, 2017
Hoyt Road to Skiff Mountain Road
14.3 miles
Monday, May 1, 2017
Hoyt Road to Skiff Mountain Road
14.3 miles
We
drove into Bearded Woods Hostel last night for a planned three days of slackpacking
to start off our section of 291.2 miles through Connecticut, Massachusetts and
Vermont—the longest section we have ever attempted. Although we feel that our 20 weeks of
training at home have put us in the best shape we have ever been in before
hiking, three days of slackpacking will help us get acclimated to the terrain
and the altitude at the beginning of this long
journey.
Bearded
Woods Hostel is run by 2008 thru-hiker Hudson and his wife, Big Lu. They have been in business as a hostel about
6 years. The season opens on May 1 for
them, so we barely made it! Two other
hikers--Jag Happy and Greg were there. Greg is only doing a week, Jag Happy is doing a long section, trying to make it to
Katahdin to finish up what he started in
previous years.
The
hostel is made up of a common area, a bathroom/shower and two bunk rooms
located in t he basement of Hudson and Big Lu’s home. It has a big wood stove in the common room, which heats the entire house.
The warmth felt good when we entered the room, it being a little chilly
outside still.
We
made it to the hostel after a 2-day drive up from Knoxville, stopping last
night in Stephens City, Virginia and going through West Hartford, CT to
exchange my Keen hiking shoes at the REI there.
I discovered yesterday that the inner lining had worn through in the
heel area of both shoes, causing me to get
a blister on my left heel after only a little walking on the A.T. at
Cornelius Shelter on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I’ve only had the shoes since
January, so they gladly exchanged them for
a new pair. I hope the new ones
last longer.
We started
out the morning with a wonderful breakfast at 6:30 prepared by Big Lu. Egg
casserole, home made sausage, English muffins, yogurt, orange juice and coffee.
Then Hudson shuttled us and Jag Happy, while Big Lu took Greg somewhere north of us.
We left our truck at Skiff Mountain Road, then rode with Hudson to Hoyt Road at the New York/Connecticut border. We started hiking at 8:45 and finished the 14.4 mile day at 5:20. Not a hard day except two mountains. It was a long climb going up to Indian Rock, and it was a steep climb after crossing Kent Road.
We left our truck at Skiff Mountain Road, then rode with Hudson to Hoyt Road at the New York/Connecticut border. We started hiking at 8:45 and finished the 14.4 mile day at 5:20. Not a hard day except two mountains. It was a long climb going up to Indian Rock, and it was a steep climb after crossing Kent Road.
On
this first day of hiking the weather started out at 45 degrees, reaching 60's
later in day. Perfect hiking weather. I started out with pants and long sleeves but
got down to shorts and short sleeves in the afternoon in spite of the black flies.
I started out right away with a fall. We had just crossed one of the rock-laden streams and coming out on the other side of it, while stepping on and over the rocks, a stick got between my two feet and tripped me up. I went down on both knees right on the rocks, putting golf-ball sized lumps on each of my knees. No scrapes though--I just had knots on my knees for a few days afterward. If I had had my large backpack on, the result would have been different because the heavy load always throws you down face-first when it gets started in that direction.
I was plagued with pain in both feet from Morton's neuroma. My new Keen’s did alright today although I was worried about wearing them without breaking them in. Wait-up carried my old Vasque boots just in case I had problems with new shoes. In fact, we laughed when we discovered that one of his boots also came along for the ride somehow. He looked funny with not two-but three boots tagging along behind him. We called his boot Dangler. Dangler didn’t want to be left behind, so it stowed away to come along for the ride.
We have added gaiters to our foot attire for the first time since the Keen’s are low-top shoes. The gaiters are designed to keep debri, water, etc from getting in your shoes.
Went back to hostel and had soup for dinner. We were in bed by 8.
I started out right away with a fall. We had just crossed one of the rock-laden streams and coming out on the other side of it, while stepping on and over the rocks, a stick got between my two feet and tripped me up. I went down on both knees right on the rocks, putting golf-ball sized lumps on each of my knees. No scrapes though--I just had knots on my knees for a few days afterward. If I had had my large backpack on, the result would have been different because the heavy load always throws you down face-first when it gets started in that direction.
I was plagued with pain in both feet from Morton's neuroma. My new Keen’s did alright today although I was worried about wearing them without breaking them in. Wait-up carried my old Vasque boots just in case I had problems with new shoes. In fact, we laughed when we discovered that one of his boots also came along for the ride somehow. He looked funny with not two-but three boots tagging along behind him. We called his boot Dangler. Dangler didn’t want to be left behind, so it stowed away to come along for the ride.
We have added gaiters to our foot attire for the first time since the Keen’s are low-top shoes. The gaiters are designed to keep debri, water, etc from getting in your shoes.
Went back to hostel and had soup for dinner. We were in bed by 8.
*Jag
Happy’s blog – Midnight Rendezvous – (Don R. Morgan) -
https://medium.com/@midnightrendezvous
https://medium.com/@midnightrendezvous
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