Things are starting to look familiar...

Day 86 - 7/12/10
Slept well at the church. Got up around 7 and had a lazy morning
getting my things together, partly because I had to wait until 9 for
the outfitters and the pharmacy to open. In the meantime I went to the
convenience store and bought some chocolate milk, donuts, and a Dr.
Pepper. I had all that plus my pizza leftovers for breakfast. When 9
came I went to the pharmacy first and bought some hydrocortisone
ointment because I think I have poison ivy again. My ankles and feet
are covered in the same itchy red dots as last time. Then I went over
to the outfitter and bought a new fuel for my stove, and ended up
getting an ice cream sundae at the shoppe attached to it. It was a
good decision because all that food kept me fueled up for a lot of the
day.

So I didn't get out of town until 9:55, and with the walk back to the
trail it was probably more like 10:15 when I started. I felt good
though and made solid time. Before I made it to the first shelter the
trail started skirting the edge of another sweet river, the
Housatonic, and the trail followed it along a good 4 miles I'd say.
The first shelter, Stewart Hollow Lean-to, was in the middle of that
4. I stopped there by myself and had a nice lunchbreak.

It was another 10 to the next shelter, and although it was an
enjoyable section not much happened worth mentioning. One thing I
began to realize though was how the landscape definitely started
looking more familiar. Now that I'm back in New England I can see and
smell the woods I grew up in. I even had visions of walking down the
path at the Stump Ranch to the lake because I walked along trail that
was covered in dead pine needles and the same looking roots as the
ones we have there. Just like being back at home! I made it to that
shelter somewhere around 6 and stopped for dinner this time. I didn't
stay because I wanted to make it to a campsite about 2.5 miles away.
I've got to stick to a strict schedule now for the next few days
because on Friday morning my buddy Craig will be picking me up in Lee,
MA and taking me into Boston for a couple days. So after dinner I
cleaned up then headed out, hiking faster now because daylight was
fading. I made it to the camping area around 8:20 and only one other
guy was here. His name is Ben and he's out doing a 10 day section
hike. We talked for a bit while I set up my tent, but then we hurried
into them because the skeeters are so bad. Tomorrow I have a 20-mile
day scheduled to another campsite that'll put me right over the border
into Massachusetts. CT was a quick state!

And to update you all, my knee felt better today. Not 100%, but
definitely better. Let's hope this continues.

Total miles: 1476.1