The Missing 43 AT Miles-
Dalton to Cheshire, MA and Kent to Salisbury, CT
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This 9.3 mile day hike and 33.4 mile 4 day backpacking trip took place
between Monday, June 15th and Friday, June 20th, 2008. I hiked this one
with Tom Stevenson.
We undertook this series of hikes to make up for some gaps created when we did not finish everything that we had set out to hike in 2007. So we drove up to Cheshire, MA, again stayed at the Harbor House Inn and then began the hikes. Sunday, June 15th, 2008- We got up at 5:00AM, ate ate 6:00AM, shuttled a car around to Dalton, MA at 7:00AM and were on the trail at 8:00AM. The first mile or so was in town along residential streets. Then we started up Crystal Mountain. We climbed about 800 feet in 4 miles. We crossed a power line right of way, then the Crystal Mountain camp site, which was the half way point. The trail then started to level off. We passed Gore Lake, which had very brackish water and alot of croaking frogs in and around it. Next we passed The Cobble, which was a marble rock outcropping and had a nice view. We then started a steep down to Cheshire. We ate lunch at a small ice cream place called Diane's Twist, then headed towards Salisbury, CT in preparation for our 4 day 33.4 mile backpacking trip from Kent back to Salisbury. We were passed by 3 northbound thru-hikers today. Monday, June 16th, 2008- Last night we stayed at Maria McCabe's house in Salisbury, CT. Maria is a 79 year old lady that takes in hikers. She goes out of her way to make your stay pleasant in ways such as such as driving you to the laundrymat or pizza parlor. She is also very entertaining. She has a managerie of animals that she feeds at her house such as hummingbirds, crows, bluebirds and even a brown fox. So we drove Tom's car down to Kent and started the 4 day 33.4 mile backpacking trip back to Salisbury. Since severe thunderstorms awere predicted, we decided to take the River Road route to the Stewart Hollow Brook Leanto, a distance of about 7 miles. The first 2 miles were along paved Skiff Mountain Road. The next 3 miles were along the River Road, then the last 2 miles were along conventional AT trail paralleling the Housatonic River, which we would be following the majority of this trip. We got to the shelter around noonish. There was one southbound section hiker there. During the day other hikers arrived. Around 5:00PM, we started hearing intense thunder. Then between 7:00PM and 11:00PM, it rained like cats & dogs. I was glad that we were in the shelter and not hiking, tenting or, worse yet, setting up a tent in the rain. People that were tenting nearby hurried to the shelter as their tents were becoming flooded. Some incoming thru hikers did have to set up their tents in the driving rain. The thunder and rain were intense. The rain was banging on the aluminum roof of the shelter. It was a rough night. That day we encountered 6 thru hikers, some northbound and some southbound, as well as 3 section hikers. Tuesday, June 17th, 2008- Yesterday was an easy hiking day. Today was a very rough hiking day. The goal was 10 miles and the Pine Swamp Brook Leanto. The day started out OK. We had about 3 more miles of river walking along the Housatonic River. Then the trail turned left and started up a mountain. I missed the turn. I continued walking at least 2 additional miles trying to find the trail. I walked back and forth along the River Road as well as an adjacent paved road but no luck. I finally went up to a farmer that I saw leaving his house and asked him where the AT was. He said about a mile down the road and at the top of the hill. So I trudged ahead and caught the trail. Now I was about an hour behind schedule. A few miles later I decided to take a high water route as Guinea Brook looked awful high after last night's storm. That added an additional mile onto my hike. The rest of the trail was up and down, up and down all day long along rocky, crappy trail. So I got to the Pine Swamp Branch Leanto about 10 hours and about 15 miles later. The trail kicked my butt today! Wednesday, June 18th, 2008- Easier day today. Six miles of good trail. Mostly downhill. Made it into Falls Village, CT by 1:00PM. Ate and got a cabin at the Mountainside Cafe. Taking it easy tonight. We also dodged another rainstorm by staying in a cabin. Tomorrow, the final 9.5 miles. Thursday, June 19th, 2008- The last day was a very good day. We had a Steak & Egg breakfast at the Mountainside Cafe, then took the Mohawk Trail back to the AT. The trail was nice to hike today. We had one 3 mile up over Mount Prospect. Then it was mostly level or downhill to Salisbury. I kept up with Tom most of the time today. We got to Salisbury around 4:00PM. We then got cleaned up and took our hostess Maria McCabe out to dinner at the local Pizzaria. Tomorrow it's a 7 hour drive back to reality. Epilogue- People often ask me why I hike so much. The answer that I always give is to enjoy the beauty of nature, to meet some really nice people and to get away from the rigors (not the word that I really wanted to use but you get the idea) of life for awhile. This trip gave me all 3 of these things. I am sad to be going home but happy to have spent this week in the woods. I have now hiked the AT from Georgia to within 4 miles of the Massachusetts/Vermont border. Only 600 more miles to Katahdin! Tom Stevenson's Pictures of This Hike
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Tom S in Dalton, MA By Mike Calabrese
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