St Johns Ledges

Well, our hike today was different.  We did a loop with a partial road walk instead of a linear hike.  It all started with our discussion of St. Johns Ledges.

An active hornet's next hanging right next to the trail

Since we don’t have a guidebook for this section, we’re almost flying by the seat of our pants.  Gene subscribes to Trails.com and was able to find a trail description and map for a few of the sections of AT in Connecticut.  When we read the description from Trails.com about today’s section of the AT, we were apprehensive about the quarter mile section called St. Johns Ledges.  We each did Google searches, but everything we found only fueled our apprehension.  One hiker journal entry even showed a picture of a snake he saw.  By the time we went to bed last night we were almost afraid of crossing the “ledges”.  I certainly didn’t want to try it alone and, if I hiked south as usual, it would be uphill.

For Gene, I was concerned about crossing the “300 feet along the edge” just before the descent of the ledges.  Gene has a fear of vast open spaces with nothing below him but air.  I could envision a 300 foot long 8 inch wide stretch of trail at the edge of rock face.  We had already read how the Ledges are a very popular place for rock climbers.  I wasn’t too thrilled about getting across the edge myself.

For myself, I was more concerned about getting up the Ledges.  Several descriptions we read indicated hikers just scooted down on their butts.  One description said, “Gravity is your friend”.  I knew I couldn’t very well scoot up a rock.

In the end, after all the research, we decided to hike together.  Luckily, there was a gravel road at the base of the ledges which we could walk out on to our truck parked on CT 341 in Kent.  This would not have been our first choice, but we felt it was our best option to be safe in case either one of us had a problem.

As it turned out, the ledges were steep, but there wasn’t a place where I would not have been able to climb over.  There was no 300 foot long edge to cross.  So it was not nearly as bad as we had created in our minds.

We started our hike by crossing a stile into a cow pasture.  No cows were out today, so nothing to worry about there.  I’m not real fond of stiles, but this one was fine.  I didn’t have to put my hands on anything.  I hate those stiles in southern Virginia that are more like ladders.  I always think of the thousands of hikers who have walked through cow piles, then up and over the stile before me.  Makes me want to wear rubber gloves.

After the cow pasture, we had a steep climb up the mountain and then a pleasant walk across the ridge in open forest.  One place got close enough to the edge for a good view.  It was a little hazy, but not too bad.  The best views were at Caleb’s Peak.  This was the last good spot for a break before the dreaded “Ledges” so we sat on a rock, ate a snack, and enjoyed the view.

It took us a while to descend the Ledges, but we took our time and all went well.  We met another group going up as we were going down.  They graciously stepped to the side to let us come by.  I turned back to see where they were on the rock and to make a photo.  I was surprised to find them almost directly overhead.

We finally got down to the river and the gravel road.  We had a 3-mile walk back to the truck from there.  That went fast and was mostly shaded, so not so bad.

The truck is due for service, so we’ll not be hiking tomorrow.  The Ford dealership is in Litchfield.  We’ve driven through there several times on the way to the trail.  It looks like a very nice community.  I haven’t decided if I’ll tag along to do a tour of the town or just stay home and rest.

That’s it for today.

Bulls Bridge to Kent, Connecticut

Oh, man, what a day to forget my camera.  There were several great views to the east today--the best views we’ve had in a long time--and I forgot the camera.

The good views were partly due to the lower temperatures and humidity which reduced the amount of haze in the atmosphere.  It wasn’t completely clear, but a whole lot better than it’s been.  The views were of the river valley below, but it’s a narrow valley.  The view also included the mountain ridges on the other side of the valley.  Very nice indeed.

Gene dropped me off in Kent this morning for my southbound hike.  Right away, I had a steep 1000 foot climb.  I guess he primarily level terrain of West Virginia and Maryland are far behind us now and we’re back into some mountains again.   I don’t recall there being any switchbacks on this section and there were many more rocks than yesterday.  It was slow going and I was surprised that I had only covered a little more than a mile in the first hour.  The second half of the hike was much better--fewer rocks and I was going downhill.  Gene had the opposite of my hike--a more gentle, less rocky climb and then that steep, rocky downhill at the end.  A hard day for each of us.

Gene talked to a couple young thru-hikers who were expressing their displeasure with the difficulty of this section.  That made us feel a little better; not quite so old and inadequate.

We actually had a little bit of rain during the day. Certainly not enough to put on rain gear, but a few sprinkles a couple of times.  As bad as I hate to hike in the rain, I wouldn’t have complained today.  The whole area needs a good soaking rain.  Everything is drying up.

Tomorrow is a rest day from hiking to get the chores done.  Groceries is the first thing on the list.  The food supplies are nearly depleted.

I think that’s it for today.

Connecticut Line to Bulls Bridge

It was back to the hiking trail for us today.  Temperatures were much lower with a high of only 87.  However, the humidity seemed like it was in the triple digits.  Sweat just poured off.  I guess that’s good to purge you body of impurities.  We stopped to talk to a couple thru-hikers and during our conversation one of the guys wadded up sections of his shorts and wrung the sweat out.  The other guy just let his drip; mine were dripping, too.  Incredible!

We hiked together today.  That was a bit unusual.  With the lack of a map and guidebook and never having hiked in Connecticut before, we thought it a good idea to stick together today.  We did the section between Hoyt Road at the edge of New York and Bull’s Bridge Road.  We started at Bull’s Bridge Road and hiked south.  When we got to Hoyt Road and turned around to come back that same 4 miles, I almost regretted our decision to hike together.

The trail was dirt with very few rocks and, except for that 700 foot climb (which we had to do twice), the trail was pretty gentle.  Our first mile and a half followed the Housatonic River and would have been a scenic walk had it been winter.  Today, the leaves blocked much of the view.  After crossing Ten Mile River where it converges with the Housatonic, we stopped in at Ten Mile Shelter.  In Connecticut, they called these structures lean-tos, but they are similar to the three-sided shelters we’ve seen in the south.  The shelter was located near the river making it a nice spot to rinse off and cool off at the end of the day.

While at the shelter, we had a short conversation with three ladies doing a short section.  It seemed like a fairly young mother and her young teenage daughters.  Today was the mother’s birthday.  Gene happened to mention that yesterday had been Ringo Starr’s 70th birthday.  The comment by one of the young girls made us realize how old we were.  She said something like, “wow, 70 years old and out here hiking the trail”.  We decided she didn’t have a clue who Ringo Starr is.

Camping is allowed only in designated areas in Connecticut.  We passed a couple of camping areas, but didn’t go off the trail to investigate.

We got up to the top of Ten Mile Hill and found a rock to sit on for a break.  No views, however.  At least not today.  Again, the leaves blocked the view if there had been one.  Today, it was so humid that it seemed like we were in a cloud of skimmed milk.

After a short break, we headed down the hill to the state line and, and just beyond that, Hoyt Road.  For a state line marker, there was a box nailed to a tree where someone had scratched in CT/NY.  After turning around at the road, we soon came across a much nicer Connecticut sign nailed high on a tree.  We had missed it southbound since it was so high and out of view.

We were dragging by the time we climbed back over Ten Mile Hill and made our way to the truck.  The humidity really sapped our energy.  We each drained our water bottles, drank an ice cold coke, and stopped at a store for a 16 oz green tea.  I was still thirsty when I got home.

The Bull’s Bridge was interesting.  It is one of only two covered bridges in Connecticut which still allow traffic on the bridge. I went down the slope to make a picture of the bridge and found a surprise.  Water was being released from a dam on the Housatonic River.

We’ll go back to the trail tomorrow, partly to avoid the weekend crowds, but also to take advantage of a much cooler day.  We’ll also go back to our regular routine of hiking opposite each other.

That’s it for today.