June 3, 2018
Destination: Stony Brook Campsite
Today’s Miles: 20.10
Start Location: Wiley Shelter
Trip Miles: 1475.80
It did not end up raining overnight, so getting out of camp this morning was easy. I was on the trail by 6:30.
It didn’t take No Excuse and Chimney long to catch up. We weren’t hiking very long when we ran into a guy in running clothes on the trail. He said hello and asked if there were more of us, and then said “hang on, I’ve got breakfast in the car,” and took off running north! We hiked on and eventually came to a parking lot right at the New York / Connecticut border. The man was at his car with the hatchback open. He had all kinds of food and drink: pancakes, brownies, donuts, bagels with cream cheese and peanut butter, apples, watermelon, and coffee and sodas! He also had some bug spray available for us to use! He was a trail angel from Connecticut and his trail name was Trail Mixer, which was also the name of his local trail running club. He was just out doing trail magic for National Trails Day. He said that he hopes to thru hike the AT one day. The trail magic was really incredible and got me pumped up. I really hope he is able to pursue a thru hike one day!
We took pictures with Trail Mixer and he took pictures of us at the CT border sign. We would dip into NY again briefly today, but that was it. We were in Connecticut! It’s always exciting to start another state. I was particularly excited because I have never been to Connecticut.
We all hiked on and Connecticut almost immediately greeted us with some very steep inclines. That would be the theme for the rest of the day! We met flip floppers Hansel and Gretel – I had been seeing their names in the shelter logs. Chimney and No Excuse went to go do a small resupply in a nearby town and I kept hiking. I went up some more steep inclines up to Caleb’s peak, and saw a white tailed deer up there. The downhill after the peak was intense, and it felt a little like my knees had been battered by sticks afterward. The final stretch of the day was beautiful, walking along a flat section of trail beside the Housatonic River. I stopped into Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter to sign the log, but pushed on another 0.4 miles to the Stony Brook campsite. It was a lovely spot and I was happy to be there earlier in the afternoon. I set up camp, ate dinner with Transformer when he arrived, then went down to the river to soak my feet in the cold water while I chatted with my wife. No Excuse and Chimney showed up a little later after a successful resupply mission.
I was grateful for the beautiful weather today – we had a nice breeze all day that helped keep things a little cooler and keep the bugs down. I was grateful for the wonderful trail magic today and to be in a new state for new adventures. It’s supposed to rain overnight and tomorrow. Hopefully the rain will be light!
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