July 20 Mile 1468

Back to the Trail! After 2 years and staying away from bug bites Pops and Cisco are continuing the adventure. We had a very good first day back. Left Atl at 8 am, landed at White Plains NY at 10:30, had a car service drive us back to Kent Ct, where we got off in 2010, had lunch, bought fuel (can't take that on the plane) hitched a ride to the AT, and we were hiking at 1:30, with a 7.5 mile goal by evening. One thing about the mileage if you're looking at the Blog numbers. The AT clubs add miles every year. Moving the trail. What was mile 1456 in Kent in 2010 is now mile 1461. So we jumped ahead 5 miles while resting at home.!

Boy, the pack was heavy, food, water, etc, but one thing I told Cisco, that's the heaviest it will be- as we are eating and drinking as we go.  Thought this would be an easy day, don't know why I thought that.  Hoped

that the AT gods would be nice after the way they treated me before. 

First, we had rain, pouring at the airport, luckily it slowed down by the time we starting hiking. So mostly, just humid all day, but not hot, about 70. Lots of ups and downs and rocks right off. Not too much of an elevation climb, maybe 600 feet up and down awhile. We thought, this isn't bad. Then we ran into a hiker going the other way. "Watch out for the Ledges as you go down the mountain." What? Ledges? What's that? This is Conn, this is gentle country. Oh Man! The Ledges were a killer. You go straight down, trying to reach the next rock step with your foot or pole. We thought it would never end and I thought my knees would give out. We decided this was one if the toughest descents we have seen to this point. Conn is not going to give you a break. After that we came down to the Housatonic River and hiked flat for a few miles and found a pretty deserted campsite. This is Friday night and we thought it would be crowded. Put up tents, ate our Mountain House Spaghetti and now in bed at 8:30. Dark already. Time for a good night's sleep.

Hope any pains are gone tomorrow!

Great first day back!   Back to the Trail near Kent, CT, and bug bite free!