Friday 7/28/2017, 10.1mi/16.3km

Lake below Fortress Mountain (61.7/10,990ft) – Glacier Trail Jct (71.8/10,730ft) (WY)

I woke at 6am, and I was moving slowly, so Quickham was finished packing up before I even got my tent cleaned out! It was kinda windy and cold, so I tried to move fast once I got out of the tent. Guthook and Hikerbox Special cooked breakfast, and I sat with the group after I finished packing, and ate my cold breakfast bars.  We got on trail around 7:30am, and I found myself with a renewed energy in the larger group.

We scrambled over the rocky lakeshore, and then chose the high route around the cliff. It involved some 4^th-class scrambling, some wet slab, a snow-filled chimney, and some awkward mantling with crampons on.

The 4 of us got to the top, and then descended the snowfield on the other side. Descending the steep snowfield was so much more enjoyable with an ice axe!

At the bottom, I crossed a snow bridge over a creek, and I held my breath and treaded lightly as. Guthook and Hikerbox Special stopped there to get water, and the 4 of us met at the base of Alpine Lakes Pass. After a brief break, we started climbing the actual pass, at almost 9:30am. Today has been slow terrain! The actual pass wasn’t too steep, and with the nice firm morning snow, we cruised to the top by 10am.

After we all arrived, we took a well-deserved break at the top, and I devoured the rest of my Reese’s pieces…oops.

The descent was fast and fun, as it’s all snow. Toward the bottom we glissaded a bit, and arrived down at the creek crossing in less than an hour. Fun descent video!

I got down ahead of most of the group, and was able to capture a fun video of Quickham’s glissade.

The creek was flowing fast, but it was very shallow, so the crossing was uneventful.

Soon after we stopped at an amazing lunch spot, it had rocks and shade! My faves. It was also a good spot to dry my feet, which have been moist or wet every day.

We finished lunch, and picked our line up the next climb, trying to avoid the willows.

Hikerbox picked a good route on some rocks, and we came through the climb easily. After the descent, we arrived at a large stream, which was milky glacial in appearance. It was my most “exciting” crossing yet. Guthook threw me his poles for the last deep part – thanks! We skirted on over to the base of Blaurock Pass, thru the “Sound of Music” setting, it was very green and flowery. Blaurock was a huge climb, and we cut left to avoid an undermined snowfield, which added some distance. The upper half was as steep as anything we’ve done, but it went fast as Quickham took the lead breaking trail. Also, it’s amazing how much faster I moved with the confidence of an ice ax!

We got to the top of Blaurock Pass at 4pm, and we all hung out for almost an hour enjoying the views and our rapidly diminishing food.

The descent was quick – first on scree (yay!), then smooth snow that we butt-slid down.

When we got to Dinwoody creek and the glacier trail, Guthook and Hikerbox Special split off to exit the woods. Goodbye new friends!

Quickham and I hiked a few more minutes, to a camp spot among rocks. I could tell we were close by the Marmot population, always seeking food.

By 6:30pm we were set up, and then we made dinner and watched the first half of the movie Wayne’s World! Then, it was time to watch the sunset, and Gannett Peak (behind us) allowed just enough sunlight through. So cool. Darkness descended quickly, and by 9pm I was asleep.

 

Thursday 7/27/2017, 13.4mi/21.6km

Hay Pass Trail jct (55.8/10,850ft) – Lake below Fortress Mountain (61.7/10,990ft) (WY) + 5.5mi Hay Pass resupply + 2.0mi Camp Lake alt

We woke up extra-early at 4:30am, packed up quietly as to not disturb the group, and were on trail with headlamps by 5:15am. We hiked quickly up the trail, reaching a lake after an hour, and re-gaining the top of Hay Pass by 7:05am. Five bonus miles, done!

The view from the top of Hay Pass.

We continued down the trail, past Dennis Lake, and re-joined the primary route.

We hiked all the way down to Golden Lakes. The trail faded in/out in spots, but we made good time. We passed a NOLS group camped by Upper Golden Lake, and we stopped for an early lunch at the other end of Golden Lake.

We had a massive yard sale (unfortunately no photos) to dry out all our gear (tents, sleeping bags). We listened to music, and even a Britney song, haha.

After an hour break, we climbed up the 600ft hill, to reach the lake at the base of Douglas Peak Pass. We debated for a while whether to go over the pass, as it may be very snowy on the north side. We started to head up to the pass, then Quickham saw a snow cornice on a neighboring mountain, which meant there’s probably one blocking our pass too. So, we decided to detour around the pass, and hike the Camp Lake alternate, which added 2 miles.

It took us 20 minutes to get back down to the trail, and as soon as we are on it we meet two guys and their dog. They gave us info about the trail descent, and we executed their instructions to switchback down a talus field, then traverse the slick snowfield. We got down to Camp Lake without incident, then immediately started climbing back up the other side. The first 200ft was easy, and we passed by a couple small lakes. The rest of the climb was a puzzle – we eventually decided to climb some dry slabs to the south of the river. It was mostly easy climbing, but there were a few steep and thin parts. Eventually I found a way through to the top. Quickham is fast on slab, and he had good shoes!

We took a break at the top by a lake and eat.

We decided that the lakeshores are too steep and snowy to traverse, so we hiked behind/around a hill on the south shore, and it dropped us back onto the main route.

We continued on along the lake, and then it started raining. Hard. We backtracked a quarter mile, to hide under an huge overhanging boulder, and plan our options. The sun came out after an hour, and we saw two other hikers go by below us!

We made an effort to catch duo, and they introducted themselves as Guthook and Hikerbox special. We hiked another half mile, and found a flat dry camp spot. The four of us setup camp together, ate dinner, and went to bed before 9pm.

Wednesday 7/26/2017, 12.9mi/20.8km

Tarn before Europe Peak (48.4/10,550ft) – Hay Pass Trail jct (55.8/10,850ft)(WY) + 5.5mi Hay Pass resupply (WY)

I woke up at 6am, and there’s not a cloud in the sky! We ate our usual breakfast, packed up our wet tents (from condensation), and hit the trail at 6:45am.

Getting out of camp was…tricky. We made a few turns to correct our direction, and finally we were heading uphill and on route.

The climb to the top of the ridge was almost entirely rock/grass, and we cramponed the last 100ft up a snowfield to the top. After a break, we rock-hopped and grass-walked across the dry ridge to the saddle below Europe Peak. The ridge was a huge alpine meadow, with lots of these little flowers.

The ridge looked impossibly steep. But, off we went! The initial climb was fast and easy, and we gained the knife edge quickly. There was also a “class 3” move at the top, but it wasn’t exposed and had plenty of big handholds and footholds. Halfway up the knife edge:

Looking up the knife edge, at Europe Peak:

We walked a few hundred more yards, dropped our packs, and walked up the last 200ft to the summit. It was nice and warm on Europe Peak.

Quickham is thinking about baptizing a baby lion.

Europe Peak is 12,259 ft (3737m) high, with some spectacular views.

After 15 minutes, we returned to our packs and our scattered stuff, which was still drying out. We packed up at 11:30am, and began the walk down, and across the divide. It was nice and flat and wide, and easy walking.

We cruised along the divide, stopping for lunch as we joined a river.

As soon as lunch was over, it started lightly raining. We descended down to 10,600ft, almost to a lake. Then we cut across a creek, and climbed the short 300ft up to Hay Pass.

There was a trail from the top of Hay pass all the way down to a pond at 10,000ft, where we were meeting our resupply horse. It’s 5.5 miles out of the way, but we needed our food and climbing gear! It kept threatening to rain, so we kept our breaks short, and apparently I only remembered to take photos during our breaks. Flowers!

We arrived to camp at 4pm. Another group was already camped there, and they were super friendly. Harvey talked to us for an hour about his 40-year canyoneering career. The other five people in his group were less extroverted, but all very friendly. The horsepacker showed up at 5:30pm with our food, and we began to unpack and organize. We setup our tents, and joined the group for dinner. It was a fun night, being with a larger group of people. We passed around a bottle of whiskey and swapped stories about type-2 fun. After the group dispersed, we chatted with the horsepacker about his adventures in the Winds, including ice skating on Lonesome Lake in November! We cleaned up, filled up our water, and got to bed by 9:30pm.

Tuesday 7/25/2017, 12.9mi/20.8km

Lake below Raid Peak Pass (37.0/10,650ft) – Tarn before Europe Peak (48.4/10,550ft) (WY) +1.5mi detour

I woke up at 6am again, and getting packed up in the wind (which just started at 6:15) was a bit tricky. We ate our usual cold breakfast, said goodbye to our resident marmot and duck friends, and hit the trail at 6:45am.

We cruised up the “sublime ramp” and then angled across a low-angle snowfield, then up the last 100ft to the top of the Raid Peak Pass. The snow was steep for the last 20ft, and it was scary without an ice axe.

At the top of Raid Peak Pass, we got some trail magic! Someone had dropped a bagel.

It must’ve happened recently too, the bagel was still soft and edible. Food always tastes better when you didn’t have to carry it yourself, ha!

We descended the talus on the other side, and then paused at the top of a very steep snowfield. Without axes, we had to choose a longer, less steep detour.

The detour added 1.5 miles/600ft, but it was much safer. After an hour, we were back on the route, and ascended to Sentry Pass.

It was tricky to squeeze between the bergschrund and the rocks.

Sentry pass was so friendly, with almost no snow and with grassy ledges!

The north side was still covered in snow, so we rode a talus ridge most of the way down.

More bergschrund shenanigans were had on the descent, as well.

The lakes at the bottom were long, and we stayed 500ft above the first lake, to avoid a bushwhack thru thick willows. The clouds started to sprinkle as we descended to the lakeshore, and soon we picked up a nice elk trail.

At Middle Lake, we met a couple hiking with two llamas!

The hikers had trail names of Cirque and Soft, and were on their annual butterfly trip.

We chatted for 15 minutes, then left Middle Fork Lake, and hiked up the 400ft hill to Benchmark lake.

It was steep, with tricky routefinding to avoid willow and krummholz. At the top, it was very snowy, and the trail to Photo Pass was mostly buried.

The climb up Photo Pass was mostly on snow, and we went slowly to avoid slipping.

We got to the top of Photo Pass at 4pm, and had a nice break. I accidentally ate all my Nutella, oops! We easily descended the talus down the other side of the pass.

The valley bottom was nice, and we cruised through open forest on elk trails, and we saw elk!

We crossed a fast-moving knee-deep river, and then hiked uphill for the final mile. There was some bushwhacking, and it started sprinkling rain.

We arrived to our campsite at 6:30pm, next to a tarn below Europe Peak. We set up our tents quickly in case the rain came back. I made a double dinner of Knorrs pasta and Idahoan mashed potatoes, and then lounged around until 9pm. I wrote my usual journal, and after taking ibuprofen for my ribs, I finally fell asleep by 9:30pm.

 

Monday 7/24/2017, 14.6mi/23.5km

Big Sandy Lake (23.7/9,720ft) – Lake below Raid Peak Pass (37.0/10,650ft) (WY) +1.3mi Texas Pass alt

I woke up at 6am, ate a cold breakfast of Belvita and poptarts, and we were on trail at 6:45am. We apparently camped at a “no camping” spot…oops!

We found a climbing nut while packing up! Weird.

We hiked up the steady switchbacks, following a nice trail. Upon crossing a creek a mile later, the nice trail disappeared. We followed a series of social trails up to a lake, and saw a few other parties camping. I had a nice 2nd breakfast at a scenic spot nearby.

After we ascended above the lake, the trail looked familiar to me, but also strange since I was heading in the opposite direction from last year.

The upper trail was new to Quickham – he took a lower trail last year on the CDT. We hiked over Jackass Pass, and then descended to Lonesome Lake.

Cirque of the Towers, with Lonesome Lake in the middle. Amazing!

The alpine squirrels were watching us as we passed by.

There were many snowfields at the bottom. We met a camper who said he’s never seen this much snow or mosquitoes in his 15 years of coming here. We made our way across the outlet of the lake, which was a knee-deep ford this year. After circling the lake, we began the climb to the next pass. About 500ft up, we had a quick break to look around.

And I was apparently posing for a hiking calendar…?

Upon closer inspection and discussion, we decided that NY pass isn’t safe, as there was a huge cornice.

So, we climbed Texas Pass instead, which added just over a mile. One positive, we got to “mess with Texas”, which is always a good idea.

We descended the north side of Texas Pass, which was surprisingly mostly snow-free. It still felt weird hiking this part in reverse.

We continued past several alpine lakes, which still had a decent amount of snow cover.

We pass a group of four hikers going the opposite direction, they were out for a quick 4 day trip.

We stopped for lunch just before joining the trail by Shadow Lake. The views were great, but the mosquitoes were insane. Not surprisingly, it’s difficult to eat while wearing a headnet.

We cruised down the nice trail for 2 miles to a junction, then passed a father/daughter duo on our way to Skull Lake.

We left the trail at the north end of the Lake, just as the sky started to look ominous with dark clouds. We bushwhacked down to a stream and easily crossed it in ankle deep water.

We followed another fork upstream for a very pleasant hour – it was all open slabs and trees! It was the most amazing “bushwhacking” I’ve ever done. Then, a flat gravel/grass field lead to another easy stream crossing.

Quickham and I took turns leading the last segment, which followed a stream uphill.

We gradually climbed past several alpine lakes, the last two had some ice in them!

A marmot came by, they’re always looking for food.

We got to our intended destination, an unnamed lake below Raid Peak Pass, at 5:30pm. Nice and early! We set up camp, cooked, battled mosquitoes, and discussed the day.

The Ursacks are great! They protect your food from critters and bears, and don’t need to be hung from a tree, which is especially handy when there aren’t any trees around. I tied it around a large rock.

I was in my tent by 7:30pm, and so excited by that! My ribs still hurt from the fall yesterday, but I was asleep by 9pm.

Sunday 7/23/2017, 10.9mi/17.5km

Below Wind River Peak (12.8/10,150ft) – Big Sandy Lake (23.7/9,720ft) (WY)

We woke up at 6am, and ate a cold breakfast of bars and poptarts. We get packed up and are out of camp at 6:45am.

We soon climbed out of the trees, and into an alpine meadow next to the Deep Creek Lakes.

The trail ended apruptly at the lake outlet…time to plan a route across on rocks!

After rock-hopping halfway across the outlet, we are forced to ford the stream.

With wet feet, we continued another half mile before leaving the trail, and then bushwhacked up towards Wind River Peak.

The vegetation subsided quickly, and soon we are traveling over rocky grass fields.

Those eventually gave way to low angle snowfields, interrupted by bands of rocks every quarter-mile.

After changing in and out of our crampons 3 times, we reached the summit at 11am, and have an early lunch.

The north face of the peak is a 1,000ft vertical drop, and the west side (our descent route) also looks very steep.

Quickham is cheesin’ it up on the summit of Wind River Peak.

The Winds are now my favorite wilderness in the Lower 48!

We found an unofficial trail register (a plastic screw case), and it was fun to read the old entries (from 1988!), and then we added our own entry. As we were leaving, we met a trio of guys from Lander just arriving. We swapped photographer roles, and then started down the west side of the peak.

The first 500ft of the descent wasn’t bad, just small talus or grassy rock-fields. Then, we traversed left into the West gully. It was steep, probably a black diamond ski slope, with lots of loose small and medium talus.

Quickham went first, and we made good progress for 1000 vertical feet. I also took a video to better show the steepness of our chosen route. 

Then, the gully ended at a cliff band of black rocks, and we traversed left to get around it. Shortly after, we encountered a steep snowfield. We put on our shoe crampons (Kahtoola), and VERY carefully kicked steps and made our way down. We had no ice axes. The last section was less steep, so we moved quicker.

And then, I lost a foot placement, and started sliding faster and faster down the snow slope, with some rapidly approaching talus 200ft below. I tried to arrest (stop) with my bare hands, but it only prevented me from accelerating further. I used my feet to steer towards a lower-angled slope, and some less sharp talus. Eventually, after sliding 200 vertical feet (based on my altimeter) over snow and some rocks, I came to a stop on a large rock. I yelled to Quickham, “I’m OK, don’t hurry”, and sat on the flat rock. After a quick assessment, I determined that my camera was broken, and my ribs hurt, but I was seemingly uninjured. Quickham arrived 5 minutes later, and we took a quick 10 minute break. My hands were numb, raw, and cold. Eventually, we continued down the snow, now lower-angled and safer, to the bottom of the bowl. After a half-mile of snow walking, we got to a grassy spot with some dry rocks and took a long break.

The rest of the day we were in sneakers, descending slabs or talus down to Black Joe lake.

We bushwhacked along the north (right) shore of the lake, and then had to make an annoying/tiring 200ft climb to get around some cliffs.

We joined a maintained trail, cruised down the trail for a mile to Big Sandy Lake, and made dinner by the stream crossing. And there was just enough of a wind to keep the mosquitoes away!

Quickham did some texting (on his InReach) with our food re-supply guy, and then we hiked the final quarter-mile to a campsite at the trail junction for Jackass Pass. We setup camp by 9pm, and after some discussion about the day, we’re quickly asleep.

Saturday 7/22/2017, 12.8mi/20.6km

Bruce’s Bridge Trailhead (0.0/7,100 ft) – Below Wind River Peak (12.8/10,150 ft) (WY)

I got up at 6am, and it was perfect timing to catch the sunrise!

After an hour of driving, I came to South Pass, where the CDT crosses the highway. I decided to take a quick walk to reminisce from my hike last year. It felt more remote and lonely than I remembered it.

After another hour of driving, I got to Lander at 8:30am and met Quickham at a coffee shop. We got breakfast and drinks, charged and updated our phones, and chatted about life since our CDT hike last year. We left by 10am, and drove over to the local grocery store – Mr. D’s. It was expensive, and they didn’t carry everything that I needed, so we went to the Safeway down the street. I finished food shopping, and we drove the 1.5 hours north, almost to Dubois, to drop off a car at the finish, Trail Lakes Trailhead. The last 5 miles was on a fun dirt road, and I had fun driving it pretty fast in a rental car! We finally got back to Lander at 1pm, and then stopped at the gear shop, Wild Iris. I bought a knife (TSA confiscated mine), and Quickham got a bug headnet. I packed up in the parking lot, we filled our water, and drove to the Bruce Bridge Trailhead, arriving at 3pm.

We started hiking at 3:15pm, passing many friendly dayhikers for the first 2 miles. We got one of them to take our photo together, since it might be the only time we see other people this week!

After the Forks Park junction, we didn’t see anyone else. We hiked along a fork of the Popo Agie River, steadily climbing 2500ft.

We stopped for dinner and water at 8pm at a creek.

The mosquitoes were starting to appear…. video

We ate quickly, and started hiking again at 8:45pm.

We entered the Popo Agie Wilderness near the end of the day. So exciting!

We continued with headlamps for another 45 minutes, stopping in a meadow where another hiker is also camped. We got setup by 10:15pm, and cleverly stashed our food in trees. After a couple minutes of discussion about tomorrow’s plan, we passed out before 11pm.

Friday 7/21/2017, 0mi/0km

A few days before the flight to Utah, I went food shopping for the trip. I mailed half of it to Wyoming, where I had arranged for a horse-packer to deliver it to us, near the midpoint of the hike. This way, we wouldn’t have to carry more than 5 days’ worth of food at at time!

Friday after work, I flew to Salt Lake City, where I had a late dinner at In-N-Out burger. For some odd reason, the Barq’s root beer in this state is caffeine-free. Silly Utah.

It’s about a 4.5 hour drive from the SLC airport to Lander, WY and the trailhead. I drove about halfway, camping at a BLM recreation area. Tomorrow, I start the hike!

Day 3: (Saturday June 17th) 16.9mi/27.2km

Reed Gap/CT68 (33.4) to Snow Hill (50.3)

For this section, I planned my logistics and parking better. I drove to the starting trailhead, parked legally, and planned to get an Uber back here Sunday afternoon. I stopped for lunch on the drive out, and got on trail around 1pm. It had been a month since I was last here, and everything was so much greener!

I quickly gained a ridge, and occasionally had nice views. I could also see some wet-looking clouds moving in…

It was very humid and warm, so I was defintely looking sweaty.

Sometimes the views were just down into the suburbs below. Connecticut seems to do a terrible job at protecting open space.

After a couple miles, I hiked across the top of a small local ski hill called Powder Ridge.

Ski lifts always seem so creepy in the summertime. It kinda reminded me of a zombie movie scene.

I always appreciate a puns and clever names, though!

The views got better as I progressed north, with more fields and forests.

I believe this little body of water was Black Pond, just before the trail dropped down off the ridge to cross a highway.

The trail literally passed right thru the parking lot of a local diner, Guida’s. I just had lunch 3 hours ago, but I couldn’t resist temptation.

Hmm. Surprisingly, I found a business that still, in 2017, only accepted cash. What could I buy for $5? I took it as a sign to follow the arrow to the side window…

Ice cream and snapple! My two favorite trail treats.

After waiting out a quick 15 minute rain shower at the diner, I continued on down the trail. Everything was a little muddy, but I saw zero other people all afternoon.

An hour later, I met a deer who was not shy. It just stood there, 20 feet away, in a staring contest.

Then, the deer got tired of waiting for me to move on, and went back to eating. It was so fascinating to watch! Eventually I moved on, and the trail treated me to more views, though a little obscured by low clouds. I was a little surprised to see a strip mine across the valley, I didn’t think Connecticut had any valuable minerals.

This flower smelled just like cinnamon rolls. I wonder it’s name?

Late in the afternoon, I crossed interstate 91, which basically parallels this trail up the Connecticut river valley.

Then I ducked back into the serenity of the woods, and took a nice break at the Highland Pond Preserve.

The NET uses blue blazes to mark the trail. And there were many junctions in this section, so I’m glad it was well marked!

The trail travels a very rocky ridge above the Bradley Hubbard Reservoir. I was so engrossed by the views and watching my footing, I didn’t realize I had hiked past 7pm!

After encircling the rocky southern half of the reservoir, I was treated to a nice smooth trail in a pine foreset. Heaven!

I stopped at a scenic bench and made my dinner, as it was almost 8pm, and I was starving. It’s not quite a picnic table (which I love), but it would work!

I had some lovely scenery from my dinner bench. Hearing the frogs across the water was very peaceful too.

I had to keep hiking for another hour, to exit a “no camping” zone in this park. The NET would be a very difficult trail to thru-hike in one push, as camping options are so limited. It was getting darker…

After about 15 minutes of night hiking, I was able to reach an area where I could camp.

 

Day 4: (Sunday June 18th) 13.1mi/21.1km

Snow Hill (50.3) to Hallmere Reservoir/Edgewood Rd (63.4)

The sun rises very early in June, so I was awake at 6:00am, and hiking on the trail by 6:30am.  This section of trail followed a stream through a low-lying area, and all the trees had these huge fungus shelves! Cool.

After a mile, I exited the woods, and did the 3/4-mile roadwalk to a highway crossing. My phone needed a charge, so I stopped into an Irving convenience store for an hour and ate second breakfast. I was recording GPS tracks for this entire trail, and that process consumes battery power pretty quickly!  By 9am, I was charged enough, and hiked out. I followed paved country roads for another 45 minutes, which had almost no traffic on a Sunday morning. Finally, I re-entered the woods.

The Merimere reservoir had this strange brick building sitting in it.

I walked out on the short bridge, but everything was fenced off and locked, and no signs indicated what it was. A mystery!

I enjoyed walking along the reservior for an easy mile, and then the trail started to climb UP.

At the top of the very steep climb was East Peak. And it had a real, legit castle tower! So cool.

It’s a 32-foot tall tower, on the summit of East Peak (976ft). It has the distinction of being the highest point within 25 miles of the coast, from Maine to Florida.

There were lots of families up there on a weekend.

I’d assume it normally has a spectacular view, but the day was very foggy.

I walked away from the crowds of the castle and had lunch at a picnic area a half mile away. I had a nice afternoon of walking a wooded ridge, it didn’t have any viewpoints, but it was very relaxing. I forgot to take any photos until I had arrived at my finish trailhead! Oops.  I dispatched an Uber from the trailhead, and while I was waiting I noticed these ridiculously over-zealous “No Trespassing” signs.  Who is that tall?!

My Uber arrived 10 minutes later (it’s suburban Connecticut!), and I was back at my car 30 minutes later. Despite having hiked 30 trail miles, I actually wasn’t that far from my car, since the trail is so meandering in this section.

I have two big trips planned for July – one to climb Mt Rainier (Washington), and another to hike the Wind River Range (Wyoming) – so I won’t be back on this trail until August. Goodbye for now, New England!

 

Day 1: (Saturday May 6th) 7.0mi/11.3km

Chittenden Park (0.0) to Nut Plains Woods (7.0)

I arrived to the parking lot at 5:30pm, and made the short walk over to the Southern Terminus of the trail! From here, the trail travels north for 215 miles, which I aimed to complete over 6 weekends.

There was a trail register, and I signed in to make it feel “official”.

Then, as I was walking away up the gravel path, a friendly couple saw me with a large backpack, and asked where I’m going. I described how this path is part of a larger trail which travels all the way to New Hampshire. They’re impressed, but also advised me to move my car – there’s no overnight parking anywhere near hear. Well, crap. So, I got back in my car and drove to the other end of this trail segment (30+ trail miles away), parked my car there, and got an Uber back to the starting monument. An hour and a half later, and I was finally ready to hike. It was now 7:15pm, and sunset was at 7:55pm…

 

The view of the ocean was nice, though cloudy. I didn’t linger, darkness was coming! Interestingly, this trail uses blue blazes for markers (the AT uses white blazes).

The trailhead kiosk had these helpful maps for this section of trail. It was mostly road walking for the first 5 miles.

The trail started in a densely populated area, so it followed neighborhood roads, with the markings on utility poles.

I was moving fast, so I didn’t take any other photos except this one. I think it’s a small creek crossing in the dark, around 9pm.

The NET in connecticut has very limited camping, so I had to be creative.

 

Day 2: (Sunday May 7th) 26.4mi/42.5km

Nut Plains Woods (7.0) to Reed Gap/CT68 (33.4)

I wasn’t tired, and I was awake and 5:30am, and back on the trail by 6am. It was cool to watch the sunrise, which was about 5:45am for this area. This section of trail had both blazes and markers, and I thought the markers were a perfect representation of this trail!

This part of the world is very low elevation, so there were many bog bridges to cross this morning.

After about an hour of hiking, I stopped to eat 2nd breakfast at a nice wide bridge.

If I can’t get a picnic table, or flat rock, a bridge is a good substitute!

Of course, just a few minutes’ hike past my chosen breakfast spot was the most perfect flat rock I’ve ever seen. D’oh.

The classic hiker/backpacker sign. Their backpacks are tiny, and hiking poles are huge!

Around mid-morning, in the middle of the forest, I come across an abondoned hiking shoe. Just one shoe, not the pair…which is really strange. Onward!

This section wasn’t fun to cross, it was very deep schlup-y mud. I eventually found a detour around the temporary pond.

In the afternoon, the trail finally started to climb higher up onto a ridge, and I was able to get some views!

I’m glad it’s still early spring, the leaves don’t obsure the viewpoints yet!

I hiked thru these flowers for awhile, they were like a carpet. I wish I was better at the names of local flora.

It’s still early springtime here…

Looking down on the Ulbrich Reservoir, the water supply for Wallingford CT.

My attempted selfie with a broken phone screen…close enough!

At the end of the day, I came to the first of three official NET campsites in Connecticut.

It looked pretty nice! A couple of shelters, a fire pit, chairs, storage bins, a privy, and even some windows. If I was thru-hiking this trail, I definitely would’ve camped there. But it’s Sunday night, so instead I have to drive back home and go to work. 🙁

The shelter had this plaque on the wall, I thought it matched my sentiments exactly.

A mile later, and I was back at my car by 6pm. A local aspiring author had left their business card to promote their book.

Despite getting such a late start on Saturday, I was pretty proud that I was able to get in over 33 miles this weekend! It was a 2 hour drive back home, so naturally my thoughts wandered to planning my next section hike on this trail, which will be in June.