Day 45: Long Climbs, Heating Up, and Mosquitos 

Summary 
June 9th

Ten Mile to Mt Algo Shelter

NOBO mile # 1467.0 

Tolmann’s daily mileage 8.4

Tolmann’s total mileage 443.3

Woke up with a bit of a headache, but nothing serious. Slept ok, but had some calf cramps. Got to get more potassium tablets. 

Groceries was up and out quickly, since she wanted time at Mt Algo Shelter to plan out her next 5 days before meeting up with family in Kent later in the day. 

I didn’t get on the trail until after 8, which was later than I’d hoped. 

I still had to decide whether to go for an 8-ish mile day or a 15-ish mile day, but one of the hikers who shared the camp with us last night seemed to know the trail and said that doing the 15 would make a rough day, although that’s what he was planning. So I was leaning towards the shorter day, especially because I had worked out 10-ish mile days to get me to a road on Sunday morning to meet up with Debbie. I am so excited, and somewhat frightened, about meeting up with her. The excited part should be obvious to everyone; the frightened part maybe less so. Although, I may have spoken to it in an earlier tome: I am nervous that being with her will make me want to go home with her. It reminds of a time long ago, before we were married, when I was camp councilor for the summer in NH. She came up to visit once. It was so bittersweet to be with her, knowing I’d be alone again in so short a time. 

Well, that’s still a few days away.

The Ten Mile River runs into the Housatonic River right near camp. The trail crosses it on a bridge, then runs north along the Housatonic.  It was a beautiful and gentle walk, for the first half hour. Then it started climbing Schaghticoke Mountain, getting pretty close to 1300 ft. A serious climb, and I was forced to take it slow. A NOBOer passed me at one point, saying, “it’s great to be getting back into the mountains.” I was feeling a little less positive about that development. Each new state had brought unique, new challenges. CT apparently has some serious climbs. I took more rest breaks, more frequently, than I have since the early days. I also think maybe my hiker hunger might be kicking in, cuz I was really interested in my snacks today. Really, really interested. But there were some excellent views, which made it easier to decide to rest.  

It took me most of the morning to get up and over Schaghticoke Mountain, catching up to a couple of section hikers, then losing them over and over. There was a cool viewpoint looking south, where I took off my pack and rested. And ate snacks. They were very good. 

Then it was up and over the top. 

It’s been getting warmer; today in the 70’s and maybe hitting 90 on Monday. It’s been a month or so since we saw warm weather like this; such a bizarre Spring!

With the warming trend, the gnats and mosquitos have been more and more evident these past few days. There are times I need to hike with my head net. I often forget I have it on and try to do some thing like drink, or worse, brush my teeth. Not pretty!

I got into camp before 3pm, and thought briefly about going on to Stewart Hollow. But Groceries was there, preparing for her zero, as was a couple (Coyote, a Native American, and I don’t remember her name) who had zeroed at the shelter, after she took a bad fall the day before up on the rocks of Mt. Algo and hurt her knee. She was planning on going the .3 miles to the road to get some medical help, but needed to wait for her ride to get off work. 

So we had a good visit. Since Groceries seemed to really appreciate it, I took out the guitar for a while. It certainly feels good to play. 

Groceries headed down the trail to the road around 3:40, after asking to connect with her on FaceBook. That raises the chance we’ll see each other up the trail.

I agreed to watch Coyote’s gear while he carried his hiking partner’s gear down to the road for her. But they kept waiting for a call, and it began to look like I’d be sitting in the dusk with the mosquitos. Which is where I am. 

Tomorrow is the staging leg to set me up to get to West Cornwall Rd. by noon on Sunday to meet up with Debbie. I’ll have a chance to see whether getting to the next shelter might have been doable.