Day 50: Back to the Day Job

Summary
June 14th

Pine Swamp Brook to Limestone Spring Shelter

NOBO mile# 1495.6

Tolmann’s daily mileage 11.3

Tolmann’s total mileage 471.9
Back to my day job. You know, the one where I walk all day?

Lobo was up and out super early, so it made sense to follow suit. I was up, had eaten, packed and done feet prep by 7:30, which is, if not a record, at least on the early side for me. 

There were some serious up and downs today, a few views, a cafe stop for “brunch”, a town stop for a soda, and large open times to rest, fiddle with the uke (is it a mixed metaphor when it isn’t a metaphor?), and write. 

 Hang Glider View

I caught up with Billygoat just before RT 7, and we chatted for a while at Belter’s Bump (touted as a viewpoint in the guides; all overgrown, no view anymore). 

 Corn and the rolling hills of CT

Tilly and Hops had suggested I take Debbie to the Mountainside Cafe south of Falls Village for brunch, but since she and I were further south, we didn’t go there. But it was an easy .2 miles off trail this morning, so I went, visions of Gyp’s Tavern in my mind’s eye. 

Gyp’s Tavern was a true pub, with delicious burgers and sandwiches. No other aspirations there. Mountainside Cafe had aspirations, and went pretty far towards reaching them. Luckily for me, they had a patio, and the weather was beautiful for sitting out there. I ordered a western omelet, which had some non-traditional ingredients, and was excellent. The potatoes were a mix of white and sweet potatoes. The toast was made with a chunky multigrain bread. I told the waiter that it was the best omelet I’d ever eaten, which was only a slight exaggeration; but he was very pleased with the compliment. 

It was a serious meal, and now I didn’t feel it was necessary to eat lunch. 

Walking back to the AT, I was vacillating on whether to walk into Falls Village when I got to the Water Street intersection. But before then I had some road walking, and another beautiful stretch of trail along the Housatonic. 

What decided me about going into Falls Village was the desire to use a bathroom. It was just a short walk, so seemed pretty obvious a choice until I got up into town, and realized there wasn’t much there. I ended up going into the liquor store to get a bottle of soda, and the woman behind the counter was very into her role as a host to a thru-hiker! Her description of the park with the cold shower, water tap and porta-potty was of the most interest to me. I thanked her and went back down to the park. 

Well, it just didn’t work out the way the woman had described it; no porta-potty, and the building with the shower and tap were being used by two guys who were mowing the park lawn. Every where I sat down, the lawn mowers chased me out. I eventually found a spot in the shade to finish my soda, and so I pulled out the uke and tried to find some songs on it. It worked, for the most part. It is a cheap plastic instrument, so it doesn’t stay in tune for long, and if I had issues with the tone of Martin Backpacker guitar, that was nothing compared to the uke. Ah, well…

While I was sitting there, a young woman thru-hiker walked up and said, “I just want to tell you that you look so happy sitting here and making music, it is really moving!”

I love that people feel better when I just am being who I am. There’s no need to expend an effort. It just happens. 

My goal for the day was the Limestone Spring Shelter, which was only 3+ miles away, so I had time to kick back, do some journaling, just take it easy. A short way up the trail was Great Falls, a large set of granite ledges that had been dammed to support an ironworks. There apparently is a place for cliff diving there. So I went up and found a picnic table to hang at for a while. 

Then it was time to make miles, to get to the shelter. I had been leapfrogging a couple who had also stayed at Pine Swamp Brook Shelter the night before, and they were heading to Limestone Spring, as well. The climb up Mt. Prospect was not easy, but I had the energy I needed to move well. I also have taken to singing when I am facing a challenging section of the trail. 

The biggest concern of the day was that this shelter was .5 miles off trail, and the blue blaze to it had a significant, steep descent, which, of course, I’ll have to climb tomorrow. It gave a strong feeling of remoteness to the shelter, and if there had been any other option, I’d have taken it. 

Soon after I got there and set up my tent (for the first time on the AT), the couple showed up. They set up close to me, and we chatted through the evening, so I lost that sense of remoteness that was bothering me!

Then it was time to crawl into my tent, to see if I could make it my new home.