Day 51: In the Mountains Now, Wrestling a Bear

Summary
June 15th

Limestone Spring Shelter to Sages Ravine Campsite

NOBO mile# 1506.0 

Tolmann’s daily mileage 10.8

Tolmann’s total mileage 482.7

I woke up feeling a little anxious about the day’s challenges. Would I have the stamina to climb two mountain peaks, and make it into Massachusetts? I had a “plan B”, to stop at one of the shelters prior to Bear Mountain, but I intended to try to get over it to the Sages Ravine Campsite. 

But first, I had to climb back up the steep .5 mile blue blaze trail to get to the AT. I got a later start than I wanted, but found I was able to do the climb without too much trouble. When it leveled out some, I found three or four hikers sleeping beside the trail, which, although it broke a few rules, seemed like a smart idea to me. 

Before long , I was back on the AT and heading north. The woods opened out to a meadow with an amazing view ahead. 

Then I came upon what looked like a prehistoric standing stone (called the”Giant’s Thumb”), which is actually a geological feature. While I was looking at it, another thru-hiker from Georgia caught up to me, and then the two of us moved off down the trail, talking about our hiking experiences, wildlife we had encountered, etc. This is part of the trail, this automatic connection with other thru-hikers. It’s pretty incredible, and a reason I love being on the trail. 

Eventually, he outpaced me, and I let him move away. I wish I could hold on to all the trail names I hear, but they slip away from me.

Then it was down to the road, and a short road walk in Salisbury, CT. 

And then back up to climb the Lion’s Head, the first of the two peaks for the day. It was pretty strenuous; a long and extended climb. At the end was a ledge scramble that was nerve rattling. But the view from the cliff was worth the effort! There were a bunch of crows flying around the cliffs, calling to each other (and maybe to me, as well). They had a kind of bizarre, cartoon-like sound, like human voices pretending to be crows: “Hey!” one would say. “Hey!” another would answer. 

The walk from Lion’s Head to the first shelter was surprisingly short. I stopped there to eat lunch, sitting at the picnic table and looking out at the view. It’s rare for a shelter to have a view. Another Georgia thru-hiker rolled in and set out his lunch: oreos and fruit roll-ups. We chatted easily, then I went back to the stream where I filtered water for the afternoon. 

Since there were a number of landmarks between Lions Head and Bear Mountain, it made it feel like a short distance before I started climbing again. 

I felt pretty strong through this section, although the uneven rock surfaces beat up my feet. It really wasn’t long before I started getting some spectacular views, but it took a good while before I reached the peak. There is a large pile of stone fashioned into a monument on the top of Bear Mountain, and there were six people already up on the pile sitting and talking. One of the people was a ATC ridge runner, one of the folks who look after the trail. He was also the caretaker at the Sages Ravine Campsite. He told me to expect some even more spectacular views tomorrow on Race Mountain. 

It was pretty clear that the trail down off the mountain was “a bear”, too! Very steep with more rock scrambles. So I had to wrestle that bear, as well, just to get to my campsite. I had played with the idea of getting to Laurel Ridge Campsite, another 2+ miles beyond Sages Ravine. But the stress of scrambling down off of Bear Mountain, and the condition of my feet convinced me that Sages was the right place to spend the night. 

Addendum (6/16); Just before getting to the campsite, the guide informed me that the trail passed from CT to MA. It said the sign for entering Massachusetts was misplaced, down where the trail moved away from Sages Ravine. Here’s a shot of the sign: 

It’s going to be the second night in my tent, and there’s a forecast of rain in the morning. I don’t have a rain routine for the tent, yet. We’ll see what happens…