| August 16, 2005 |
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It's 9:20am and I'm starting at Conn. #4 and Cornwall
where I left off yesterday. Went into a pine woods forest
immediately and I had to figure how to cross this creek because it
was full of water, a drastic change from what I've been use to.
No problem, it just took a little bit of brain power. The
trail is very steep after I crossed the creek, going straight up
hill on switch backs with some man made rock steps. This is
really steep and with a heavy pack just coming out of town makes it
tougher. The small mountain that I just climbed is Bredlow
Mountain. I'm now at the top. |
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This is a message to the
concerned citizen who responded to my Guest book who was concerned
about Simon's backpack being to much weight for him to handle.
I am an animal lover. Simon is my
companion, he is my buddy, he is my protector, and in no way would
harm ever come to him. True, in the pictures it does look like
his pouch would be hefty, but at no time is he carrying any more
than 4lbs of food and I divide that up in quart bags on each side,
so that his pack is balanced and if there is no water in the area he
carry's two light pop bottles about three quarters full of water,
one on each side. That is at his fullest. He has a dish
for water that has no weight to it at all. He is not a beast
of burden. He does not carry anything of mine personally.
I do
not use him as a pack animal at all. About every hour on
his fullest days we stop and rest and I make sure he has plenty of
water and make sure he has plenty of time to rest. Everybody
on the trail really likes him and they say how well he looks for
coming over 1,400 miles and they will vouch that I take very good
care of him. We average between 12 and 15 miles a day. A
15 mile day is a good day for both Simon and myself. I do
appreciate your interest in Simon, being an animal lover myself, I
know that there are many animals out there are abused in some way or
another. You may rest assured that doesn't happen to my buddy,
my companion and my protector. He is the first thing I can
think of when I'm on the trail. He sleeps in the motels, he
sleeps in the shelter with me, he sleeps in the B & B and I make
sure he is safe. Thank you for responding to my guest book and
hope you have enjoyed reading the journals. Simon will be going home in about 3 weeks because I did not
think it was fair to him to take him through the rest of the trip
for fear he would fall. He has been Vet check and is in sound
shape. Simon has had all his shots, including lime disease
this year. He has a chip in his shoulder and I can locate him
immediately. I know
both Simon and Sandy......Believe me this is a well loved and taken
care of dog. Kathy |
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I'm hiking up on top of the ridge, and yes
I had to come up through some boulders and it wasn't very difficult.
Now I'm going down and its kind of level. There is a lot of
boulders all around me to the sides and I'm still in the pine wood
forest. I just met my first south bounder for the day, his
trail name is Hannibal and he is from Boston. I hear water
running in the streams, I'm so amazed when I hear water lately that
I think about the water shortage that I've been through.
Everybody that has come south bound has said that we won't have nay
problem in this area with water. I hope that they are right
because that means the I don't have to carry any water and I don't
have to carry as much. The wate4r fall is really beautiful
coming over the moss covered boulders. So far I give Conn. 2
thumbs up. I hope you can hear the water that's coming over
the rocks, it's so peaceful along this little stream.
I can
hear the water. Kathy |
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I can definitely why the call this Pine
Knob Loop Trail. I've come up Pine Knob Mt. and I'm still in
the hemlocks, very mature hemlocks, also a focal point are white
birches dotted here and there through the pines. They stand
out like a sore thumb. Nick contrast! Oops, about fell!
It's only to be 70 degrees today, but when your carrying a pack on
your back and your climbing hills I have perspiration rolling off me
like it was a 90 degree day. |
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The trail has been leaf and pine needled
covered with some stones and boulders thrown in there. This is
the best view day that I've had in over a week, but still a little
hazy. Some puffy clouds and some storm looking clouds, however
it is not supposed to rain till the end of the week. A big old
heron just flew over my head. |
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The woods is mostly hardwoods now, a lot
laurel undergrowth that is very close to the trail, however the
trail is well maintained and cut back. I like hiking through
the laurel tunnels. This is the kind of trail that the
COHC would like hike on. |
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I swear that this dog can read, he reads white,
red and words to. I'm at Creaser's Brook Camp site. He's
already going in checking out the camp site. He's a smart dog.
Simon and I are going to take a little rest break at the brook. |
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I'm hiking over some large exposed rocks
now. The moss growing on them is just beautiful. Some
star and cushion moss. A lot of old white birches on the
ground in this area. They have been here for a while. |
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I just went over the road that goes to West
Cornwall about 5 miles out from where I started. Every time
you cross a road on the AT the other side is always straight up hill
and rocky. That's what I'm doing now and I'm almost to the top
and underneath some huge boulders. I'm just within a mile to
the shelter. It is sprinkling rain a little bit. I
thought I'd stop by the shelter and read the guest book and wait it
out and see what happens. I don't intend to stay here if I
don't have to tonight. |
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I'm now almost to the top and I have to
over these boulders which will take a while. Well that was
normal, it took about 10 minutes and it was poorly marked so I had
to go around to keep finding the trail. I getting ready to go
down the other side. Went into Pine Swamp Shelter to sign the
register and get some water. Not good news going north, they
say from Pine Shelter to 7 there is no water. |
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All of sudden there is white birch every
where. Shines like a diamond in the woods. Just crossed
over Sharon Mt. Rd. Pretty soon I'll be coming to Mt. Easter.
I must be on top of Easter Mt. now. One view area the sun is
shinning, still a little hazy but I can off into the near by
mountains. Now of the views have been exceptional today. |
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A lot metaphoric rocks in this area, a lot
of marble, rose quarts, clear quarts, pure marble strips running
through the middle of rocks or just a solid marble rock. |
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The sun is shinning and it's a pretty
afternoon. Maybe I'll luck out and won't get anymore rain
today. Back into the pine woods again. At first it was
mostly white pines and now it is native Hemlocks. Some of
these must be 75 years old or more. They're huge! A lot
of the hard wood trees are not that large. Here is a rock wall
that's telling me there's trees that are humongous and have probably
been in front yards of people who had their cabins in this area.
They might be older than what I think they are. A lot of
striped maple undergrowth now in this area. Where as before it
was laurel and large ferns, some of those ferns were waist high. |
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Coming across a dry creek bed. It
looks like when there's a lot of water it just over flows.
There is one little tiny puddle of water. Just passed Sharon
Mt camp site. No water here. A south bound hiker just
told me that there's water at a camp site which is just 3 miles
away. When I get there and check it out, Simon and I might
pitch the tarp there tonight. |
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It's been smooth hiking today. Yes there's been
some up and downs and large boulders, but I've been able to cover
some miles. A lot of areas were just flat and you can hike
pretty quickly. |
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I've just passed the most awesome view that
I've seen in days. It shows the valley and the mountains, but
the air is a lot clearer. This is the area where Paul Neumann
has raced his car. There's cars out there now, you can hear
them. This is where the hand glider people will jump off the
cliffs and had glide. The view was the most outstanding I've
seen for a long time. |
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The sun is going down into the west.
I hope I can get into camp soon so I can set up my tarp properly and
change into some dry clothes and get my supper before it's get dark. |
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Finally coming into the campsite for the
night. I'm going to quickly set up the tarp and it looks like
there's plenty of water. |
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Swing'n Jane and
Simon |
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