Appalachian Trail - part 2

This hike occurred on August 16 & 17

Trail head:
395 Undermountain Rd (Rt 41), Salisbury, CT - Off of Rt 41, there's a large parking lot with space for maybe a dozen cars. In addition, there's also road side parking.

Length/Distance: According to the CT Walk book and the Appalachian Trail guide, the first section of trail we completed should have 3.6 and the second, 3.2. Our GPS tracking program said the first was 3.66 and the second was 3.42. However, it's worth noting that we only traveled a few miles on the AT.

Summary: 
We parked at the base of Undermountain Trail. We hiked up Undermountain trail, past the intersection with Paradise Lane Trail. 

We eventually made it to the intersection with the AT, Riga Junction. 

   

We went to the right and climbed up Bear Mountain. 

The view from the top of the rock tower was great. 

 

We met two SOBO thru-hikers, talked, and gave them some of our beer. One of my friends went searching for blueberries (as they're in season) and found a lot. 

From there, we descended the mountain, into Sages Ravine. 

 Shortly after that, we came to the campsite. 

We set up camp and then went swimming in the creek. 

 

Our campsite was quite nice, with a spring and privy nearby. 

We had dinner and then settled in for the night. It rained a little bit overnight but nothing major. In the morning, we made oatmeal and added fresh blueberries we'd picked the day before on the top of the mountain. 

After breakfast, we packed up and headed back to the parking lot, taking the AT to Paradise Lane to Undermountain Trail. We packed our stuff into the car and headed out. On the way home, we stopped for second breakfast at JDT's Brickhouse in Thomaston.  

Quinnipiac Trail - part 3

This hike occurred on August 9th, 2014

Trail Heads: 
370 Brooks Rd, Bethany, CT - This road is a narrow, wooded residential road. There's space for maybe 2 cars on the side of the road near the trail head.

76 Mountain Rd, Prospect, CT - This is an official trail head for the Naugatuck State Forest and provides a small parking lot with parking for 3-4 cars. 

Length/Distance: According the Connecticut Walk book, the route between the trail heads on Brooks Rd and the entrance of the Quinnipiac Trail into Sleeping Giant State Park was 5.4 miles. According to my GPS tracking program, our route was 4.98 miles.

Summary: We started at Mountain Rd and hiked towards Brooks Rd. It was a sunny but relatively cool (high 70's) day. We followed the trail over a creek. 

The blue trail soon turned right up a hill and we left behind a number of hikers that were exploring the state forest. From the top of the first hill, we had some nice views. 

We then descended the hill and wound around a YMCA outdoor center (Camp Tepee).

 There was a lean-to near the trail, a bit away from the camp. 

The trail exited the woods near the camp and we had a substantial road walk; the blazes were a bit sparse. 

We saw the cutest roadkill ever (image of dirty stuffed bunny on its back).

We entered the woods again and did a bit of climbing up Mad Mare Hill. We had some good views. 

And also discovered an old stone house.

From here, it was a fairly short hike back to the car. We were pleasantly surprised to find the hike was shorter than anticipated. 

Quinnipiac Trail - part 2

This hike occurred on August 2, 2014

Trail Heads: 
370 Brooks Rd, Bethany, CT - This road is a narrow, wooded residential road. There's space for maybe 2 cars on the side of the road near the trail head.

250 Mt Carmel Ave, Hamden, CT - We parked on the side of the road by Sleeping Giant State Park. Street parking is allowed during the weekend; we did this so we could avoid the park's fee. 

Length/Distance: According the Connecticut Walk book, the route between the trail heads on Brooks Rd and the entrance of the Quinnipiac Trail into Sleeping Giant State Park was 4.6 miles. According to my GPS tracking program, our route was 4.89 miles.

Summary: We started from Brooks Rd. The day was overcast; it had rained earlier in the day so underbrush was damp. Less than a mile into the hike, my companion was stung six times by an unidentified insect; most likely, it was a wasp. After treating the stings, we continued on with our hike. Towards the top of a hill, we found Lowbush Blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium) 

There were a few ripe blueberries to be had. We also found bushes of American Red Raspberries (Rubus idaeus) along the trail. At 1.1 miles, we came to a T with the Quinnipiac and the northmost portion of Regicides Trails.

After a bit more hiking, the trail has a road walk along Paradise Ave; in the future, this is where we'd access the northmost point of the Regicides, given the trail intersection was ~0.6 miles from Paradise Ave. There's also a parking area at the dead-end. 

The trail entered the woods again at the end of the cul-de-sac, fairly quickly leading to a road walk along Old Coach Hwy, Nolan Rd, Shepard Ave, and Rocky Top Rd. We then entered the woods again to the left side of Rocky Top Rd. This took us up and over York Hill. This portion of the trail was relatively overgrown and very noticeably so because of the prickers. There was some nice Staghorn Sumac (Rhys typhina). 

Along this portion of trail, we also saw an old stone chimney and oven. 

The trail emerged onto Kimberly Ave, right down the road from the Quinnipiac York Hill campus with the TD Bank Sports Center. They had some nice Lilacs planted in the area. 

From there, we road walked down West Woods Rd, over Whitney Ave, and then into the woods by Sleeping Giant. The trail lead around Mill River back to Mt Carmel Ave. 

There was a deer in the middle of the path by the river. 

Since we had previously hiked the entirety of the Sleeping Giant Blue Trail/Quinnipiac in years past, that finished our hike. We have two more hikes left to finish the entire Quinnipiac.    

NH AT section hike day#4

June 30, 2014
Start: Beaver Brook shelter
End: Liberty Springs tentsite/Mt Liberty Lodging
Mileage: 20.4

I started out this morning from the shelter at 6:20am. I trekked down to Kinsman Notch which was a very steep section of trail. I fell a few times, bloodying my knuckles. From there, it was up Mt Wolf east peak and then down to Eliza Brook Shelter. After that, it was the South peak of Kinsman Mtn followed by the North peak. I then passed by the Lonesome Lake Hut and stopped there for 45 minutes to have some soup, baked goods, and water.

The stop gave me enough energy to finish out the day in Lincoln as planned. Between the North peak of Kinsman and the road, I fell at least 4 times, bruising and skinning my arms and legs and spraining my ankle. This chain of events further solidified my decision to cut the hike short and return home.

The past three days have been extremely humid to the point where my clothes never dried out from being soaked in sweat each day. The black flies and mosquitoes were horrid. I hadn't accounted for how much salt I'd need nor just how much water I'd need to stay hydrated. Unfortunately, even after I realized it, it was really a losing battle. There is a limited amount of water available on the trail at regular intervals. So I had to contend with pests, humidity, dehydration, heat exhaustion, and asthma attacks, in addition to the typical every day hiking struggles. Also, due to the dehydration and salt deficit, I had extremely bad muscle spasms in my calves and thighs (even reached my forearms yesterday evening) which left my right calf in a lot of pain even when at rest. I'm not sure if it's just a muscle strain/pull or if I did something to my Achilles tendon.

Also, everyone is saying today will be one of the hottest this summer. Even Mt Washington is forecast to reach 90 degrees today, followed by three days of rain. Given how slippery the (mostly) dry rocks were, I think it was smart to end the hike today. I also ended in a place with bus service so it will make returning fairly easy. 

In the end, it was a good experience but when I return to these mountains to finish, it will be much cooler!

NH AT section hike day #3

June 29, 2014
Start: Hexacuba Shelter
End: Beaver Brook shelter
Mileage: 22.6 (+1.0 when missed trail at road crossing)

I started out from the shelter at 6:20am. made good time in the morning, climbing Mt Cube, Ore Hill, and Mt Mist. Between Ore Hill and Mt Mist, I went the wrong way at the road crossing of NH 25C and added at least a mile to my hike. Right after the road crossing of NH 25A, I had to take off my boots and ford a river. Not too long after that, I passed by Jeffers Brook shelter around 2pm. I decided to press on as planned and hike up Mt Moosilauke.

I'd been told that Moosilauke has the worst approach of any mountains in the Whites. I hope this is true. It was beastly. There were no switch backs; the majority of the trail traveled straight up. It was rocky and ridiculously steep. It took me 3.25 hours to travel 3.9 miles to the peak. From there, I headed to the next shelter a few miles away.

Here I met Gwen, Heidi, and Heidi's brother. Gwen and Heidi are going into their second year at Dartmouth Med school. Heidi's brother is visiting from CA; after the hike, the siblings will be going back to CA for the remainder of the summer. They were all really cool people and I really enjoyed chatting with them.

NH AT section hike day #2

June 28, 2014
Start: Velvet Rocks Shelter
End: Hexacuba Shelter
Mileage: 27.2 (+0.2 & +0.3 for shelter side trails)

I started from Velvet Rocks at 5:45am. I climbed over Moose Mountain, Holts Ledge, and Smarts Mountain. I made it to Hexacuba at 6:10pm. Along the way, I took two 15 minute breaks; one at the Ice Cream Man's house (free ice cream, water, privy, and electricity) and one at the summit of Smarts.

Between the Ice Cream Man and some random trail magic (candy!!), it was a good (though very long) day. My calves protested the uphill portions a lot. I had Charlie horses in both my calves and thighs. I had some tums before bed so that should help. Tomorrow is a shorter day but I end by climbing Moosilauke,  which is going to be rough. 

At the shelter, there were more DOC kids, two thru hikers I didn't meet, and Bangerang who I had met earlier at the Ice Cream Man's house. The air was slightly cool and there were almost no bugs. I had a good night sleep.

NH AT section hike day #1

June 27, 2014
Start: Hanover, NH
End: Velvet Rocks Shelter
Mileage: 1.5 (+0.6 from train station,  +0.2 to shelter)

I started my hike from the White River Junction Amtrak station at 6:30pm. I walked to Rt10 so it would be a straight shot into Hanover. I hitched a ride very quickly. Unfortunately, the person who picked me up was intoxicated though it wasn't immediately evident. He had an open container in his lap and was slurring his words. We managed to get to Hanover safely and I quickly disembarked.

I then grabbed dinner at the Noodle Station. From there, I hiked ~1 mile to Velvet rocks shelter. There's two section hikers here, a newly married couple who started in NY and are ending after the Whites. There two guys out for the weekend and there's 10 DOC students.

The mosquitoes are horrible here. I'm seriously questioning my decision to skip the hammock. I'm hot but hiding in my 20 degree bag. I'm also questioning my decision to pack the 20 degree bag rather than the 40 degree bag. Well, hopefully I'll get to sleep okay and the Dartmouth kids will stop talking soon.