June 8 Belter's Campsite, CT to Salisbury, CT to Riga Shelter, CT 17.6 Miles

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Rain patted the tent fly all night long. Not heavy, just a steady Seattle drizzle. The thick pine trees overhead helped abate the worst I think. It also helped it continue to hit the tent long after the real rain had quit. We woke up around 5:30 with water still hitting the tent. Motivation was not real high to go out, but we did have to make the Post Office 11 miles away. The Ridgerunner told us the trail was detoured around a construction site not far from where we had camped. She didn't say if it added or subtracted miles from our day. Checking the map later showed an extra two miles or there about.

The rain had stopped and breakfast was no problem. We were on the trail by 7:15. There was a short climb then a descent down to the road. The detour took us past the famous "Lime Rock Race Track." the first six miles of the day were all road walking. There were however many very nice homes along our path. Two hours after starting we took a break by the river in Falls Village. Aptly named for a beautiful set of water falls on the north side of town. We took a side trail to get a photo of them.

Then back to the normal trail with the normal near 1,000' climb up Mt Prospect. We later passed a geological site called "Giant's Thumb," a rock projecting at the top of a small hill looking like a thumb. 11 miles in 5hrs 15 min. We made Salisbury Post Office by 12:30, half an hour before they took lunch. Our box was waiting and we managed to get everything going back out before they closed for lunch. It took about 30 minutes of rearranging packs to get all the supplies stowed. A number of locals stopped to ask questions, but none offered us a ride back to the trail. It was only 1/2 mile, so no real big deal.

Back on the road by 1:45 headed for the next shelter 4.6 miles away. All but the .6 was up hill another 1,000' worth of climbing. Our vertical gain for today was almost 3,000' and I didn't count the feet lost. The trail was merciful though, lots of switchbacks and not many straight on assaults.

We arrived at the shelter by 4:15. Quick scouting located a tent platform for a flat night’s sleep. We dropped our packs and headed for the spring to resupply our water needs. Next came the tent setup, sorting out the food and supplies then supper. After cleaning up we headed for the shelter proper to chat with our neighbors. There were a mother and daughter plus the lady Ridgerunner in from her days work. She had a run in with a surly tree and got the worst of it. A cut lip with a banged up nose. Nothing serious, but no glamour shots for at least a week or so. While talking to the ladies "D" one of the guys we stayed with at "The Mayor's House" caught up to us today. He started his hike last year but got Lyme Disease and had to stop. He left the Mayor's a day behind us. He is doing great with his first 20 miler in today. We have five days food and will walk out of CT tomorrow morning. Only four more states to go.

Patrick, Deborah Mooney aka OD & CC
All Who Wander Are Not Lost

For Photos and Video: http://odandccslongwalk.shutterfly.com/

OD and CC have been marking their path with a GPS using SPOT Satellite Messenger and can be tracked at the following link. It keeps track of their last 7 days: http://tinyurl.com/o2g53z

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