June 9 Riga Lean-to, CT to Hemlocks Lean-to, MA 10 Miles

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The real rain held off until just after 6AM, then the heavens opened up. Between 6 and 6:30 everything outside was soaked! Not the way we like to start things out. I headed up to the bear box and shelter/lean-to to start breakfast. CC stayed in the tent getting her things packed staying as dry as possible. Everyone in the shelter had talked about the sunrise view from the sleeping area. The rain and clouds had all four people still sleeping when I got there. Quietly I did my duty then went to fetch CC so she could eat before it got cold. The rain came and went in waves. By 7 everyone in the shelter was up and talking. We went over our options for the day waiting on the weather to settle. Bear Mountain was just ahead, CT's highest point. The north side is known as a tricky section in good weather, we had rain and lightning of and on.

It let up around 9:30 so we headed out. Just as we shouldered our packs "Unplugged" came walking in to the shelter. He had camped out just out of town and walked the four miles in this morning. He stopped to make a hot breakfast and warm up a bit. CC, D and I all hit the trail. 1.8 miles later we hit the Undermountain Trail junction. It is the bad weather route around Bear Mtn. The rain had stopped and we had not heard thunder for almost an hour, over the top it was. CC saw one of her "Lady Slipper" blessing flowers and said that settled the matter.

The climb up was ok, but the down climb was a bit touchy in spots. The climb up was 700' and the down side was 1,000'. That dropped us into Sages Ravine and the CT/MA border. 10 states down and 4 to go. A stream runs along the bottom of the ravine and even in the rain it was beautiful. We had lunch in the pines along the north bank after crossing the stream.

The next seven miles drug on and on. The rain had stopped but the mist hung to us like a baby to its mother. We had to climb Race Mtn and Mt Everett. Race Mtn was 1,100' and then Everett was another 700' of going up. Race Mtn never seemed to end. We walked along a long, tall cliff edge among Bansi trees. We got stills and a video clip of the area.

After 6.5 hours on the trail we made the last steps in to the Lean-to area. I'm not sure why the name of these places has changed, the structures have not. Unplugged had passed us going up Race Mtn and was already comfortable in his bag warming up. We spread some things out in a vain attempt to get drying done. Impossible in the mist. After that it was hot drinks and supper. CC is in her bag on the top bunk, I'm in mine on the lower. 54 degrees out and everything is damp. The tent is still soaked in its bag. Tomorrow the outlook is for more of the same. It is 14.3 miles to the next shelter. All we need is an hour of sun to dry all our stuff. I hope we get that soon. If not, tomorrow it will be the shelter and not the tent for a second night. The tent is a bit warmer than the shelters and there are no bugs buzzing around your head. Being away from the shelter is also quieter if there is a snorer in the house. Tonight I think I will be the only one to make any noise. It is low and not often, the more weight I lose the quieter I get.

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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