Day 125-Multiple Trail Magic in 10 Easy Miles!

July 21-10 miles-Belters Campsite to Salisbury, CT-AT mile 1502.4

I was ready to go before Sure Foot this morning because he had to go back to the spring and get more water. He didn’t think he would catch me, but I knew otherwise. 

I came off of Belters Bump, and down to a road. There was a flat field walk for a bit, then back into the woods (still flat). As I was coming out to another road, I spied a cooler. 

Path alongside the field. 

Back in the woods

Sometimes there is a Sharpie marker so we can sign the cooler. I signed it. 

This had just been left because the ice was very plentiful. I took a Sunny D, and some peanut M&Ms. 

I only drank part of the Sunny D, then stowed the bottle in my side pocket for later (it tasted really good at the top of Prospect Mtn). 

This morning was a road walk punctuated by bits of trail in the woods. 

Falls Village bridge over the Housatonic. 

The high school. 

I was walking along the road past the power plant, when a pickup pulled up beside me and asked what my trail name was. I told them, then they asked if I wanted a cold drink. Even though I had the Sunny D, I said I wouldn’t turn it down. Turns out, it was the “Kentucky Krew”. I’ve seen them on Facebook. They started out thru-hiking, but got off because of the virus. After being at home for awhile, they decided to get back out, but instead of just hiking, they would also do trail magic. 

The Kentucky Krew 

They took our pictures (Sure Foot had caught up to me while I was talking to the Krew), and we signed their cooler. I knew so many of the hikers that had signed the cooler too. I signed just below Braids. 

We continued on across the Iron Bridge. 

Housatonic 

Good for you Amesville for never being incorporated!

Shortly after crossing the bridge, a woman drove by, stopped, and held out a can of Off bug repellent. I must admit, I might have looked a little...perplexed. Then she said, “You can have it.” I said thank you, but declined as I do have bug repellent (and I wouldn’t want to carry a big can anyway). She wins for most unique trail magic!

We got back on trail and worked our way to Great Falls. 

Fairly substantial falls there!


The main climb of the day up Prospect Mtn started not long after the Falls. It wasn’t too hard. 

A bit of a view from the top. 

We descended, and popped out to another field. This one had a very nice view!

So peaceful looking, I think. 

The next part of today’s short hike was a little climb up to “Giant’s Thumb”. We weren’t sure what to expect. We called the first little hump the first knuckle. Then we thought this might be the hair on the thumb. 

We also went by a rock wall which we decided must be the cuticle. Well...we were wrong about all of it. This...was “Giant’s Thumb”. 

I guess, compared to my thumb, it is pretty big, but I was expecting so much more. Maybe this is more like...”Giant’s Pinky Toe”. As I said in yesterday’s post, things are just a little smaller (doesn’t quite compare to Dragon’s Tooth in Virginia).

Guess what happened next! We crossed the 1500 mile mark! Annnndddd...we didn’t even have to make our own marker!

Trying to get back up, I almost fell over backwards!

We were headed into Salisbury to stay with a woman named Vanessa who rents out rooms in her house. She would pick us up, and shuttle us into town. When I called last night, she asked about what time we would be there. We guessed between 1:00 and 2:00. At lunch, we had 1.3 miles to go. Based on the way the trail had been, we would probably get there before 1:00. I called and told her where we were. She was out with her dogs, but would be there to pick us up. She asked us to call when we got to the spot. Turns out, the climb down to the road was quite steep!

Even with the switchbacks, it was slow going. 

Then there was this...at least there was a hand rail!

Needless to say, the descent ate up some time. We made it to where Vanessa was going to pick us up right at 1:00. 

Vanessa lives in a 300 year old house. She has room for up to 7 hikers at a time. We are in the “Blue Room”.

Yep, everything is blue. 

Vanessa is very nice. We can use the kitchen, and she did our laundry. It is $40/person (plus $5 for laundry). That is cheaper than the Dutchess Motel (which was not the best) in Wingdale, and much much nicer. 

Salisbury is a very cute village. It has most everything a hiker needs in a very short distance. Interestingly, for the first time, when we walked into the grocery store (with our masks on, of course), there was a lady taking temperatures. We passed the test, and were allowed to go in. 

Tomorrow, Vanessa will shuttle us back to the trail. Funny thing, when we said we would go at 7:30, she said, “Okay, you make sure you are ready to go at 7:30.” Apparently, many hikers say they want to go early, but are never ready. We told her, in all likelihood, we would be ready before her. 

Here’s a parting shot. 

This green dragonfly kept landing on the trail in front of me, so I took a picture.