PMIACW

Saturday, July 25, 2020

When the day began, all I had left of the Connecticut Section of the Appalachian Trail is south from Route 341 in Kent to Hoyt Road in Sherman. This, according to the Connecticut Walk Book, measures out at 12.7-miles. Other sources call it slightly less.

I set off as early as I could, as it was to be a very hot one again today. I hoped to run for 5 or 6-miles, before turning back for my out and back.

It was already warm, and humid at my start. The climb up Mt Algo all the way to Indian Rock in the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, roughly 3-miles, was a chore.

Speaking of the Schaghticoke's, a little research reveals:

Schaghticoke Tribal Nation

Schaghticoke Indian Tribe

Schaghticoke First Nations

After a series of many up's and down's, and the presence of many balanced / perched rocks along the route, I finally encountered a "runnable" section that opened to a majestic overlook (Schaghticoke Mountain Overlook) to the south at 5.75-miles. A great spot to turnaround.

Along the way back, I managed to take a fall, hitting my head on a branch and "...knocked the tar out me" as my friend Paul H used to say. It was also really hot by this point, and the climbs were crushers today. I managed to push through the final 3.5-miles or so, but it wasn't pretty.

Ended the day with 11.6-miles, and despite the difficulty I had (mostly due to the heat, I believe), I would like to re-visit this section of the Appalachian Trail. I captured many balanced rocks in photographs, but on the return I believe I noticed a few more slightly off the trail. These are worth documenting.

There were many views, and Thayer Brook was running with some water... during a "wetter" year I imagine this would be a beautiful stream.

AT Path between rocks, 1-mile out from Rt 341