AZ on the AT

7/20 Silver Hill campsite 1480, spent the day in Kent, did laundry finally

7/21 Riga Shelter 1506, Night hiked out of salisbury with moonlight, had to take of my shoes to wade across two streams, saw a rattlesnake and a family of bears (three cubs and an adult)

7/22 Great Barrington 1523, climbed Bear Mtn, and crossed into MA

7/23 Shaker Campsite 1542, packed out mcdonalds,

7/24 stealth campsite 1562, beginning to enter a world of mud

7/25 Cheshire town campground 1581,

7/26 Mt Greylock "emergency" shelter 1589

This week I've been going north, parallel to the Housatonic River. "River of the Mountain Place" from americanized Mohican. The river flows south, so I've been watching it shrink as I hike. It's been overflowing from recent rainfall, and the ground has been pretty saturated and muddy. There have been places I've had to take detours or take off my shoes to cross a stream. Makes me miss the 10 mile dry stretches of Virginia.

I met my first southbound thru-hikers near the MA/CT border. They were going fast, hiking 25-35 miles per day. One of them was still on his first pair of shoes! I guess that's a way of measuring distance. I'm about one pair of shoes away from reaching Katahdin, after hiking three shoes. They said that I've got a lot more mud to look forward to in Vermont.

Although the state borders don't mean much, they're good reminders to look around and notice the change of scenery. New England has had a more boggy section of trail, with mixed forest cover and more areas of reduced undergrowth. I haven't seen any raspberries in a while, but there have been plenty of blueberries. There's also a lot more mosquitos to go with the bogs. I might actually start carrying a repellant.

Vermont, here I come!