The Appalachian Trail through Connecticut was fast and easy. Connecticut dished out the quickest miles on the AT and it seemed the mileage was way short of what the signs and maps indicated. There was even a relocation at Cornwall Bridge that took nearly 10 more miles off the AT. Mark and I caught up with another thru-hiker, Bill, as we entered the state. We hiked on, stirring up yellow jacket nests in the trail as we walked. Mark was usually the lucky one to get stung after Bill and I stomped them into an angry swarm. Bill continued north and we headed into town for a maildrop in Kent.
We got the sense that we were on upscale real estate from the many BMW and Volvos that passed us on our way into town. We entered a store for the standard hiker gorge and felt the tension of the customers as we stood among them. Pedestrians gave us the eye, steering clear of us as if we radiated harmful rays. Most towns were friendly towards hikers or at least accepted them as money bearing curiosities but this town would rather we just moved along. We did a road walk past expensive homes with manicured lawns before the Trail took us into the woods and over St. John’s Ledges. We filled up on great spring water at the Swift’s Bridge site then on through the dampness along the Housatonic River.
The rain continued that afternoon and well into the night. We had the tarp stretched over us to keep us out of the rain but the air was so moist we felt as damp as you can get without actually being immersed in water. At one point during a light sleep, my hand brushed against something cold and wet. I jerked awake, grabbed my flashlight and illuminated a disgusting sight. Mark and I were covered with SLUGS! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and woke Mark to help me dispel this hallucination. He uttered a most disapproving groan of disgust and began to frantically flick off slugs. The slugs were real and I joined Mark in a rapid fire removal of the nasty little bastards. The slug trails covered everything and it was hard to believe the amount of ground they traveled in such a short time. I still get a wave of revulsion when I think about “Camp Slug”.
,,,continue the expedition, read: Our Turn on the Mass Pike Bridge [link]