Appalachian Trail Section Hike #8 – CT Route 41 (Salisbury) to Race Brook Falls Trail
Dates: 6/16/06 – 6/18/06
Participants: Tim, Jeff, JJ and Ethan
This was the first section where we brought along “Mile Hiker, The Next Generation”.
Friday June 16th
I cut short a golf outing to stop at home and pick up my 10-year old son JJ for the ride up to Connecticut. He was extremely excited to be going on his first backpacking trip and was pacing the yard in anticipation. We pulled out of the driveway just past 14:00 and made a quick fuel and food stop just before crossing into New York. The last few miles into Salisbury took longer that I expected but we still arrived to find an empty parking area. Within two minutes, Tim and his 6-year old son Ethan arrived and we set out to shuttle his car up to Jug End Road at the northern end of this section. By 20:00, we were back at the Salisbury parking area and loaded up the packs for the short 0.2 mile hike up to the Plateau campsite.
This was the first test for JJ as it was all uphill. His pack was pretty light and only contained his sleeping pad, my ultra-light sleeping bag, his pillow, water, snacks and a bag of popcorn for a total weight of around 12 pounds. He cruised up the hill with no problems and we arrived at the camping area to find three tents already pitched. An older gentleman emerged from one of the tents but didn’t have a lot to say. Darkness was falling so we wasted no time in setting-up the tents and getting a few items organized for the evening. The mosquitoes were biting and we all took a few hits before the repellant was in place to protect us. Once we were settled, I made a quick trip to the truck to retrieve a pair of ice-cold beers and some additional water. It was pretty much like car camping since my truck and a cooler were easily accessible.
Tim and I downed the beers and enjoyed some quiet conversation before deciding that it was time to get some rest. It was a little snug with both JJ and I in the tent that I usually have to myself, but the tent spot was fairly level and we were both asleep in minutes. Sometime in the evening, I was awaked by voices and flashlights as a group of late arrivals showed up and tried to get settled. They did their best to be quiet but apparently raised the ire of the older gentleman as we heard him bitching at them. It was only a few more minutes before everything quieted back down and the sounds of the frogs dominated the night.
Saturday, June 17th
I woke up to see the sun already above the ridge to the east. JJ heard my stirrings and also began to shake himself out of his slumber. His excitement was obvious as he normally doesn’t get moving very quickly. Last night, I left my watch out on my pack while putting on the bug repellant and had forgotten to bring it into the tent. Based on the location of the sun, I incorrectly guessed that it was close to 07:00. It was actually a few minutes before 06:00. If I had known that, I would have rolled over and tried to get another hour’s sleep. Oh well….nothing wrong with getting an early start on the morning chores. I took another run down to my truck to retrieve the eggs, cheese and ham for this morning’s breakfast while dropping off the trash from last night. We got to meet the rest of our camp mates this morning. There was a solo hiker camped up the hill that we didn’t see last night, the old man with his daughter, son-in-law and grandson, and finally the trio that arrived after dark. The old man continued to bitch at them for coming in so late and didn’t stop even after they had packed up and left. Apparently, he felt that they should have camped illegally down the trail instead of waking him up. The good part about all of this is that it completely eclipsed any conversations about my snoring. One of the trio was a thru-hiking alumnus and we chatted about Katahdin and other sections of the trail.
It took a little practice to cook the eggs successfully on Tim’s stove but we finally got to enjoy egg sandwich breakfast on the trail. Tim let Ethan sleep in as long as possible before we packed up the tents and cooking supplies. I took another trip down and up the hill to fetch the subs for lunch and the last 6 eggs – no sense allowing the perishables to get any warmer than they needed to be. By the time I hoisted my pack, I had already hiked an extra 1.2 miles! Tim said that they didn’t count since I could have carried everything in one trip. Fine. Next time, I’ll leave his sub OUTSIDE the cooler overnight….
At 08:25, we set out towards Lion’s Head. JJ enjoyed hiking in the lead and set a respectable pace. The two of us set a pattern of hiking out ahead and then waiting for Tim and Ethan to catch up. The sky clouded up and a few rain drops began to fall as the trail ascended the ridge. It wasn’t bad under the canopy of trees but we didn’t linger on the 1738-foot summit of Lion’s Head except for a few quick pictures. Next was a brief stop at the Riga Lean-To for a snack break then on to the Brassie Brook Lean-To for our lunch stop. The old man and his family were there and pretty much monopolized the dry shelter – leaving us out at the wet picnic tables. And this was they guy that thought the late arrivals were rude hikers. We showed them a thing or two by pulling our (semi) fresh subs out of our packs along with chips and other snacks. I made a mistake by ordering foot-long subs for both Tim and I and neither of us had the appetite to finish them. As a result, we had to carry the dead weight of the remnants for the remainder of the hike. If it would just have been the two of us, we probably would have hiked further and whet our appetites for the whole sub. Oh well….chalk it up as a new experience.
The trail up Bear Mountain was gradual and fairly easy. JJ learned a valuable lesson about false summits as he was sure that we had reached the actual 2316’ summit several times. The most impressive part of the climb was looking back and seeing Lion’s Head in the distance. That perspective really drove home the amount of progress we had made since the morning. We stopped on a huge rock cairn that used to be a tower marking this highest mountain summit within Connecticut. A ridgerunner with the AMC was there and informed us that the Bear Rock Falls camping area was now closed. However, she explained that a new campsite named Laurel Ridge had been opened to replace it and was actually a little closer to our current location. This information saved us some confusion later in the day and gave us some inspiration as today’s miles were winding down. One of the other hikers was talking about his travels in Asia and we spent a few minutes rattling off the names of the Chinese cities that we both had visited. Before departing, we took a look to the north to see what we had in store for the rest of the hike. The summits of Mount Race and Mount Everett were clearly visible in the
distance.
Treacherous is a good word for the descent from Bear Mountain into Sages Ravine that immediately followed our rest stop. It was steep and the morning’s rain had made the rocks slippery. This descent slowed JJ down considerably, although he learned a great deal from the few times he slipped and fell. We eventually reached Sawmill Brook and followed it down through the ravine to find Tim and Ethan resting next to the stream. It was a convenient place to filter water so we all tanked up in preparation for the last two miles of the day.
Ethan did exceptionally well – not just for a 6-year old, but for any hiker. He kept plodding away mile after mile like the Energizer Bunny. Just across the Massachusetts state border, Tim and Ethan stopped for a break while JJ and I pushed forward for the campsite. We turned on the radios and I zeroed my GPS so that I could give them the distance remaining in today’s hike. This last stretch was all uphill and I was looking forward to the conclusion. 
We passed a group of southbound Boy Scouts that insured us that the site was just ahead. While I stopped to relay the information to Tim, JJ continued and found the camp sign and side trail. My first stop was a long overdue visit to the privy before we climbed the ridge and found one of the few remaining tent sites. JJ and I dropped our packs, radioed Tim with our location, and then decided to walk back down the ridge to offer any support we could. When Ethan came into view, we could see that he was beat. Still, he found the strength to keep hiking without complaint. By 18:00, the four of us were all unpacking and setting up for a well-earned night of rest.
Surprisingly, I was not exceptionally hungry. JJ scarfed down his two bowls of pre-cooked mac-n-cheese while I finished up with unpacking the sleeping pads and bags. My mind convinced my stomach that I should eat something so I munched down on a teriyaki salmon steak. Once we were finished with dinner, I gathered up all of the food and trash bags and locked them in the bear box for safekeeping. The mosquitoes were biting but I just wasn’t motivated to cover myself with DEET just before laying down for the night. Instead, I took a bandanna down to the spring and washed off the day’s grime before sitting down with Tim to finish a bit of celebratory schnapps. JJ had retired by 20:00 and I joined him shortly after 21:00. The only disturbance during this evening was the nearby call of a Barred Owl.
Sunday, June 18th (Father’s Day)
Once again, I was up before 06:00. I felt sufficiently rested and it was already beginning to warm up significantly. As quietly as possible, I retrieved the food from the bear box and started packing up the items scattered all over our site. Tim soon emerged from his tent and we agreed to cook up the last of the eggs while letting both kids sleep in. It’s official – trail egg sandwiches are the best! It was worth the effort to carry the ingredients and sufficient fuel, especially since Tim did most of the hauling. JJ smelled the aroma of the sizzling eggs and it drew him out of the tent. His sandwich was absolutely perfect – I couldn’t have done better at home.
Both Tim and I had reached the conclusion that neither kid was up for completing the final 8 miles to Jug End Road. The first bail-out point was the Race Brook Falls trail, some 3.1 miles to the north. To make it even more of a challenge, the first 1.8 miles were uphill and the humidity level and temperatures were rising with every minute. We took our time with pack-up chores this morning and didn’t get back on the trail until 08:45. JJ was beat but kept a pretty good pace. Ethan was another story. He pretty much used up all of his reserves yesterday and required frequent breaks before continuing on with the morning’s climb. Still, he soldiered on bravely and made progress where most other kids his age would have given up.
It was close to 10:00 when JJ and I reached the first eastern outlook on our way up Race Mountain. The visible haze hanging throughout the valley was testament to the high humidity. We found a small batch of shade just shy of the actual summit and took a long break while waiting for Tim and Ethan to arrive. The radios became a valuable piece of equipment on this hike since that we could keep tabs on each other. I guided Tim up to our break spot before departing for the actual 2365’ summit. JJ and I stopped briefly to take pictures of the imposing mass of Mount Everett to the north.
Thankfully, we were not going to cross it on today’s hike. We followed the trail as it descended somewhat sharply into the saddle between Race and Everett. JJ obviously learned a lot from yesterday’s descent from Bear Mountain and did very well with the technical portions of this stretch.
Once again, we found a cool and shady spot to wait for Tim and Ethan and were soon joined by a thru-hiker Greg from Maryland. He had started northbound on May 8th from his home near the old South Mountain Inn and was planning on summiting Katahdin before returning home for a few weeks. Greg’s friends had started a southbound thru-hike a few weeks ago and he was going to finish the southern half of the trail with them when they reached his homestead. We talked about his experiences to date and he was most grateful when I turned on the weather radio to provide him with a forecast for the next few days. While we were stopped, a group of four hikers from last night’s campsite passed us and told us that Tim and Ethan were still trudging along. I made radio contact with Tim and told then we would proceed to the trail junction and wait there. By the clarity of the radio reception, I could tell that they were very close. It turns out that we had stopped only a few hundred feet from the Race Brook Falls trail. If we would have waited another minute or two, our hiking partners would have caught up to us.
At the trail junction, we ran into Greg, the four hikers from Laurel Ridge, Tim, Ethan, and finally a couple that had also camped at Laurel Ridge. Tim and Ethan immediately continued down the Race Brook Falls trail while Greg left for his ascent of Everett. JJ and I left our regards with the group and started the steep 1100’ descent over two miles. It wasn’t long before we caught up to Tim and I offered to carry the weight of his car keys in case I could score a hitch at the parking area. JJ and I followed Race Brook down the hill with a mission to finish the hike without any injuries.
This side trail wasn’t as well marked as the AT but it was reasonable. As the trail reached a near vertical drop, we missed a sharp turn to the left and had to do a little backtracking. I cleared an area right in the middle of the trail and carved a large arrow with my hiking pole in an attempt to prevent Tim from making the same mistake. Shortly after regaining the blue blazes, I met up with a woman huffing her way up the steep incline. Turns out she is the overseer for the stretch of the AT on top of the ridge and was simply reporting for work. Wow….what a ‘commute’ on a day like today! I asked her to point out the turn to Tim and she agreed. Her only other comment was that the falls were spectacular! We didn’t pick this trail for its scenic value so any good views were going to be a bonus.
Well, she was right! From the guidebook, there are five falls as Race Brook drops down to the valley below. I’m guessing that this was the largest of the five. We could hear the roar well in advance of our arrival and took a break at the bottom of the falls for picture taking and general gawking. I struck up a conversation with a gentleman hiking with his own son in an effort to secure a ride at the bottom of the trail. The man seemed a little reluctant but said he would consider it once they arrived at the parking area. We passed them shortly thereafter and began to encounter many groups hiking their way up from the bottom of the trail. One group consisted of a father with his two sons and a beautiful German shorthair pointer. He was familiar with Harrisburg as he participated in several goose-calling contests in the area. Before we departed, he confirmed that we were well on our way towards the bottom of the trail.
JJ was finally burning out after all of his efforts to keep a good pace. Even though we were hiking downhill, he still stopped for breaks every few minutes. I had consulted the map and explained that we were very close to the last brook crossing, which meant that we were almost done. After making that final crossing, we stepped aside to allow a faster hiker to pass. I had an idea that this guy could be our ride ticket so I pushed JJ to follow as best as he could. We emerged at the parking area just after 14:00 to find the solo hiker stowing some gear in a truck bed. I asked him if he would be willing to shuttle us either north or south to one of our vehicles and he readily agreed. We stowed our gear and enjoyed a relaxing ride back to Salisbury. Once back at my truck, JJ and I shed our boots and socks and hit the cooler for cold sodas. Then it was time to head back up to meet Tim and Ethan.
I’m guessing it took close to 30 minutes total to shuttle back to the Race Brook Falls trailhead. Amazingly, Tim emerged from the woods within a minute of our arrival. Ethan followed a few seconds later, completing the hike under his own power. The gentleman with his son was also there and I acknowledged that another hiker had given us a ride. We loaded the packs into the back of my truck and took a short drive up to Jug End to retrieve Tim’s car. Then it was time to clean up and get changed before heading out for a belated Father’s Day lunch. I found a nearby listing for a steakhouse on my GPS and really impressed Tim with a route consisting of several dirt roads. By 15:00 we were seated and drooling over the menu choices. I had some strange fascination with the ability to wash my hands and did so three times before we left.
Both Tim and I let our hiker minds order for us and ended up taking home most of our 1-pound Monster Burgers. Maybe it was the five Cokes, one beer and fried appetizer platter that filled me up first… It was after 16:00 before we bid each other goodbye and good hike. Traffic delayed my arrival at home until 22:10 where a shower and friendly German shorthair greetings awaited me. I was in bed by 23:30.
Mileage Summary – 0.2 miles on Friday, 8.3 miles on Saturday, and 5.1 miles on Sunday. Total AT miles: 11.6. Cumulative AT miles: 258.9. Connecticut is now complete and in the books!
Trail Summary – nice with the exception of the steep descent into Sages Ravine.
Hiker Count – Several dozen on Saturday and a couple more dozen on Sunday. There is no solitude to be found on a summer’s weekend in thickly-settled New England.
Wildlife Count – JJ spotted a large earthworm and I saw a small toad. And we heard the barred owl Saturday evening.
Blister Count – None! Amazing how a short hike can be completed without developing blisters. I did get the early signs of my typical right big-toe blister but that one is all but expected to occur.
Lessons learned – We didn’t know how much hiking the kids had in them. Now we do. Maybe we should have stopped earlier on Saturday, although that would have left a long uphill slog for Sunday. We all made it home safely so I’ll say that it was just the right amount of hiking.