Housatonic River Road to Laurel Ridge Campsite – 15.3 miles
Tuesday, October 9th 2018
Finally finishing Connecticut! Big Lu picked me up bright and early at the Shay’s Rebellion Monument and delivered me back to Housatonic River Road to start my hike. I enjoyed talking to her and learned quite a bit. As we approached the drop-off, she inquired about how I was planning on getting back to my vehicle the following night. I was a bit confused by her inquiry because I thought it was quite obvious that I was hiking there. Her response was something like… “Tomorrow night? Honey you’ve got the whole Taconic Mountain Range to cross!” And before I could respond she sped away, leaving me standing there wondering where I could have possibly miscalculated. I’m usually extremely accurate at estimating the distances I’ll cover, (and usually quite conservative) so I was perplexed and honestly more than a bit worried because clearly she knew these mountains better than I did! What had I done? How long would it take me? How had i bitten off more than I could chew? Had I really underestimated these mountains? Was I going to die out here of starvation? Would they ever find my body? “Pull yourself together dude! You’ve got this!” I said to myself. “Challenge accepted!” I decided… and it became my mission to prove to Big Lu that I could in fact finish Connecticut, cross the Taconic Range and be thirteen miles into Massachusetts by tomorrow night. And then I realized I’d forgotten my poles….😰
And so it was that the “Hike of Misfortune – A Fool’s Journey” began… I started the 900 foot climb up my first peak of the day… Mt. Prospect… and then back down the other side. A few hours later I was at Riga Shelter, followed by Bear Mountain… the highest point in Connecticut and my highest elevation on the trail to date. It’s only 2300′ but it felt like Everest! Fortunately the skies were clear. The views were spectacular! After a pretty uneasy descent, I arrived at Sage’s Ravine and crossed happily into Massachusetts. Six states complete! I was praying that MA would offer me some mercy but that wasn’t happening. I limped into Laurel Ridge Campsite by moonlight and wondered why I hadn’t hired someone to come set up my tent for me. That reminds me… new tent this trip! Free-standing! So far so good!
Wherever I May Roam 