Day 91 - CT is Rugged (July 8)

This was a very hard and hot day. While CT does not have a lot of high mountains, the day was filled with lots of 500 to 1,000 foot climbs with many very rugged trails going up and down. I only did 17 miles (not counting the miles to get back to the trail), and I'm beat.

I think we are all beginning to realize just how long the trail is. I have only just finished two thirds of it. The good thing is we should be seeing some interesting stuff like the Whites and the Green Mountains within two to three weeks.

I stayed at the Fife and drum last night. It was nice to sleep with air conditioning. My tent is always hot.

The mosquitoes and biting flys were swarming today. They always are when its hot and humid.

My new shoes are great. For the first time in days, my feet do not hurt. They are still a little bruised from my old shoes.

I hiked with Kanati about half of the day. Kanati is a retired GE engineer. He wants to finish the trail on his 62nd birthday on August 21. I suspect I will be seeing a lot of him on the trail.

Kanati told me about meeting Brian and Liz, two fanatical ultra light hikers in their 20s. I mentioned both in previous posts. I met Brian the first week. He had a 5 pound pack not including food and water. He was also very cold at night, and planned to walk back to GA this season. I met Liz the first night at the hostile. I heard that they were a couple by Uncle Johny's in Erwin, TN. I heard the Brian was walking with feet so badly blistered that they looked like they were burned. Kanati told me today that one of his former hiking partners texted him about a woman who meets Liz's description. This woman was hiking with blisters that got infected, and the infection turned into tench foot. She was reported to be still hiking while taking antibiotics.