Today was insanely hot and humid. It felt like an oven out here on the trail, making even the relative short climbs of Connecticut tough. Fatigue was setting in quickly today. There are definitely some steep chutes here, though, in particular a descent near something called St. John’s Ledges. I’m not sure if I’ve ever sweated that much in my entire life. To make things even more pleasant, the mosquitos and gnats are just out of control here. Yuck.

On the positive side, a good 4 miles or so cruised along by the Housatonic River, which was super flat and easy hiking.

Trail with the Housatonic River in the background

We decided to call it a day in the early afternoon because it was so hot, there are a plethora of small towns around here with places to stay, it was predicted to storm pretty hard (it did), and because we can do whatever we feel like doing on any given day (one of the best things about doing this). We road walked the mile or so into the tiny town of Cornwall Bridge and got a room at a small motel called The Hitching Post. It’s not as bad as it sounds. The shower (I took mine very, very cold) was amazing.

Vital stats for Wednesday, July 23rd :
Miles hiked today – 15.3
Mood – much better after a nice cold shower
Physical state – good
Smell – a lot better than this morning
Song stuck in my head – Lost In My Mind by The Head And The Heart