Wednesday May 22, 19.7mi/31.7km

Wiley shelter NY (1456.4) to Stewart Hollow shelter CT (1476.1)

We woke up in New York, hiked a mile, and entered Connecticut!

It was a peaceful walk following rivers all morning. First, the Tenmile River…

Then, we passed the confluence of the Tenmile and Housatonic Rivers.

And a few miles later, crossed the Housatonic on a historic covered bridge into a small town.

The small convenience store had all the usual hiker foods, plus ice cream, snacks, cold drinks too. I bought all the new england foods I could find. (They didn’t have maple syrup, Moxie, lobster, or Papa Gino’s)

Getting back on the trail was an effort, being stuffed full of food. And doubly so with a big 1000ft/300m climb up to a ridge. But once I got up there, I found an occasional view to keep things interesting.The trail alternated between terrible sharp useless rocks, and smooth walking surface. About half the time of each.The final view of the day, before an insanely steep downhill…This was the descent. For 500ft of vertical drop, “stairs” were built to get hikers down the cliffside. Looking down:Looking back up:It’s hard to show steepness in a photo. At least the trail made up for that section, ending the day with a 2.5mi/4km easy walk on an old dirt road. And views of the Housatonic River the whole time!I got to the shelter at 5:30pm, and relaxed and enjoyed my beer that I had picked up this morning. Bob arrived 30 minutes later, along with two other hikers, a section hiker from Germany, and a SOBO from Missouri. I expected more people here, but I’ll take the nice quiet evening!