Dave Byrnes

Appalachian Trail - 1986

Overview Map Diary Pictures

Day:	074
Date:	Tuesday, 15 July 1986
Start:
Finish:
Daily AT Miles:	23.9
Daily Other Miles	0
Total AT Miles:	1443.9
Total All Miles	1488.7
Weather:	Very warm, sunny.
Accommodation:
Nutrition:	Breakfast: Muesli, health drink. Lunch: Biscuits and peanut butter, Mars Bar. Dinner: Cottage pie, vegetables, ice-cream and fruit.
Aches:	Toes sore.
Animals Seen:	Deer, snake, chipmunks.
People Seen:	AT trail crew, 2 AT Hikers (southbound, by sections), 9 overnight hikers, 2 day hikers, many others.
Pictures:	Here
GPS Track:
Journal:	Got up at 5:30am and left at 7am with the Shelter’s other resident still in bed – he told me the night before he was an early riser. I’d disturbed him at both ends of the night! It was a beautiful morning and after a mile I passed into Connecticut. The Trail passed through some farmland and climbed a short sharp mountain which tired me. It then descended and crossed a bridge over 10 Mile River, a beautiful spot, and followed the Housatonic River through beautiful conifer forest. The Trail reached a road and I met a Connecticut Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) trail crew who were about to resume work on a relocation. We chatted for a while. There was then a 2½ mile road-walk before a couple of tough hills with views from the tops over the lovely Housatonic Valley. The hills were wearing me out and I was a bit worried that I’m losing condition. It also meant that I was losing time on the way to meet Jayne at Cornwall Bridge. Just before lunch, I met a couple of south-bounder AT Hikers in company with an AMC ridge-runner – a hiker paid by the AMC to monitor the Trail. I had lunch on a rock ledge giving a magnificent view before making a steep descent to the river. The Trail then more or less followed the river on a level path upstream to Cornwall Bridge. I arrived there at 6:10pm and was met by Jayne and her mother-in-law. We then drove back to their house at Granby, about an hour’s drive. We stopped at a supermarket and I shopped for the next few days. On arrival I met Jayne’s father-in-law. Both in mid-70s. We had a good dinner of cottage pie. I rang my cousin Peter in Boston and he said he still hoped to hike with me for a few days. I said I would ring back tomorrow night with some suggestions. I couldn’t get in touch with John Cederholm, a Boston friend who also had expressed interest in joining me for a few days on the Trail. After dinner, I watched TV and chatted with Jayne and her in-laws. Went to bed at 11:30pm, but had trouble sleeping after a bit of trip planning.