A Living Magazine - Day 322 - Homecoming - Sharon to Torrington

This morning's wake-up was a tease. When I first reached consciousness the tent was entirely dry. There had been no rain over night. I unzipped the tent flap and saw a bright sky, not blue, but bright. Okay, so, time to get going. I sat up and began stuffing my pocket items in, then unzipped the sleeping bag to crawl out. Blip, blip......blip, blip, blip... Damn! It was a downpour.

I lay back down, knowing that if I had simply woken up earlier I could have packed the tent away dry. But it also became apparent that I would have been walking in this rain. The better thing had happened. I'd rather pack a wet tent, than walk a wet Alex.

The sleep spot was rather well obscured by being so far down the bank. I decided I'd try to catch some more sleep. As soon as I began to drift off, the rain lightened and then stopped. In this case it was the lack of noise that woke me up. A few patches of sun lit the opaque wall of the tent.

I got everything into the backpack and crawled out of the tent, and was met by a cloud of black flies. They were crawling up my nose and into my ears. Then it started to sprinkle. As soon as the drops started falling the black flies disappeared. I'd forgotten about this. They hate rain, unlike mosquitoes.

Eventually, I got the wet tent and tarps stowed, and I headed up the embankment to the road. The rain let up again as I began to walk. It actually turned out to be a rather nice day...

I reached a very woodsy and mountainous area right before getting to Cornwall. The were "No Trespassing" signs regularly nailed to the trees, even where the Appalachian Trail crossed the road...

Now I can say I walked on the Appalachian Trail--about one square foot of it. Ha!

After passing the sign for the intersection of 4 and 7, I knew I'd reached the edge of Cornwall. I asked the gentleman at a convenience store how much further to the center of town. He asked which center. And, I replied, "The one with the most stores." He told me it was right across the bridge... 

Talk about the quintessential tiny village train station.

Noticing what looked like a general store, I turned and walked a short way up Route 7 to check it out, and found the Cornwall Country Market. The space was small but the folks working there were very friendly. I needed my meal for the day. This place was also a deli, had tables inside and out, and free Wi-Fi. I ordered a Ruben with tater tots...

This was the best Ruben I'd ever had.

As I was eating, transferring and processing photos and videos, I talked with a young woman who worked there. We agreed it was a beautiful day. She said she was bummed because she had to work. I felt bad for her. Then, she asked about what I do. That really started the conversation.

She seemed very interested in it all, and said she had always wanted to do something like that. I suggested that if she (her name was Emily) was going to do it, she should do it while she's young. I felt like we really hit it off and gave her a card. I'm sorry to say that she hasn't friended me at Facebook yet. I'm always so surprised that people say they are going to keep in touch and don't. I don't blame them at all. I just thought, maybe by the law of averages, more people would want to read about this guy with whom they had seemed so interested. I left feeling great. I'd made a new friend...

Immediately after leaving the store I realized I would be struggling up a steep mountain. At the top was Mohawk Mountain State Park. I was really thirsty and had to pee. So, I went into the park looking for a drinking fountain. There was none. But I did end up watering tree.

The next town up the road was Goshen. It was partially located along Tyler Lake. Very nice little town with cool architecture...

?

It was getting much later, and the walk seemed extremely long, especially after the mountain. When I got to Goshen I walked up to the first place I saw, a pizza joint. I was pretty desperate for something to drink. They didn't have much of a selection. Didn't matter at that point, and I chose a cranapple drink. I took out my card, and the kid behind the counter said they only accepted cash. I didn't have enough on me. Asked him where the nearest gas station was and he told me to just keep walking and I would run right into it. So I kept walking and ran right in it.

Inside a young woman was attending to the shelves. After I'd grabbed several drinks, I put it all on the counter. She was interested in the project and so I told her about and gave her a card. Once again she (her name was also Emily) said she'd follow along, but I've received no communication from her. I still hope to have both Emilies join us before I get back to Maine.

Only a short distance down the road I saw two alpacas. Then there were more animals of every kind. what a cool place. It was a cool place, called, Action Wildlife...

They even had a little rocky mountain for their mountain goats.

Right around sunset and after 20 miles of walking, I passed by the Torrington town line. I very desperately wanted a room for the next night, but wasn't sure if I'd have the funds. Nevertheless, on this night I would have to find a campsite. I'd forgotten all day that the stuff in my pack was all wet. But if I could find  good spot, I'd be able to dry it...

Finally, as I was walking down a hill, I saw a perfect opportunity to check out a spot. Two deer ran up the field next to this spot, as I made my way into the wood and across  small stream, I saw a stand of dark pine trees. Perfect!

The ideal bed of pine needles.

I dried the tarps as best I could, hanging them on trees. when the sun went down, I assembled the tent to simply let it dry as is...

I felt blessed to have found another great spot. And finally that week long period of rain was over. A sliver of moon could be seen along with the stars through the treetops. I enjoyed the night air for a while and then crawled into the tent and fell asleep.