[at-l] Hike Report Part 3

[ARTCLOUTMN@aol.com]

Monday, April 17th

    It turned out that Lori has a bad knee.  She wears a brace to strengthen 
a condition that her sister, mother, and aunt also display.  She told me that 
she did not want her knee to prevent her from experiencing many activities.  
She decided that she would not try to keep up with Rachelle the rest of the 
hike.  Good decision.
    We were up by 6:15 AM with the usual routine.  I got a stove going, 
making enough noise to awaken the rest of the group.  We offered hot water to 
everyone to speed up the process.  The Ultralight hiker left camp by 6:30 AM. 
 He did not have a meal.  The three guys left camp just before we left and 
the three ladies were packing up just as we left camp at 8:15 AM.
    The sky was partly cloudy as we crossed the road leading to Kent.  We 
started a long climb to the ridge that runs parallel to Housatonic River.  
The views of the river and town of Kent were excellent.  We stopped for food 
and water.  Chris walked with Lori, John and I at the back of the group.  
Rachelle, Michelle, Eric and JD moved very quickly at the front of the group. 
 I distributed small two way radios to the group on the first day with 
instructions that who ever was in the lead needed to carry a radio.  I had 
one in the back of the group and the third radio was in the middle of the 
group of hikers.  Usually we were able to keep pretty close contact this way. 
 Sometimes a hill or valley would get in the way and we would loose contact 
for a few moments.  The high point of the ridge is Calebs Peak at 1200 ft.  
Not very high by some standards but still a pretty good workout with a full 
pack.  Then we had a steep scramble down St. Johns Ledges.  
    At the bottom of the ledges we had parked Eric's car.  We had wisely left 
half of our food in the car as a resupply point.  Some of the group decided 
to ditch some of their extra clothing and equipment.  I, also, saw this as a 
possible emergy exit point.  (Not everyone can deal with backpacking, Newbies 
often discover they can't do it.)  Everyone was having a great time.  We 
prepared Ramen Noodles for lunch.  As we ate lunch and repacked our backpacks 
it began to rain very lightly.  We were thankful to have made it down the 
ledges before the rain.
    We now had a 5 mile hike on a riverside dirt road.  We encountered more 
kayakers and fisherman along the river as we made good time on the flat road. 
 It took us only two hours to complete the 5 mile road walk.  By the end of 
the road it was raining pretty hard.  The trail now headed up Silver Hill.  
We arrived at Silver Hill Campsite by 3:30 PM.  The three guys on boy scout 
mission, had already set up tents and were under cover in a sheltered 
picknick area.  We strung up some lines under the picknick area to help dry 
our wet cloths.  Rachelle wanted to move the picknick tables so she could set 
up a tent under cover.  I would not let her do that since it would 
inconvenience everyone else.  And the ground under the covered area was 
pebbles that would do some serious damage to the tent floors.  
    The ladies came into camp about 4:00 PM.  Sara was last to arrive.  
Everyone cheered her on as she plodded through the rain to the covered area.  
After Dinner the boys scouts in the group made a small camp fire.  We stood 
in the rain drying our synthetic clothing by the fire.  Most of our stuff was 
dry by 8:30 when we went to bed. 
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