Make it count: Day #107

Saturday, June 27 - Day #107 - AT Hike

Miles Hiked Today - 14.9
Total Miles Hiked on AT - 1495.2/2,193 (68.18%)

Silver Hill Campsite (1480.3) to Falls Village (1495.2) - Hotel stay at Days Inn

Total ascent - 3,377’
Total descent - 3,613’

Total States Completed - 9/14

**Rain - Big rain day. Started raining at 11am and rained consistently through early evening

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Well - I pulled an audible today. I’m currently in a Days Inn Hotel outside Falls Village, Connecticut.

The day started early for me. I was out of camp around 5:45am - everybody else was still sleeping in their tents. The hike was tough - tons of steep climbs and descents. Connecticut is another state that doesn’t get the press it should - for the difficulty it presents. Around 11am - it started to rain. At first - the rain was refreshing and helped cool things off. However - this little shower turned into a 5-hour steady, heavy rainfall. This made the course tricky with the slippery rocks on the downhills.

Around 15 miles into the hike - the trail went by Falls Village. It was around 2:30pm - so I decided to go into town to get some lunch. I realized once I got into town - I was soaked to the bone from the rain and I was shivering from the cold. I sat outside this cafe eating a cup of soup. What do you know - here comes Chickweed, Cambyr, and Punchline. I knew these guys were coming into town - it was good timing. We sat together and ate lunch.

At this point of the day - I was still considering going 3.2 more miles to a shelter location. But the rain was heavy and I was getting colder and colder. I knew the course would be treacherous to continue. We talked about our options. There were no hotels within walking distance - so we decided to call Lyft and get to a Days Inn a few miles away.

It’s awesome to be in a warm bed. I’ve been chilling all night. I talked a couple of hours to my buddies that were planning to go to Everest BaseCamp with me. We wanted to talk out our options - since the decision to go had to be made by July 1st. Due to so many unknowns - the decision was made to postpone the trip until 2021. I’m pretty bummed about this. Timing would have been fantastic for me this year. But - flights are still not allowed into Nepal. Nobody knows if/when this ban will lift. Then - there’s a possibility even with the travel ban being lifted - there would be a 14-day quarantine period before travel in the country. The group putting on the trip has to send money over to cover the cost of setup in a week - not knowing if we can even get to the country. The way things are set - the funds would be non refundable if the quarantine is in place and semi non-refundable if the travel ban sticks. The assumption right now are things will free up - but with Covid cases rising in some areas - it’s a big guess. We talked about trip insurance - but found clauses installed for not covering cancellations due to Covid. It’s just a weird situation - one I’ve never experienced before. There’s a lot of money riding on “maybe” and “if”. I have a sick feeling in my stomach about this - but feel the best decision was made. I’m such a goal oriented person - and it’s hard when things don’t work out like this. It’s going to take a while for me to gain acceptance.

Tomorrow will be another big day. The goal is to get as far as possible to give me a short hike into Great Bsrtington on Monday. The weather is expected to be really hot and humid with afternoon storms - it could be challenging for sure.

Good night from Connecticut- my final night in Connecticut on my AT journey. Tomorrow - I’ll welcome us to Massachusetts with “A band out of Boston”