Connecticut to Mass. AT Partners Wanted sometime 12/26/07 to 1/21/08

[Fornfearen]

I work at a university and will be off during our long Winter Break.
We'd be starting at Rte. 41 in Salisbury, CT and heading north.
I want to continue working my way up the AT through this deer tick/Lyme disease infested stretch. I just haven't heard anything good about Lyme disease, and don't want to mess with it. The ticks are supposed to be dormant at temps below 35F, so I'm only going to do this when the forecast says the maximum daytime temp will be below 35F. Actually, forecast temps are based on shade readings, so 35 would be too high.

-I'd like to day hike as much distance as possible, having a car at each end so we can do sections as day hikes; light packs and moderate pace. In some stretches though, it looks like it's a long way down to get off the trail, and the same long way up to get back on the next day. So it might be better to backpack those sections.


I'm 53 years old, and after a 10 year gap, got interested in accumulating more continuous AT mileage. I've done 3 of these trips in Dec. or Jan. Twice solo, once with a partner found on this forum.
I prefer to do sections S --> N for the sake of continuity.
I'm in pretty good, though not excellent shape. I hike year round and have done 75/115 NE 4,000 footers in Winter, including 11 in Maine last December.
I'm probably a moderate paced hiker. I seem to slow down more than most going uphill, and I go slower downhill to save my knees.
I think that ice could be a problem on the first 10-15 miles from Salsibury. There's some rugged terrain in that section, so crampons may be necessary.

[Painted Turtle]

Don't quit know what you are looking for, but if you need a shuttle give me shout.

I don't charge I like to barter a ride for a ride. Seeing that you are in NY I guess that will not work so just feed my gas tank. If I am off work then I just may join you for a day.

[sasquatch2014]

I am doing a winter hike in the middle of that time frame but depending on when you go I may try to join you for a bit or two. That is a part of the trail that I am missing as of right now. Keep it posted as you nail things down more.

[river1]

I need that section of the trail also.. I have another hike around that time but maybe something can be worked out.. Keep me posted..

[Fornfearen]

Painted Turtle, Sasquatch2014, and river1,
I'm encouraged by the number of people interested in this. I hope we can plan something. That will be complicated by your available dates and my temperature requirements.
I'll be driving 3 hours east to VT for Christmas, and as long as I'm already that far east, I'll want to leave directly from there for NH to bag some winter 48's. BUT, if 12/26 and following work out for any of you guys, and the weather is cold enough, I could turn south to CT and save NH for later.
So please let me know if any of you are up for hiking starting 12/26 or 12/27.

[Painted Turtle]

I can get from my house to any part of the trail in CT in about 45 minutes. I am a school bus driver and have that week off, but my son is also flying in from FL that week so who knows if I will be able to hike, but I will do my best to be avaqilable to shuttle.

[Tinker]

I just finished the Conn. section, and did Ma. last year. One short section in Conn. comes pretty much right down a cliff. Can't remember where it is right now. I wouldn't want to do it in the snow and ice. Be careful.

[jzakhar]

I live in Old Saybrook, about an hour and 45 from most of the AT in Conn. I would be in for a hike, id prefer to camp it since it's quite a distance for me, but I can work something if yall are going to hike from trail head to trail head

[micromega]

Having lived in CT most of my life, I think your worries about ticks are a little overblown. Can't hurt to be careful, of course, but after mid to late fall, after the leaves are gone and the ground freezes, I've never seen a tick. I hiked from Sages Ravine to the NY border almost exactly a year ago, with daytime temps from low thirties to near fifty and never saw a tick. I don't mean this as a criticism on being careful (too many people aren't), just pointing out that you probably won't see any tick (or insect) activitiy even if the temps go up into the forties during the day.

Given the recent weather, you'll likely find a fair amount of snow on the higher areas, especially Bear Mountain. The descent off Bear Mountain into Sages Ravine may be very difficult and dangerous, it is very steep and exposed, often is covered with snow and ice. The steep section Tinker mentions is probably St. Johns Ledges, a little further south near Kent. If conditions atop Bear Mountain are bad, I'd give consideration to the Paradise Lane Trail to bypass the descent to Sages Ravine. Wouldn't hurt to see if anyone here has made any trips there lately to see what the conditions are up there.

[Painted Turtle]

Bear MT and St. Johns Ledges are probably the only 2 places you will have big trouble. With the ledges it is only coming down, It is short but steep, but with Bear it is also going up because you have to rock hop and if you can't see the rocks well hopping maybe a problem.

Also if you go to the the line CT/MA then your exit trail, "Race Brook Falls" will be a chalenge.

The "AT", to Undermountain, to Paradise Ln, to the "AT" is an easy hike and a nice hike.

I would also bet that you will be braking snow/ice almost the whole way.

[sasquatch2014]

Not sure about those of you near the AT in CT but I am just over the border in NY and the last storm and this current one with the wind and the ice I am sure will be bring down some stuff. I plan to walk my section that I maintain later this week but a lot of people will not give the trail a whole lot of attention till early spring so be ready to climb in, over, and around some stuff.

[Fornfearen]

I just finished the Conn. section, and did Ma. last year. One short section in Conn. comes pretty much right down a cliff. Can't remember where it is right now. I wouldn't want to do it in the snow and ice. Be careful.

Thanks for that warning, but I may be beyond the point your'e thinking of.
At least, that's the first place that came to mind when I read your post. Two winters ago I went from Bulls Bridge to Salisbury, and remember going down St. Johns Ledges. There was a bit of ice and snow, but most of the rocks were bare. But it was still a bit sketchy, especially at night.

[Fornfearen]

I live in Old Saybrook, about an hour and 45 from most of the AT in Conn. I would be in for a hike, id prefer to camp it since it's quite a distance for me, but I can work something if yall are going to hike from trail head to trail head

jzakhar,
I also live a long distance from that section of trail, 6-7 hours.
Your post reminds me I should give more details about how I'm thinking of doing this. Ideally, I'd like to have a car at the end of the day's section. We'd hike with a day pack. Camping gear would be in the car, and we'd sleep out up or down the trail a few hundred yards. The next morning we'd spot a car at tne end of the day's hike, and do the same as before. If the weather's really nasty or if my inner wimp has gotten a lot stronger in the last 2 years, I could also see staying at a motel, but I don't want to make a habit of that.

[Fornfearen]

Having lived in CT most of my life, I think your worries about ticks are a little overblown. Can't hurt to be careful, of course, but after mid to late fall, after the leaves are gone and the ground freezes, I've never seen a tick. I hiked from Sages Ravine to the NY border almost exactly a year ago, with daytime temps from low thirties to near fifty and never saw a tick. I don't mean this as a criticism on being careful (too many people aren't), just pointing out that you probably won't see any tick (or insect) activitiy even if the temps go up into the forties during the day.

Micromega,
Thank you for your observations based on experience. I don't like treating "35F" as a magic number, but til now, that's all I had to go on. So now if the forecast indicates it might max in the mid 40's, I won't change my plans because of that.
But I still want to plan for <35. There's a lot of ignorance within the medical community, and something worse within the health insurance industry, regarding the effective course of treatment if Lyme isn't diagnosed and treated immediately. An effective antibiotic course of treatment is very expensive, and I don't have have health insurance.


Given the recent weather, you'll likely find a fair amount of snow on the higher areas, especially Bear Mountain. The descent off Bear Mountain into Sages Ravine may be very difficult and dangerous, it is very steep and exposed, often is covered with snow and ice. The steep section Tinker mentions is probably St. Johns Ledges, a little further south near Kent. If conditions atop Bear Mountain are bad, I'd give consideration to the Paradise Lane Trail to bypass the descent to Sages Ravine. Wouldn't hurt to see if anyone here has made any trips there lately to see what the conditions are up there.

Thanks for that warning about the descent from Bear. I'd read that before, but after 2 years, it's good to have a reminder. I'll check the CT page of Views from the Top to try to get a handle on current conditons. I was already planning on bringing crampons. Maybe I should bring an ice ax as well.
Thanks also for the Paradise Lane Trail bypass. Where would I pick that up, and is it considered an official AT bypass trail?

[jzakhar]

jzakhar,
I also live a long distance from that section of trail, 6-7 hours.
Your post reminds me I should give more details about how I'm thinking of doing this. Ideally, I'd like to have a car at the end of the day's section. We'd hike with a day pack. Camping gear would be in the car, and we'd sleep out up or down the trail a few hundred yards. The next morning we'd spot a car at tne end of the day's hike, and do the same as before. If the weather's really nasty or if my inner wimp has gotten a lot stronger in the last 2 years, I could also see staying at a motel, but I don't want to make a habit of that.

I got ya, that is fine by me. Your post says CT to Mass, which is like 52 miles. But the dates are 12/26 to 1/21 did you plan to go further into Mass? I can join you for a portion of it for sure.

[Fornfearen]

Bear MT and St. Johns Ledges are probably the only 2 places you will have big trouble. With the ledges it is only coming down, It is short but steep, but with Bear it is also going up because you have to rock hop and if you can't see the rocks well hopping maybe a problem.
Thank you. More reason to look for trail condition reports on VFFT.

Also if you go to the the line CT/MA then your exit trail, "Race Brook Falls" will be a chalenge.
Thanks for the caution on the Race Brook Falls trail.
I think that given the difficulty of the terrain in that section, I don't want to be carrying a full pack. It looks like a ~12 mile, +3300', -3300' day to end down at Rt. 41. So that's what I'm looking at for the first day.
And re-climbing RB tr. ~1200' the next day to get back on the AT.

The "AT", to Undermountain, to Paradise Ln, to the "AT" is an easy hike and a nice hike. AT in quotations; Is that an official AT bypass route?

I would also bet that you will be braking snow/ice almost the whole way.

I hope it will be well consolidated by then, without being icy. And while I'm at it, I can hope for temperatures that stay at 34.5F around the clock.

[Fornfearen]

I got ya, that is fine by me. Your post says CT to Mass, which is like 52 miles. But the dates are 12/26 to 1/21 did you plan to go further into Mass? I can join you for a portion of it for sure.

Actually, I have only about 6.5 miles, rugged miles, left in CT. Also, 12/26 to 1/21 is just the period I have free, not the amount of time I want to spend on the AT. I also want to hit the Whites in NH.
I wouldn't mind spending ~4-5 days in the area if it means getting north to US 20 or beyond.

[jzakhar]

Ok, I can do 4-5 days with you no problem, I do have an appointment on Jan 8th that I need to be at. Barring that just let me know what dates work for you.

[river1]

Anytime after Jan 5th works for me.. Can't do december at all.. Day or overnight hikes are ok..

[wystiria]

Hi folks, I was out in that section around thanksgiving and it was ICY! we hiked north to south and went over everett and Race in Mass and then Bear in CT and the norht sides of the Moutains were icy but passable - with the foot or so of snow and Ice we have here on the ground now I would say crampons would be a good idea to carry (I live in CT) they aren't predicting that the weather is going to warm up so the snow will stay.

Also Paradise trail is well marked - but hiking south to north you would have to go down a way on the Undermountain trail that intersects with the AT just prior to ascending Bear Mt.

if you want to hike a little farther in to MA. Elbow trail is a well graded easyt o follow trail down to 41. there is a parkign spot at the trail head which is in berkshire school. its a LOT easier than racebrook falls trail.

Enjoy your time out there! if I didn't have to work I would join you!