AT Day 37 Telephone Pioneers to Schaghticoke Campsite

Miles: ~18
Total: 448
Sights: One Skunk


Jamie: Today we started out of the Telephone Pioneers Shelter, and let me tell you we heard quite a few owls last night while here. Hadn’t heard any on the trail thus far (nor seen any for that matter), but later on in the day some section hikers said that they actually saw a couple to boot. It has been funny how interested we have become with birds and their calls. Prior to this trip we both had no serious interest in birds at all, but while out here often the only thing you have to listen to is the sounds of the birds – some of which are just really bizarre. Paying attention to them kind of adds another dimension to being out here and now get really excited when we see rangers or “birders” so we can ask them about the local avian residents.
About a mile from the shelter we ran into a trail maintainer, “Portland” (as in the concrete), a very friendly chap, and he asked us about the state of the trail that morning. We thought it was fine (although to be honest things are starting to bleed together) and told him so. He recounted a story of how some people are not so forgiving when it comes to the trail, and someone had emailed him telling him that the sign for the Telephone Pioneers Shelter merely said “Telephone Pioneer Shelter”, and that someone really should get on the job of adding that extra “s” pronto. He said he had a good rant for the emailer in question.
After a lovely boardwalk through some marshland we came across perhaps the smallest train station ever, The Appalachian Trail Stop. It goes to NYC on the weekends! Nearby there is a garden center that caters to hikers – we had a package waiting for us there and got a shower to boot – the woman working there was just super nice and we had a nice time chatting with her. As we were leaving to hop back on the trail we saw a sign at a little traffic pull in off the side of the road for pizza. It was a wood-fired oven pizza truck! Not bad at all!
Along the way today we also stopped off at the Wiley Shelter for a quick snack and then we crossed the NY/CT border (two times actually, I guess it goes back and forth across the states for a bit). We also stopped in at the 10 Mile Shelter (I guess because it is 10 miles into the state?) just to pick up some water and use the privy.
We were planning on spending some time in Kent, CT the next day, so we decided to push on a further 5 miles to the camping site – which was kind of pushing it, as we arrived just as it was getting dark. We got right to business setting up camp (Shannon) and making dinner (Jamie). Of course we forgot to hang up a bear line before all that so had a fun time figuring that out. In the dark. With no low hanging branches. We figured it out though.
The campsite even had a privy, but it was literally a toilet out in the open with no walls around it. I was still glad it was there though!