Backpacking with James through Pequot Forest

11/27/03 Update: On this trip I took along a small notepad to record our trip. This is a transcription of those notes.

Day 1: In the Big Inning... 4/11/95

• 10 of 4 - Started.
• 10 after 4 - Stopped to piss.
• 4:22 - Saw first sign of wildlife, a squirrel. Oops, saw duck first, about 5 minutes earlier.
• 4:30 - Found log book (all previous times are estimated.)
• 4:33 - Decided to put log book in pants pocket, rather than inaccessible pack pocket.
• 4:36 - Dan gives James a concusion with pack, starting again.
• 4:42 - Dan went wrong way. We are both out of breath. We are asending rapidly, think we found High Ledge. James farted.
• 4:46 - Arrived at High Ledge.
  Approx. total time: 56 min.
  (used compass to measure scale,) aproximate distance 1-1/4 miles
  approximate mph:1.3
  Thank god its over. Tree says approx. "Dee loves Lynn." Starting fire soon.
• 5:25 - Fire going well. Found Z-ROC (radio station) and lighter. Lighter didn't explode well.
• 7:45 - Dinner was good. Roasted ham was excellent. We put the tent upwind of the fire. BIG mistake. Note on bear bag: we have one! No polar bears will get into it. It's probably almost five feet off the ground. Bears and 'coons will probably enjoy our meals. By the way, Metal + Fire = Hot. Hot + Hand = Burn. Dan knows. The radio works. It's getting dark -and cold too. Trail mix is good.
• NOTE: do NOT use year old candy corn in trail mix.
• NOTE: Go to dentist soon.
• 7:50 - We are still chewing, having fun and plan to do this again.
• 9:15 - Went to bed. End day 1.

Day 2

• 6:10 - Woke up.
• 6:11 - James found out it is cold outside. Food was still there.
• 7:15 - Used Dan's stove for cocoa instead of building fire.
• 7:18 - Decided we weren't having fun anymore.
• 8:00 - Decided to leave at 8:30.
• 8:16 - Still packing.
• 8:55 - Ready to go. Imus is funny. We're off.
• 9:24 - Stop for breakfast. Granola bars. Found secret government project.
• 9:42 - Back on the trail.
• 9:53 - Saw deer tracks and squirel.
• 10:49 - Reached route 49 at 10:43. Reached Wood Road junction at 10:10. Left at 10:20. I held us up. Had to change socks. Lost pencil, found pen. Radio works. Starting again. It's very warm, took off jackets.
• NOTE: buy a thermometer for future use.
• 11:33 - Stop for lunch. Found a nice area with a large pond, fisherman, picnic table, flies, "No Fishing" sign, and it's still hot. Shorts would be nice.
• 12:15 - Finished lunch. Corn nuts are good. Crushed bread is tough to sparate.
• NOTE: Get strawberry jam instead of grape. Will leave at 12:30.
• 3:59 - Reached Peg Mill Shelter at approx. 3:45.
  Approx. total time: 6 hours, 50 minutes.
  Approx. total mileage: 6.7 miles. Approx mph: 1.
  Broke at dam for 1/2 hour. Arrived there at 3:00. mph include breaks. Without breaks: 4 hours, 45 minutes. Approx. mph: 1.4-1.8. (Probably 1.8 considering all the unrecorded breaks we decided to take) James is getting ready to take a nap. I'm going to look for a bit of fire wood. Bark At The Moon Crew comes here alot.
• About 6:00 - Ate Fireside Fiesta, it was pretty good. Next time use peppered beef steak in it. Salsa was good but too mild. Went to stream, got water, and boiled it for supper, dishes, and drinking.
• 8:00 - Finished dishes. Heard THEM. 3 of them, strategically placed to come and kill us. Hmmmmm.... We, uh, weren't scared, um, not at all. Nah. Not scared. After we weren't scared, we went to bed (at about 9:15)

Day 3

• About 8:45 - James snored. Dan kicked James. James didn't sleep. Dan didn't sleep. Woke around 6:30, long enough to know it was 6:30 and find out about Killer Birds. Fell back asleep til 8:30. Slept great. Fire was still going. Food was still there. Restarted fire about 9:00.
• 9:30 - decided to leave at 10:00. We were still eating breakfast and putting our fire out at about 10:00.
• 10:10 - Finally ready to go.
• 10:45 - Took a 20 minute sidetrip (oops) to, uh, stretch our legs... Found water pump at about 10:45. Left at 10:50. Finally saw latrines and didn't need to use them.
• 12:00 - Stop for lunch.
• 12:25 - Leaving. It's very cold (it got that way quick during lunch break) Fog is setting in. Prediction: it will snow. It's very damp, strong wind blowing.
• 2:45 - Got picked up. Trail was hard to follow. Blue blazes were painted black in many areas. Trail was not travelled in long time. Trail and map are two different things.
• NOTE: Buy a new CT Walk Book before doing another trip.
• Did not finish route. Got onto 165 and travelled towards 49 (not on the trail, on the road) Picked up on 165. Mom missed turn onto 49, would've missed us if we took trail.

End Trip Wednesday, 4/12/95