go hike a mountain

May 22, 2008

We started packing everything for our N/S Trail thru-hike on Thursday night. The plan was to leave for Rhode Island as soon as I got out of work on Friday. This is the pile of supplies and food laid out although a few more things were added later like 2 platypus 2 liter pouches and Jesse changed his mind about which pack he was taking just before he left. He was the smart one. Although my pack weighed 13 ounces, it had no hip belt and skinny shoulder straps which meant no support and the 25 pounds I ended up carrying really dug into my shoulders. I also added a ‘fanny’ pack to carry my camera, cell phone, money, maps, chapstick and other small items I needed to have handy. I have to admit that although I felt ridiculous carrying it, it was very handy.

May 23, 2008

After I got home from work, Jesse and I finished packing, ate a little, then drove out to Burrillville, RI, to meet Jesse’s father, Eric. He was going to shuttle us down to the southern terminus of the N/S Trail at Blue Shutters Beach. On the drive out there, we got a few large spatters of rain on the windshield, but nothing to deter us from our trip.

We had driven out to the southern end the weekend before to see if it would be possible to park our car here and hike from north to south instead. We decided that because it was Memorial Day weekend, we were more likely to get ticketed or towed here for leaving a vehicle for multiple nights, so we parked at the north end.

Jesse’s father snapped this photograph of us just before he hopped back in his car to drive back to Massachusetts. We set out at 9:15pm. Notice the waist pouch.

The first mile of the hike was on a paved road that lead to the beach and was lined with houses on either side. We had the red lights on our headlamps turned on so people driving down the road could see us. After crossing Rt. 1 we entered the Burlingame State Forest area where we were planning to find our first campsite. There was a little bit of confusion about trail markers and direction, but we found our way into the woods and shortly after found a suitable area for sleeping.

We rolled out our sleeping bags and tarps at about 10:30pm. The temperature was a little cool, but not enough to drive the mosquitos away. We had to cinch down our sleeping bags as far as we could and cover our faces to keep the bugs away.

This ends our first night on the trail. Check back soon for the rest of our trip report.