Officially in New England

We made it across the border into Connecticut yesterday on a very long, very hot, 20 mile hike over every blessed mountain this region has to offer. The trail in Connecticut is pretty similar to that in New York. The mountains are not terribly tall, although we did make a 1,000 foot climb yesterday. We have not seen as much wildlife. The trail is rocky in places, but we have also enjoyed some flat and soft footpath as well. Yesterday we saw the Dover Oak, the biggest tree on the AT with a 2 foot diameter. The biggest difference is that we are walking through a lot of wetlands areas, and the trail clubs have sunk boulders to walk on or laid planks through these areas. Another interesting thing we saw yesterday was Bulls Bridge, a covered bridge that dates from the early 1800s. The trail followed the turbulent Housatonic River for a ways, and there were plenty of people out enjoying the water, since the temperatures soared into the upper 90s yesterday. The last 7 miles of our day were the most difficult, with extremely steep sections, but we made it into the Mt. Algo Shelter with enough time to enjoy a dinner while watching a group of young teenagers on their first backpacking adventure. We noticed this morning that their tent appeared to collapse overnight, but they were in such good spirits yesterday that I'm sure this will not faze them in the least.