I didn’t sleep all night before departing for my hike of the Cohos Trail. I got my friend and daughter up at 3:30am. We hopped in my van and I drove almost three hours north to the Canadian border. We arrived just before 7am. We took pictures, said our goodbyes and off I went. I signed in at the Fourth Connecticut Lake kiosk and started my journey. I started the ascent up Prospect Hill to Fourth Connecticut Lake. “This was the approach trail”. I hiked around the lake and back down to Sophie’s Lane. It was muddy and wet and I slipped and fell. My feet were already soaked.
I hiked a few miles on Sophie’s Lane until I came to a small clearing at third Connecticut Lake. I stopped for a photo and on I went down the dirt road. I stopped for lunch at the end of Sophie’s Lane under the kiosk before tackling the Black Cat Trails.
The trails were relatively easy to find. With upper, middle, and lower Black Cat Trails behind me, I continued on through the R&J Chaput trail, all while weaving back and fourth across Route 3. This was a trail on private land that allows Cohos Trail hikers to use. A quick thank you to those folks who allow us to use their land to complete this challenging hike.
I finally arrived at second Connecticut Lake via the Idlewilde Spur around 2pm. A few more photos and videos of the lake and dam and it was time to hit the Falls in the River Trail. I signed in at the Falls in the River Cohos register and continued on to Moose Alley. The sun blazed down on me as I made my way through the moose meadow and out to Magalloway Road.
Once I crossed Magalloway, it was on to the bog bridge, an 800ft long section over the boggy area of first Connecticut Lake. I stopped at my last water source for the day and continued on to Tillotson Shelter across route three on Round Pond Brook Trail.
I knew it was going to be cold that night and decided I’d head down to the cabins where my friend and daughter were staying before heading out in the morning instead of staying at the shelter by myself. This is where things took a wrong turn.
While driving up to drop me off at the trailhead the next morning, a deer jumped out in front of us. While we didn’t hit the deer, the shear force at which the brakes were applied did a lot of damage to my van. We had to get a ride home and have my van towed and fixed before I could continue my trek.
