I had to spend the week at home waiting for my van and tending to work and home life. I decided to head up a day early and slack pack from Tillotson Shelter to Happy Corner, then road walk back to Round Pond Brook Trail to my van.
The sun was blazing and it was over 90 degrees. I made my way from Tillotson Shelter to Round Pond Brook Road. I came to the end of the road at Covell Mountain Trail. I made good time and passed a small group of hikers taking a break on the ascent. I summited Covell, and stopped for a snack, photo, and a few videos before the hikers finally made it up to me. I waved goodbye and headed on down and over to Prospect Mountain through shoulder high ferns that almost completely covered the trail.
I meandered down the wooded path, then started another ascent to Prospect. I came out to a small clearing with a beautiful view of Magalloway and the First Connecticut Lake.
As I sat atop the summit rock for lunch admiring the view, a small group of folks came up the other side of the mountain on their Polaris to also take in the view on this bluebird day. We waved a quick hello at one another and off they went. I took some photos and video for the road and back down the way I came.
I came to the Border Trail next to some private property and an old shelter that looked like it was for emergencies only. It was falling apart and had tarps covering sections of it. I came down the trail and out onto Danforth Road just over a mile from my stopping point for the day at Young’s Store Happy Corner.
I popped in really quick for a Gatorade and headed back up the road nearly five miles to my van around 2pm. I headed home for the night, packed my backpack again and went to bed. The next day, I was shuttled back up to Young’s Store in the afternoon to continue two more miles on to Lake Francis where I had a tent site reserved for the night.
When I got to camp, I went to the office and checked in. The camp host was very friendly and accommodating. I thought to myself, I’d definitely love to come back up here and spend the week. It was very quiet and relaxing. I set up camp and started making my Mountain House Lasagna. With dinner done and my tent ready, I made my way down to the lakefront to watch the sunset and mentally prepare myself for 26 miles of atv trails and gravel roads in the rain in store for me on day three.
I returned to my site after the sunset, and watched the fireflies as dusk turned to night. I climbed in my tent and fell right to sleep. It was a really good night of sleep too. Normally, I wake every hour or two when I go camping. I definitely needed it for what was in store for the next day.
