Tough Hitch Out, The CT High Point

August 27, 2024

Mile 356.1-371.4 (15.3 miles)

I woke up early around 5 am and pulled a pillow over my head to try to fall back asleep until 7. Nate and Alex made us breakfast because they are so sweet and I took one last shower in the old clawfoot tub. We packed up slowly, went to the bakery one more time, rescued a hummingbird that was trapped in the window of the hiker center and then tried to hitch out around 10:30.

It didn't take long for an old man to cross the street and offer us a ride but he said he could only take us three miles up the road. He insisted it was a better spot to hitch from though so we hopped in for the short ride. We stood in the hot sun for what felt like an eternity. There wasn't much traffic at all and the people that did drive by didn't even glance at us. A lot of motorcycles too but damn if I wouldn't have balanced on the back just to get back to the trailhead. Finally another guy in a white work truck pulled over and told us to hop in the back. He told us stories of growing up in the area while he sipped on a Modelo and cruised down the windy road. After we'd been riding for awhile he informed us he couldn't take us the whole way to the trailhead but would drop us off "a short walk from it". He dropped us at a pull off on the road before pulling off onto a side road to head to his job site. I pulled up FarOut- a short walk from the trailhead ended up being 6 miles, all uphill. We groaned and dropped down onto our packs. When a rare car would appear on the horizon I would hop up and dance and try my hardest not to look too desperate and scary but no one pulled over. Finally a truck pulled over and it turned out to be the church shuttle heading out to pick up hikers at the trailhead. We were so thankful and tossed some money into his donation cup for gas.

We started out slow from the trailhead, I was glad to have service so I could keep up in the group chat for awhile longer. The day went by slowly and we passed by two big groups of other hikers that had hiked out this morning.

We watched the most beautiful sunset from the high point of the trail and detoured off trail to find a stealth spot for the night. Set up camp just as darkness was falling. It's going to get down to 35 tonight but I know we're going to be toasty in the two person quilt.