Hike 10 - Section #10A

September 16, 2012 - The sky is crystal clear blue today.  It would be a shame to waste it doing chores around the house.  Betsy agrees to join me on my the next segment of my hike, as long as she can keep her part of the hike to around 3 miles.  No problem.  We just have to play some creative games juggling our cars. 

So I start where I left off two weeks ago on Crawford Street in Rutland, while Betsy waits for me where the trail crosses East Hill Road (Alex & I got lost driving around there on the last hike, so I was familiar with the area).  Now that these hikes  are starting further and further away from home, it takes a little more time to get to the start and to position our transportation correctly  Today, I don't actually start hiking until 2:40pm.  With the sun setting a little earlier each day, we wonder just how much time we have to hike.

Across the street from where Alex & I ended last time.  From here, I hike at "Leary-speed" for the first couple miles.

I didn't notice this shelter on the map, but it is in excellent shape with a fire ring in front.

I found this little tenting area next to Long Pond.

I pick up Betsy at East Hill Road.

This is the midway point on the trail:  46 miles to New Hampshire (been there), 46 miles to Rhode Island (yet to come).  Fortunately I have less that 46 miles to cover since we already did some hiking in Sutton (see map).

The trail opened up under the power wires allowing us to admire that azure sky.

This bridge over the boggy area is brand new, of varying widths, and wrapped with chicken wire   We are on the property of Treasure Valley, a Boy Scout camp of the Mohegan Council.

Yes, definitely a scout camp, with works in progress trail-side.

After passing a couple smaller glacial erratics, we finally make it Sampson's Pebble.  A big rock with a lot of graffiti.

Almost back at the car, here's a view of beautiful Browning Pond.

Ooops!  We almost forgot our end of hike photo.  Browning Pond in the background.

Originally, I had planned to hike all the way to the 4-H camp in Spencer, but it was already 4:48, so considering the ride back home, we figured we'd better call it a day.
I was on the trail for 2:18 covering 5.27 miles in Rutland, Oakham, and just the tip of Spencer.