Day 123 - 1st August - Jug End Rd to South Wilcox Shelter - 16.2 miles

We follow the Housotonic flood plain - with billabongs and signs warning that the water is contaminated with agricultural chemicals - PCB's and not to drink it. This pollutions comes from growing corn.

In the valley we find a stone memorial and plaque to 'Shays' Rebellion - which was a revolt against the taxation on whisky in 1787. The memorial marked the battle site. We thought it was a bit like the Eureka Stockade where the small miners objected to the gold tax in Ballarat in the 1850s. Shay was jailed for his leadership of the uprising but then later released, as the uncomfortable facts emerged that he was only behaving as the 'founding fathers' had behaved towards the English, objecting to the taxation of good such as tea - as per the Boston Tea Party when the american rebells through the english tea overboard rather than pay the tax on it. Shay was rehabilitated and pardoned. Read the full story in Wikipedia.

We sit down and take stock as to our progress. This week we have walked 80 miles, with a daily average of 11.4 miles. This includes the rest day at Kent, plus the next day where I was so sick we only covered 7 miles, so we are pleased that we have been able to manage the 80 miles. We have now covered 1523 miles total, with around 600 miles to go, and 8 weeks left before our visas run out. This means that we are within reach of our goal, but the hardest section of the trail is still to come - The White Mountains of New Hampshire.