Day 122 - 31st July - Riga Leanto - Wild camp at Jug End Rd - 13.5 miles

I start feeling queazy at breakfast with the high energy milk drink we are carrying. I go downhill from there with cramps, gas and then diarroheoa by the end of the day. The food poisoning from Kent lingers on in my gut.

We have an early morning climb to the summit of Bear Mt with great views - there are 10 teenage boys up here with 2 leaders doing 'circle therapy'. We leave them to it and climb along the ridge which seems to go for ever - hard and rocky. There is a great view of Mt Graylock, the highest mountain in Vermont, in the distance.

We come across one of the most beautiful valleys on the trail - Sages Ravine, and wish that we had been able to camp here. It reminds us of home - the rainforest and the damp moss, and the fast flowing stream amongst the boulders.

And we cross another state border, leaving Connecticut and entering Massachussetts.

After the third mountain, we find ourselves amidst a lot of day hikers and familes and we descend into a picnic ground to find 2 guys waiting to provide trail magic for AT hikers - we oblige and stop for an hour even though my gut is saying stop eating, I keep stuffing it down.

The descent off the ridge down into the valley is not pleasant - we follow a knife edge rib and I need to stop and relieve myelf every hour. The pain is really bad - my guts are screaming and we press on to get down to the valley where there is water.

At the road we locate the spring and then head into the forest and make a wild camp amongst the ferns, 50 metres from the trail.