Appalachian Trail in Connecticut - Backpacking Series 20 miler

When and Where

When: August 4-6, 2023, 2:00 pm — 1:00 pm
Nights: 2

This trip is the third in a series of trips to prepare the scouts for this summer's 5-day Adventure Trek. This trip is focused on the backpacking element of the Trek. This is an opportunity to get things, such as the "Trail and backpacking meals" requirement for the Cooking Merit Badge done. 

The original trail is an 18.3-mile out-and-back trail near Cornwall, Connecticut. Generally considered a challenging route. This is a popular trail for backpacking, birding, and camping, but you can still enjoy some solitude during quieter times of day. The best times to visit this trail are March through October. Elevation gain: 3,389 ft.

We adjusted it to fit our requirements. 

Appalachian Trail, Connecticut, Route 7 to Caesars Brook

Road to Falls Village, Camp at Sharon Mt, Friday

Meet at OLA and leave around 2 PM
Drive to the parking at Route 7 (34.1-mile marker)
Pack and hike to Sharon Mt (30.9-mile marker)
Cook and eat dinner

West Cornwall Rd, Camp at Pine Swamp Brook, Saturday

Wake up at 6 AM
Continue trail to Caesar Brook (25.1-mile marker)
Reverse and hike back to Pine Swamp Brook (28.5-mile marker)
Cook and eat dinner

Falls Village, Road to Brooklyn, Sunday

Wake up at 5 AM
Continue trail to the parking at Route 7 (34.1-mile marker)
Drive to OLA

What to pack

This is a real backpacking trip, so packing is the most important and most challenging part, you need to bring a lot of stuff but still make sure your pack is light enough to always carry with you.

Some of the more important ones are:

• ⧠ Ten essentials
• ⧠ Backpack
• ⧠ Class B (as well as Class A for travel)
• ⧠ A LOT of water (2 - 3 liters of water per day + extra for cooking)
• ⧠ Food
• ⧠ Executed Troop permission from ScoutBook  (if not submitted already)
• ⧠ A bear canister
   

This, although important, is far from everything you need. REI provides a more extensive list of things you should pack for a trip like this. 

Useful links

• https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/connecticut/appalachian-trail-falls-village-to-west-cornwall-road
  • https://cdn-assets.alltrails.com/pdf/v2/appalachian-trail-falls-village-to-west-cornwall-road-0d03edd1.pdf
• https://ct-amc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2014Appalachian-trail-map2.pdf
• https://cornwallct.org/explore-cornwall-ct/take-a-hike/
• https://nps.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=6298c848ba2a490588b7f6d25453e4e0

Goals

• Backpacking Merit Badge
  • Hike 20 miles