Kent, CT - Appalachian Trail

imported
#21

There is Some REALLY great things about Kent!:x

Chef

#22

I didn’t have fun in Kent. I was almost run over by some dirtbikers on the trail. They were having somekind of race and said it was approved by the local officials. I did drag one off the trail with his bike and show him the sign that said “no bikes allowed.” He asked me if I was “from around here.” With my heavy southern accent? It took almost an hour to hitch a ride to town. Probably a hundred cars passed without a ride. Thanks to Okie and his truck we got to town. When we got to town, I went to the ACE hardware store for some alcohol. The guy asked me if I was a hiker and I said yes. He asked me to step aside and let his other customer through and would not ring up my sale until everyone else in the store had been waited on. I waited almost 20 minutes with the gallon can in my had at the register until everyone else was taken care of. We asked at two of the cafes if we could use the restroom and they said no. Walking Stomach, you will find that when you compare the hospitality in Kent CT with other sections of the Trail, there is a big difference. We had people taking us to their homes and feeding us, free laundry, we even had people to offer us their cars for the day if we needed them. Not in CT. If we got it, we paid thru the nose. On the way back to the trail you pass a small motel on the right. We thought of taking a zero because Flame had a slight cold and we didn’t want it to get worse. The rate was $265 for a room. It was on par with MULLs in GA. A dive. We got to the store by the bridge and called and he said it was $150. Go figure. They like hikers? I’m sure there were some random acts of kindness, I just didn’t hear of any. The trail has some great Trail Towns, to me Kent is not one of them. Sorry BlueJay for my rantings.

Papa Smurf

#23

I am from the deep south with a heavy southern accent. I liked Kent, people were nice to me. As I sat outside the IGA several locals stopped and talked with me about the trail. I used the laundry, again friendly people, ate at the Ice cream place and thought the college kids working there were a bit silly and not good workers but that could be anywhere.

I really liked Salisbury, Ct. The local people were real friendly and went out of their way to speak and talk with me. I was asked by a lady if I would speak to her book club, even with my deep southern accent.

When people in the “North” would ask me “where are you from ?”. I would always say whatever state I was in at the time and when they looked surprised, I would say say "southern Ct, or Vermont, etc and they would always laugh. Maybe I had people being rude to me because of my southern accent but was just too dumb to notice.

Anyway, my time in Ct was nice and last summer I made sure we drove into Kent so my wife could see it. I wanted to go to Salisbury but did not make it.

Now, I did not like Hanover, NH at all, no one rude but just not friendly, but maybe they have their reasons.

Waterboy 99

#24

I am not being rude in any way, but you do realize that it takes maybe 10 minutes to walk into Kent, rather than waiting an hour for a hitch into town. That made me giggle.

bearbait

#25

I wasn’t complaining, for me to complain about ranting would be the ultimate hypocracy. Plus I completely agree with you about Kent, it is by far the least friendly trail town, and I live near there. I just was not sure it was you.

Blue Jay

#26

Bearbait, we had not planned on going into town. We had hiked on down near the bridge. But Flame got to feeling bad so we decided to backtrack and go into town and not hike on much past the next shelter. Bad plan. It was not all bad. We got to spend some time with RockyTop, FullmoonWalking, Southpaw, Okie, Curly and old Badger. The guy at the hardware store just didn’t start things off on the right foot. Then the bathroom. What can I say? Some days you got the bear, some days the bear has got you. Maybe next time through things will be better. Happy trails.

Papa Smurf