Date: 2013-06-29
From: Goddard Shelter on Glastonbury Mtn

To: Arlington/Kelley Stand Road
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: clear sky

Day 2: Goddard Shelter to Arlington/Kelley Stand Road¢The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything; it¢s your mind you have to convince.¢ Vince LombardiI slept terribly last night, though I¢m not sure why. I guess it could have been the racket from the frogs or the bouts of pelting rain on the roof of the shelter, or God knows what exactly. I was grateful to be inside though, there were three folks tenting behind and to the side of the shelter, and I was thinking that they were going to be swept away by all the rain. Needless to say, with only a few hours of intermittent sleep, I was not exactly raring to go when morning arrived. I first awoke at 5:45 but didn¢t actually leave the shelter until about 7. The first .3 miles was a little climb to the top of Glastenbury Mountain (elevation: 3,748¢) where there is still a fire tower from which you have a glorious view¢¦when the weather is nice (such is not the case for me this morning). Despite the mist, fog and the certainty that I would see nothing from the tower, I made the climb up the slick metal stairs all the same. I got a spectacular view¢¦of the tops of the trees! After Glastenbury the day took a turn for the repetitious¢¦ a series of kiddy-coaster- sized ups and downs that about 4 miles later brought me to Kid Gore shelter just as the day was heating up. The trail was rather unimpressive- mud, rocks, more mud, sections of the trail so overgrown that you¢d swear you were in a jungle and not the AT. Seriously GMC, this is terrible- I get it, you don¢t want to go do trail maintenance in that muddy crap anymore than I want to walk through it but Lordy, cut us some slack. Next time I hike through here, I may bring a machete! Did I mention that the trail was full of mud and bugs? I made liberal use of my DEET and the bug net through much of the day but boy was it humid out. I stopped at Kid Gore for a little lunch and to try to recover some energy that seemed strangely sapped by a mere 4 miles. The whole morning felt sssssssssssslllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooowwwwwww! The break didn¢t seem to help much but I trudged on, yes through more mud and rocks and bugs and sections of overgrowth and undergrowth. It was exhausting- and I can¢t count the number of times that I thought: ¢I should quit, this sucks. This is no fun, I quit.¢ Yet, what option do you have but to move forward? Really, in the middle of the woods with no ready-access road, you have a choice to sit and stew in your cesspool of negativity or to move forward whether it be grudgingly or lightheartedly. On it went¢¦another ~4 miles and I along the way I ran into No Doubt who had no doubt passed me when I stopped at Kid Gore. He agreed it was hot and buggy and the trail was crap in some areas. We stopped for a break at South Alder Brook, a pretty location that was surrounded by a number of beaver dams in the area. Perhaps that was the prettiest spot of the day and despite the bugs and mud and the rocks, I did enjoy that little section. About a mile from the brook we came to Story Spring shelter and found a family- two adult sisters, their 2 boys (1 each) and their father. They had set up the tent inside the shelter to escape the bugs. They also were working on a smoke fire to get rid of the bugs hanging around the area. No Doubt decided to stay for the evening and went to set up his tent, hoping it would dry out. I wasn¢t ready to call the day just yet having only gone 9.5 miles. But I did take a good long break and try to dry my boots in the sun (it didn¢t really work as well as I¢d hoped). After about an hour or so of hanging out at the shelter, I said goodbye to No Doubt and the family and set out again hoping to make just a few more miles in order to position me for an early morning ascent of Stratton Mountain.I wish I could say that the trail took a turn for the better, but really it did not and so more of the same was to be had for the next few miles. Along the way I did come across a section hiker sans backpack. He was sectioning to the location I hoped to stop for the day- Kelley Stand Road. He was doing an ¢out and back¢ so already knew about what lay ahead and was able to give me some good information about the creeks and the trail. We talked for a few minutes as I trailed him but then he asked me to go ahead given our pace was different. I crossed a USFS road which was fairly nice looking and a couple of streams/brooks before I finally reached Kelly Stand Road around 6. I waited to see whether the section hiker would appear but I never saw him again. Off into the woods on the other side of the road, through a parking lot, I only had to walk maybe 100yds before I located a large area perfect for tenting and right at the base of Stratton Mtn. I set up and then took my food and cooking equipment back down to the road (which crosses a fairly good-sized river), there I sat on the bridge and made dinner. The bugs were obnoxious but seemed less so than in the woods. After a leisurely dinner and cleaning my dishes I headed back to the tent to rest up for the morning. Day 2- Of Beaver Ponds and ViewsThere¢s no rain, thankfully. I miss not talking with Matt but there¢s been no network since I left Bennington. Tomorrow I will give it a try from the top of the mountain but I¢ve already been told it may not work there either; seems Verizon is not the network to have in VT, NH or ME. Oh well, AT&T had to win out somewhere!!! To the right of my head, I hear the rushing river along with cars idling and music from what I guess is a group of teenagers down at the parking area. The radio eventually goes silent and I¢m left with the white noise of the Deerfield River to lull me to sleep.Goodnight from the base of Stratton Mountain; about 1628.6 miles from Springer Mountain or 555.6 from Mt. Katahdin.More photos for the trip can be seen at: 2000Miler Vermont Day 2