Date: 2020-09-05
From: Stratton Pond Shelter

To: Route 11 (Manchester Center)
Miles today: 10.7

Woke up to a temperature in the mid-40s, but I was still fairly cozy under my summer bag and silk liner. I fan out the bag like a quilt, putting my feet in the footbox. This provides more coverage so I can roll around. If half the sleeping bag is under you it provides no insulation anyway because it has no loft. My sleeping pad insulates me underneath. Soon I'll swap out the 45-degree bag for my 20-degree quilt.Today I planned to take a Nero into Manchester Center to relax all afternoon. Just 11 miles to Vermont route 11. I arranged with Charlie G, a local trail angel whose name is all over shelters and Guthooks comments from here to the sign on Katahdin, for a noon pickup. Three LT Nobos at the shelter were also looking for a ride into town. Coming out of the shelter I passed beautiful Stratton Pond. The water was sparkling and so inviting I wanted to jump in. But it was far too cold! I'm afraid my swimming days are numbered up north thanks to the late season.Brian and Willy, two of the LTers looking for a ride, are two young guys from Louisiana currently living in a cabin near Mt Washington owned by Willy's family where they are fixing it up. They've done a lot of hiking in the Whites recently and surprised me by mostly keeping up with my pace all morning. The trail rolled over the ridge with little vertical change and brought us to a view of Manchester and Equinox Mountain at Prospect Rock where dayhikers were already appearing. Little mud and comparatively few rocks made for a pleasant walk in the woodsThe trailhead lot was packed on this gorgeous Saturday with cars mostly from out of state - New York, Massachusetts, and even Pennsylvania and Virginia. Charlie found us in the tumult of dayhikers and vehicles. As he drove us into town he said he's helped 1700 hikers in the past four months. Many of them stay on his property. He can no longer hike himself, and has trouble just walking around. Says most people in his condition would be in a wheelchair and taking heavy drugs by now but he refuses. He's friendly in a gruff way, and his booming voice sounds just like John Goodman on the old Roseanne show.Charlie dropped Brian, Willy, and me in town. The others were going back to trail today, while I wanted to grab lunch and resupply. I had a burrito at a place called Cilantro, but it turned out to be much too small. A sundae from the must-stop Ben & Jerry's store didn't fill me either. So I got a Big Mac at McDonald's, first time I've eaten at one on this hike. It was underwhelming, but did the job for now. Manchester Center is a mix of year-round services for rural Vermont, like the McDonalds and the Price Chopper with the pathetic produce section, and high-end retailers for the out-of-state crowds that flock here in the fall for leaves and winter for skiing. Passing Armani as I walked the hundred yards from McDonalds to the outfitter was odd. At the outfitter I replaced a couple of tent stakes I had accidentally bent by hammering into rocks, and Charlie picked me up outside.Charlie's modest property on route 7 backs to the national forest. I joined two other hikers in a pop-up trailer in the yard that serves as a bunkroom. A 29-year-old girl from Savannah doing the AT called Reeses (Pieces) has been here for a week recovering from injury. She started north from Pawling, NY intending to thruhike. She may have Charlie shuttle her to Katahdin soon and head south. She wishes she could have brought her dog, but all the traveling plus restrictions in Baxter and the Smokies made her decide against it.Journey Man (AT '16), the other guest, is a 69-year-old retiree from Asheville and lifelong wood carver hiking the Long Trail north. His appearance and demeanor remind you of an older Bob Ross - full white beard and afro, glint in his eyes, and the same soft, calm, cheerful, unassuming voice and personality. His walking stick is a work of art with a shepherd, turtle, rattlesnake, and turquoise stones encircling it in high relief. The shepherd carrying a sheep represents love, the snake healing, and the turtle steadiness - the three keys to his hike. He's made one for every hike and countless others for grandchildren and friends. He dreamed of the AT for so long he carved the walking stick for it 30 years before he hiked. A Vietnam vet who served as an Army medic evacuating the wounded, he recently returned to Vietnam as part of a Habitat for Humanity crew to build a home for a local family and found the people very friendly. He wanted to change his relationship with the country, he said, to put some of the war behind him.Charlie's daughter Becca, who helps out with hikers, also raises quail. After she and Charlie served us a sausage dinner, she showed us the chicks being raised inside. There are four day old chicks that look like fuzzballs and four week olds as big as pigeons. The grown hens outside produce eggs she sells. Rats have recently been getting into the pen and killing several hens so she's laid a network of traps. Becca also wants to hike the Long Trail, and Reeses has been helping her get prepped and in shape with practice hikes.Another hiker called in after dinner so we waited up, playing games with Charlie's grown son Dylan, but the hiker was all the way up near Killington so it was nearly 11 before she arrived and we could sleep.