Date: 2008-09-02
From: Inn at Long Trail

To: Lookout Cabin
Miles today: 18.0

What an interesting day this would be.... We awoke pretty late for us since breakfast isn't until 7:30. We ate with Swinging Jane and all the crowd from the pub last night. Finally after blueberry pancakes and good byes we headed up to the trail around 8:30 with that "just picked up my food drop feeling". The pack is always so heavy when it is full of food.   But it is a beautiful cloudless day. The night was probably upper 50"s and it should reach the low 80's. We climbed all morning to the top of Mt Quimby and we could still see Pico and Killington in the distance. We had lunch; but then we split up because Lollygagger needed some alone time. She really isnt used to company all the time. The rest of the day was up in the fir covered forests and thenback dow into the hardwoods and the streams. I liked the smell of the firs on top and the views; but the water sounds nice and it was hot so I needed lots of it. Finally got through to Evelyn and she played well today so she was happy and I could here the puppies barking in the background. I had her on speakerphone and the chickadees and black throated blue warbles came to within 5 ft to see what it was. A small hawk came through too; but nobody got hurt.   It was getting late so I hiked up to Lookout Cabin. It is a deeted; but well kept cabin with an observation platform on top. It was sunset and the colors were spectacular! Reds, blues, deeper blues, even salmon and green. And the mountains just went on for range after range. I met FreeBird there. He has thru hiked twice and he pointed out the White Mountains in NH and some as far back as Stratton Mtn. You can literally see one tenth of the trail form here 216 miles. Free Bird was a professional windsurfer for 20 yrs in Hawaii and now lives in Woodstock and is writing a book. What an interesting guy. He was trail running up to here and so he left just before dark. Now I am alone in the cabin which is a little odd feeling. I'd almost rather be alone in the woods than in a known structure with a jeep trail nearby. But tomorow am the sunrise should be fabulous.   What a night this is...I lay on the floor of the cabin andyou don'thear any of the usual animal sounds that you do in the woods. No crickts or footsteps trottin by. Every now and then something like an acorn or a nut will hit the tin roof with a bang; but otherwise the silence is complete. It feels warm inside; but I am awake at 3:00 am so I put on my boots and jacket without using my light and felt my way to the door and outside. SO MANY STARS! There is a little glow from Rutland to the SW and I'm guessing one from Hanover to the East; but otherwise it'll be a 360 degree view of nothing but mountains and stars. I stumbled a bit around the side of the cabin over the granite slabs that it's built on and climbed back up to the rooftop platform. It was well worth it to have preserved my night vision. The Milky Way was clearly visible and the sky was a cloudless blanket of stars. Surprisingly; I didn't see any jets but maybe it is the wrong time of night. This is going to be one of my favorite memories of the whole AT experience.