Date: 2016-07-04
From: VT 9 - Bennington - Mile 1,610.6

To: Stratton-Arlington Rd, Kelly Stand Rd - Mile 1,633
Miles today: 22.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Since the distance between parking trailheads was 20+ miles, we thought the smart thing to do was for me to hike without Beth today. Beth dropped me off at the trailhead early because today's mileage was more than I've hiked in a long time. With fresh legs, I got my first "10 by 10". That's 10 miles by 10 a.m. While hiking, I was continually thinking about everyone in my life, on and off the trail. It has been some time since I hiked alone. I immediately thought of what Beth and I would routinely say as we hiked together. Since the hike began with a climb, I missed the typical "I'm breathing hard, are you?" that is followed by "I'm sweating." And then finally comes the "Alright, a flat spot." And sometimes we even get "That breeze feels great!" So this played out in my head, even though she wasn't right behind me. Given Fresh Ground's smackdown to yesterday's entry - I loved it and Beth and I were both laughing at every word, I almost can't bear writing this but this accurately reflects my thoughts this morning. So when I replaced my backpack last week, I forgot to remove my clips for the Z-Packs front pouch that I've used from Day 1 of this hike. I really wasn't happy about it initially and as I thought about it while hiking, I recalled a common hiker saying - "If you don't have it, you don't need it." That made sense and I found myself enjoying not having it. Then that guy came into my mind - Fresh Ground. If I didn't already have a trail name, Fresh Ground would've named me "Mr. Bag-It". He mocked me endlessly for the number of bags I carried and my practice of placing all my gear into bags. Fresh Ground would've loved busting me today for not having my very visible front pouch. At 8:22 my heart stopped. A bird lifted off a few feet to my right and made so much noise that I jumped. I was glad nobody was there to see it. The other thing that caught my attention today wasthe number of stealth campsites today. There had to be an established stealth site every couple of miles. They didn't have a water source, but they were otherwise great. There was a stealth site at Mile 1,631.6 that had a water stream with a gurgling brook too. Earlier in the day, I passed three young people heading to Canada to hike the Long Trail. They asked me if there were more stealth sites ahead (the beard must make me look like I know something). I basically said that I thought more would exist. Hope they found this one since it was where they hoped to end their hike today. The Goddard Shelter arrived when I wanted a break and was feeling good about my "10 by 10". I scanned the shelter's log book to see if I could find out if Bubbles and Sprout had stayed here. Sure enough, they stayed here on June 18th. Bubbles log entry was about the sweet smelling pine - and she was right. The pines smelled great. And her entry reminded me of how sweet this couple is.The views from the Glastenbury Mountain lookout tower were great despite today's haze. They reminded me of the balds seen many states ago. I love views like this even though I don't know which mountains are those I've hiked, or will hike, or won't ever hike. The afternoon came with a surprise. Jennifer and Jeff came from behind me. We talked for a bit before they went ahead. Then, I caught them as they took a break. We walked together for the next several miles until we got to the shelter they were staying at tonight. I continued a few more miles to get to my car so that I could drive to stay with Beth. Thanks to all of you for being there and making it the good day that it was. Hope you all had a good July 4th holiday.!