Date: 2004-10-24
From: South of Stratton Mtn, VT

To: Bennington, VT
Miles today: 22.6
Weather: overcast clouds

22.6 miles today Sleeping in the back of my truckBennington, Vt.I got up this morning and made my coffee and had a few donuts that I had left. I don't know how cold it was, but when I went to bed last night it was 31 degrees. There was no sun like the weatherman said there was going to be. It was windy, cold and completely overcast. Hippie got ready and we started hiking at 7:30am. I couldn't get into my normal rythem (sp?) walking. The uphills seemed harder and I felt like I was struggling on the rocks and mud. We kept hiking and after a while, I told Hippie to go on and I'd catch her later in the day. I finally started hiking better and hiked on up to the summit of Glastenbury Mtn. There was ice in all the trees and some snow left on the ground. I looked at the fire tower and thought about climbing it, but there wasn't any views anyway, so I changed my mind. It was covered with ice and it looked pretty thick higher up. I hiked on to Goddard Shelter and found Hippie there. She was eating a little lunch. I signed the register and hiked on. I figured she could catch up later. I was feeling pretty good and kept a little better pace. I stopped at an overlook and that's where Hippie caught up. We were walking along and we spotted a rabbit that took off when he saw us. Right when he started running, a fisher took off and tried to catch him. That's only the second fisher I've ever seen. It stayed overcast all day, but at least the cold wind died down this afternoon. We got back to Hippie's truck at 3:30pm and found Kat and Dave standing by it. They had just got down off the mountain and were leaving us a note. We told them that we would give them a ride to Pittsfield, Mass. tomorrow when we got done hiking. They are finishing their hike of the Long Trail tomorrow and need a ride. Hippie first ran into them over three weeks ago on their first day on the Long Trail up at the Canadian border. We have run into them a few times since we've been moving our trucks down to different trailheads this week. Hippie and I went into Bennington and went right to McDonalds to eat. We figured we didn't smell good enough for a nice sit down restaurant. It must be getting cold out...I see that a couple of hiking buddies of mine evidently have too much time on their hands now with the colder weather because they are trying to start some trouble by saying stuff in my guestbook. They are creampuffs because they don't go out into the woods to play when it's cold, they just sit in front of their computers. Their names are Chief and LWOP The Dewdrop.I know for a fact that LWOP The Dewdrop has been seen in women's clothing more than once. Hey LWOP, remember that I'm hiking with Hippie and she has told me about you at The Cabin in Maine. I don't know of anytime that Chief has been seen in public in women's clothes, but he seems more like the closet dresser type. The only time I know of with Chief acting a little strange is when I heard somewhere that he had been seen in the Whites in pink tights on a cold day. Now I know you guys have more time to cause trouble than I do because you can sit in front of your computers all day, so go ahead...give it your best shot.Another great day on the A.T.