Date: 2011-08-01
From: VT

To: Green Mountain House
Miles today: 39.0
Weather: light rain

OK, I didn't actually hike 39 miles in one day. This is the total for the past three days when my phone was out of service. (My phone has developed this irritating habit of turning itself on and running out of power.) Anyway, the past few days have included some interesting experiences. After the short hike out of Williamstown, MA and crossing the MA - VT border, Quest Seeker, Delaware Dave and I made reservation for Sunday night at the Green Mountain House. (The Green Mountain House posts on this site also, so you can see pictures of some of the people I've been hiking with posted there. I wasn't in last nights picture since I was outside retrieving the asparagus from the grill. I'll be in tonight's photo.) But, back to the update ... We needed to do about thirty nine miles in three days. The first day out, I started off first as usual and was quickly passed by Quest Seeker. Delaware Dave had hiked further the day before and was about eight miles further along. When I got to the next shelter in the early afternoon, QS and DD were having lunch. The next shelter was four miles away and the following shelter was 8.6 miles. Rain was threatening. When I got to the Kid Gore shelter, QS had already moved on and the rain was beginning. I decided to stop for the day after 12.4 miles, DD passed through and hiked on in the rain. Shortly after, the real downpour started, so I was comfortable with my choice even though it meant 26 miles in the next two days. During the evening, four more hikers dragged in soaking and dripping, filling the shelter, but I slept well.The nesxt morning, I woke up early and was on the trail by 7 am. I did the 4.6 miles to the next shelter by ten and there was QS and DD, drying things out and just getting ready to start their day. I knew I had the 1800 ft climb to the summit of Stratton Mountain yet to go, so after a snack, I moved on. The mud was thick after the previous day of rain, so pretty soon I was just trudging through without worrying about dodging mud up to my ankles. As the day went on and the sun came out, things started to dry. I plugged in my MP3 player and listened to tunes all the way up Mt. Stratton, stopping for the occasional conversation with a southbounder (SOBO) or day hiker. I was a pleasant climb, long but not too steep. As I got near the summit, the sub-alpine forest become mostly pine and smelled like Christmas. At the summit was a lookout tower that offered a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains, including Greylock off in the distance. ( I have pictures on my camera, but haven't figured how to download them yet. My phone was totally out of power, so I didn't get any on the phone to download.) It was a fabulous reward for a long climb. Just as I was leaving the summit, QS came along. We arranged to stop at the Stratton Pond shelter three miles further down. Cruising down the trail from the summit, listening to my tunes was a great time. At Stratton Pond, we heard rumors about lots and lots of mosquitos and there was no tenting allowed. I still had a bit of energy left so we moved on, shooting for a campsite two miles further on. After two muiles we crossed the river, and didn't see the expected campsite anywhere! (Later, we found that DD came along to the same spot and found a perfectly fine campsite just off the trail a ways at that very spot.) As it was though, we pushed on 2.6 more miles plus a half mile side trail to the next shelter. At this point, I had 20.4 miles in for the day! My longest day yet, including a big climb. I was exhausted but relieved to have only six more miles for the next day into Manchester Center. On Sunday we hiked the six miles to the road and hitched into Manchester Center. A very friendly lady named Amy gave us a ride into town even though it was out of her way. After a Greek salad and gyro platter, beer, root beer and water I was feeling somewhat recharged. I supplied my food bag and bought a steak to grill for dinner. We then called the Green Mountain House to pick us up. For more on GMH check the journal they post on this site. I've also attached a few photos. We decided as a group to zero here on Monday and will set out again in the morning. Killington will probably be a Friday stop. Now I'm off to have my complimentary pint of Ben & Jerry's before fixing a burger for dinner.