Date: 2008-07-05
From: Kid Gore Shelter, VT

To: Stealth site 1 mile from Stratton Mtn. summit, VT
Miles today: 13.0

Wow, not one sound of fireworks or anything all nite, which speaks of the remoteness of some of these areas in the Green Mtns. I slept like a rock and woke just before my alarm. It was still pretty cool, so I'm noticing the elevation change, even if it's only 500-1000 feet higher in average than where I've been at.I got up and got going. Randy was already gone, and I told Bob goodbye. He's a fellow musician and starts a grad assistant teaching gig next week for music composition and sound. Cool guy.I was off @ my usual 7:30 a.m. It was an immediate 1 mile climb and to my surprise, I caught up to Randy. He's out for possibly as long as it takes to hike into Canada, but this is day 4 for him and he's dying with a way too heavy pack. It was cool, we talked all the way up the mountain, wit several stops so he could rest. Really interesting man, 56 yrs old and was a health inspector for 16 yrs. He finally burned out. He's reading a book about the post-traumatic stress men experience after a woman (who is carrying their child) gets an abortion. Really interesting. We talked about everything, and before I knew it, I was at the top and didn't even break a sweat. Randy on the other hand finally said he was pushing too hard to keep up with me and needed to slow it down. That has to be a first for me to hear!! So this means in order to feel like a physically superior hiker, I need to hike with men with 50-60 lb packs who have only been out for less than 1 week. No probl! em...I got to South Alder Brook and took a break. There was a beautiful pond near here, and I just know one of these times, I'm going to see a moose standing there drinking, but not today.I've been using that Crystal Lght lemonade powder this week and really love the stuff. It comes in little individual serving tubes. So I added some to my cold water..mmmm.I headed on and went past the Story Spring Shelter, I signed the register and saw New Day and her boys made it there last nite. Amazing...I knew most of today would be pretty good trail, until Stratton Mtn., but I kept plugging along and had lunch @ Black Brook, te GORGEOUS brook. I had to soak my feet, as they were already killig me. I sat there, soaking till they were numb ad throbbing from the ice cold water, ate my lunch and watched a very brave moth flit around on my hiking sock. It was a great lunch, and by the way, there's some nice campsites here too.So about 1:00 p.m. I moved on. Foot soaking does wonders, but for the first 10 mnutes my feet were thawing out so it almost hurt.I had about 1 mile before starting the 3.5 mile climb up Stratton Mtn. Before I knew it, I was @ the road where it all starts. I will admit, I was expecting far worse than te reality. It did help, however that I stopped 3 times to talk to people. First were Joann and Edward fro MA. Nice folks. Then 2 more people I didnkt get their names. Finally I met Holly, Marcus, ad their chocolate Lab, Chase. We had a great conversation. These little breaks really gave me the energy and rest to blow up the mountain.About .4 from the top is a great ice cold crystal clear spring. Really great water. I got to the top, and by te way, this mountain is @ 3,936 feet so it was again that beautiful thick silence and pine trees.There are caretakers, Jean and Hugh who live up here 1 week @ a time in a tiny cabin. There are a lot of tourists because there's a gondala that goes from the sk resort town of Stratton up a nearby mountain (I never hiked past the Gondala though). There's also a firetower here, so I waited my turn to climb it and wow...how cool! Granted, the clouds were rolling in, so it wasn't the best view, but I could see Illington, a mountain I'll climb on my next leg.I climbed down and talked with Jean for a bit. Oh, I also was able to call Karen from up here. Service has been non-existent lately.Anyway, Jean showed me some fresh chives and told me to take some for dinner tonight. I picked them out of the ground and plan on adding them to my pasta tonight.It was freakin cold on top of this mtn. The thermo said 66, but it was overcast, I was sweaty, and there was a breeze. I hung out there till about 4:15 p.m. an started th descent.I had planned on stealth camping before the shelter, because you have to pay $5.00 to camp there. It's not much I know, but the rebel in me always tries to find the loophole or way aroud the system. I can't help it.As I' descending Stratton Mtn., I see a good spot, but decided to go further. I was scoping pretty hard and ten I saw a potential clearng, so I walked off trail and couldn't believe I saw a small firering. Apparently, someoe else had camped here, and it was perfect.I really wanted to stay in the thicj alpine-like forest and have a nite of pure silence.It was 5:15 p.m., but I didn't care. I set up camp, threw my bearbag rope, and made dinner with my fresh chives!One guy hiked right by and never saw me. Then there were 4 people I passed going down as they were headed up. They did notice me.Finally, another hiker I'd met the day I hiked out of Dalton, came by and he saw me. It was Highlife. He asked if there was a spot for a tent up here and I told him to come check it out. He had done a 26 miler today (um....NOPE!), and was beat.I was a little disappointed I didn't have the spot all to myself, but he's my age and is a very cool guy, so we had a good talk. I gave him some water so he'd have enough for dinner, and I already had my bearbag rope up so I offered to let him use that too.He said when he hiked up, I looked like a ninja in all black(he wasn't wearing his glasses). He was impressed with my whole "system".He shared some info about the Whites (remember he flip flopped last year and is back again). If I do 10-12 miles a day, I can be thru them in 7 days. That's good, I was afraid it would take me like 14 days. We'll see though huh?I'll admt, for the first time (3 days ago) I got a twinge of, "Oh man...this is going to end sooner rather than later." And I'm starting to entertain the notion that I might just make it this year. I can't fully entertain it till the Whites are behind me, but I'm getting excited.I've felt more myself since leaving Dalton, than any other day since my meltdown in NY. It feels good to be excited again, to feel optimistic and positive again. It also helps that I'm in town tomorrow!So it was a really good day. The major climbing is over, with 12 miles between me and a shower and MEXICAN FOOD! I've been craving it for 2 weeks, and Jean, (caretaker) told me it's a good restaurant, which makes me even more thrilled. I'm going to tear that place up when I get there folks.It's another very cool nite. 9:04 p.m., but my thermoeter has been in a bag, so it's reading 75 degrees, ut it's got to be in the low low 60's or upper 50's. Gonna water the leaves one last time and catch some zzzzz's.~Certain