Date: 2005-08-12
From: Stratton Pond Camp Site

To: Manchester Center
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I was up early and got caught up on my journal while I waited for Break to wake up. The Loon was back with it's early morning wake up call, and I walked down to the pond in an unsuccessful attempt to get a picture of it.Once Break was ready to go, we set off for town. We made great time, as the trail was essentially flat the whole way. Before we got there, an old M Company friend - Mike Shine, aka Freeze Dried -caught up with us. He and Break had hiked together from day one at Springer, so it was a great reunion. He hikes fast, however, so soon left us in the dust, saying he'd see us in town.Before we even got to the road, a previous through-hiker, Blue Bird, who was hiking south intending to spread some trail magic, asked if we needed a ride into town. Yes!Twenty minutes later we were in town, and I was off to the outfitters where I needed to replace my broken water filter. Just outside the EMS store, I ran into Cupa Joe who had left a message back at the trailhead that Break and I should look for him in town before getting a room. He told us that Brownie and Souleman, a through hiking couple who had met on the trail (but subsequently had to drop off due to injuries to Brownie's foot) were offering to host us at her parent's cabin near Stratton Mountain. Joe said that the whole crowd would be there, including my old buddy, Mouth, who I knew was celebrating his Birthday. I was thrilled, and accepted immediately. Break, however, decided not to come along - not sure why, but we didn't have much opportunity to talk before going our separate ways. I did ask her how far she was planning to go tomorrow, and she said maybe 15 miles. I said great, as there is a shelter about 14 miles north where I was planning to stay, and we agreed we'd hope to see each other there. She then headed for the laundry while I hit the grocery store to resupply and to get some bubbly stuff to help celebrate Mouth's birthday. I can't tell you how thrilled I was to see everyone again. It was like old home week and a high school reunion combined. We had a scrumptious spaghetti dinner, drank beer, caught up on who was still on and who was off the trail, shared rumors and stories of our respective adventures since we'd seen each other last. It was just one of the best nights I've had on the trail, and I kept wishing that Break had come along to share in the fun.After dinner, we watched a couple of old movies, and finally crashed after midnight. Tomorrow, it's back to the trail. All of this group is about 50 miles ahead of me, but will be doing an occasional zero, and are not currently doing high miles, so I might be able to catch up with them if I can average 15 or so miles a day.Now all I can hope is that Break will also be ready for some higher miles. I'm hopeful, as her speed really picked up after we left the RawArt group on Thursday, and again during our 11 mile day today.As for today, my hike is dedicated to trail friends, near and far, and especially to Break and to everyone staying here at the cabin tonight:Our hosts - Brownie and Soule Man, Cuppa Joe, Mouth, Touk, Gypsi Lulu, Tink, Linux, Clearwater (who was also celebrating his birthday), Hazy Sonic, and Jax. Some are old friends from day one out of Springer, some I'd heard about only from journals and shelter registers, and some were brand new friends. All of them, collectively, are really what this little walk in the woods is all about. Another fabulous day on the trail. In fact, one of my best.Stay tuned, Longhaul------------------------------Sent via PocketMailEmail Anywherewww.pocketmail.com