Date: 2008-05-11
From: North Adams

To: Dalton
Miles today: 23.5
Weather: clear sky

Happy Mothers Day!Stride and I hiked backwards today, which ended up being a good thing as we were able to see Dozer and Flameboy one last time before going our separate ways.Slackpacking back from N. Adams to the bird cage we met Dozer early in the day just before our long (2,800 feet) climb up Greylock. I had not seen Dozer since the day before Pearisburg. He was surprised to see us. We exchanged brief accounts of our trail lives then kept heading on in different directions likely to never see each other again.On top of Greylock there was a plaque showing the names of nearby mountains. Stride saw Tully Mtn. (Tully is her last name) and was thrilled "I love my last name." So we took some pictures of her by her mountain.Vagus decided to hike north from Dalton -- he didn't want a SOBO disruption to his hike -- and we met him just north of the Mark Noepel shelter. We had both waited to have lunch until we ran into each other, but we met at a spot with no shade and no flat spots and basically ended up sitting on the trail.Stride has been going through a million scenarios on what she might do (get off the trail in N. Adams, Benninton, Killington or Hanover and bus home; ride to trail days in Damascus with Rob Bird and Sulu and others; or possibly stay on the trail) and she talked a bit more with Vagus about what their agendas might be if they both continued hiking north.We hiked into Dalton where we got drinks at Shell station, then discovered the trail went by an ice cream stand so we stopped again and got shakes. I used Stride's cell phone to call and leave a message for my mom.Going up the next hill we met Marten, our Czech friend. At the top of the hill a group of women were talking to Stride and saw me staggering up behind and said, "look here comes the man, good for you for showing the men how its done." They were trying to praise Stride for her hiking ability, but I certainly felt belittled and had no idea how to respond other than say "yeah, she's a good hiker," which sounded lame and almost belittling itself. I had stopped for a bathroom break on the way up the hill, but even so Stride is a much faster hiker up hills than I am. Vagus and her are usually a little ahead of me on the trail, although I think I often have more energy at the end of the day, especially long days.Back at the hostel Rob Bird had gotten a cake, a card and a little bear for Stride thinking it was her birthday. Stride played the "I'm 23 today," joke on me a while back (she was 23 yesterday and will be 23 tomorrow, too) and I sometimes say something about her being 23 today around other people. Apparently Rob didn't realize we were joking and after the effort he went through we didn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't really Stride's birthday.Sulu showed up out of nowhere -- he decided not to hike the Long Trail and through a combination of three hitches and two bus rides made it 100 miles from Sherburne pass to Dalton in under 5 hours.The black flies were especially horrible at the end of the day today. We tried to take a break with 5 miles left and were unable to do so because the flies were too bad. Stride was experiencing pain in her butt and leg today and could barely walk by the end of the day.Vagus had talked about trying to hitch back to Dalton today, but he ended up camping just north of North Adams where we will hopefully meet up with him tomorrow. We won't get there until after noon, however, so if he doesn't wait around for us we might not see him again.I'm only hiking to Bennington then will go up to hike the northern half of the Long Trail, so I will be leaving the group in a couple days.* * *Skit's bits:* Length of the Long Trail: 272 miles* Miles I hiked in 2004: 100* Miles I plan to hike this year: about 190 (from the border to Bennington then skipping up to do the northern half which I have not hiked.)* When the Long Trail was built: Between 1910 and 1930 (it served as the inspiration for the Appalachian Trail).* Number of people who have completed hikes of the Long Trail: More than 3,300.* Longest number of years it has taken for a person to complete the trail in sections: 52 years* Certificates offered by the Green Mountain Club: End-to-ender for those who have hiked all 272 miles of trail and Side-to-side for those who have hiked all 185 miles of side trails.