Date: 2003-07-24
From: Kid Gore Shelter

To: Stratton Pond Shelter
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: moderate rain

All night it rained, off and on. In the morning, I just managed to go to the privy, and then it started up again. I hung around lazily, reading, journaling, making a pot of cinnamon tea, as I was out of peppermint. I really wanted to make coffee, and I had some in my pack, but had forgotten the creamer. Only a very desperate caffeine junkie, one who no longer values their stomach lining, drinks instant coffee without adulteration. Or even drinks instant at all.I warmed my hands around the pot, letting the spicy odors wake up my head. It's hard to just get out of bed and walk in the rain, even after all these months. I needed some time to grow into the idea.About 8 am, I finally saddled up and rode off into the rain. Unitic followed shortly thereafter. It was a quiet morning with the plink-plink of drops. I was glad I was walking alone, despite being surrounded by friends. I was still pondering some of the things I'd been mulling yesterday.There were several lovely sub-alpine bogs and ponds. The green frogs were plucking their one-note "banjo string" song with enthusiasm. Mighty hunter that I am, I'd approach the swamps with my camera drawn and cocked. But alas, no moose revealed itself to me. There should have been a moose. The bogs were perfect habitat.I'd only walked two hours when I stopped at Story Spring shelter and broke out my lunch. The raging hiker appetite was back.Though it rained hard just as I stood to leave, before long the sun began spotting out. Wouldn't you know it, out it comes, hot and humid.The deer flies become active in the heat. They tangle themselves in my curls, then churlishly bite my scalp, the little monsters. When I free them, they fly off with a haughty buzz. Just as I start the three-mile slog up Stratton - at 3,936 feet said to be the highest mt. in southern Vermont, though Killington Peak looks higher - the sun really starts cooking. Phew! I recall my friends Chief and Hopeful, oth of whom had bouts with heat exhaustion a few weeks ago. I would have to go slowly and stay hydrated.I dawdle. I know I am dawdling. Last year, this very climb nearly killed me and Clyde. Granted, it was only our fourth day out, we were unfit, baby thru-hikers and the hefty climb came at the end of a long day. But the body remembers, and dreads. Yes, I dawdled.Actually, the climb up Stratton wasn't nearly as bad as last year. I did the three miles in two hours, and last year it took a full three hours - plus we couldn't move the next day. Stratton is a compelling peak, one of the first big ones since early Virginia. It has drama. The trees are different, and the wind is fierce on the firetower, where one can look back to Mt. Greylock, MA, east to Mt. Monadnock, NH and north to Bromley Peak, my next mountain destination. It is here on Stratton the idea for the Long Trail was conceived, and also, it is said, the AT. I had hoped to speak with the long-time summit caretakers, the Joudrys, as they were so kind to us weary travelers last year. But their hut was locked up tight. Perhaps they were down in the flatlands resupplying.So I climbed the firetower for my 360 fix. So windy was it that I stopped to put on my raingear. But the force of the wind felt good, and I leaned into the chilly blow, enjoying the pressure.Then, down the 15-minute ridge trail to the Stratton ski resort's warming hut, which had a bathroom with soap, towels and TP, and a telephone. I took a luxurious spit bath clean up. Washed my face and hands with real soap, dried with towels. Simple pleasures.The gondolas, free to thruhikers, were closed on weekdays. Rats! Didn't get to ride them last year either. And there were cheeseburgers at the snack shop down below.The Stratton warming hut was filled with University of Vermont biology grad students, studying the rare Bicknell's thrush. One woman showed me a fresh nest, beautifully woven with horse hair fungus and moss. It looked like something out of The Lord of the Rings.Next, I use the telephone. I knew it was there from last year, and the students let me use it to collect my pocketmail and send my journal.Chores complete, I walk down in the now-cloudy afternoon to Stratton pond shelter, which is packed to the gills. I was lucky to get a bunk. I thought I might take a swim in the fine Stratton Pond (really, a lake) but the skies darken and outright poured down. A party of nine ducked in from the rain shortly after. Drenched, they took over the loft in the spacious shelter.AT Northbounders Nuke and Milo report that Miss Julie's Daycare in MA had posted hand-drawn, crayoned cards at Cheshire and Williamstown. The children have been following the journal online, and had especially liked the bear and rattlesnake incidents.I was stricken, sad to have missed this second round of art work. Then hiker Eric reported that Notes had actually taken some of the posters down before the rains came: he was bringing them forward for me to see. This is excellent news! Thanks, Notes!Thanks again, kids! I really appreciate your efforts, and look forward to getting my cards.My Long Trail partner Clyde had written me that his schoolteacher daughter had laughed at my description of how to perform the perfect snot rocket. She'd told him she could just picture the kids at Miss Julie's Daycare practicing to be future thru-hikers. Ha! Uhhhh, so sorry, Miss Julie...Finally, as promised, the coveted recipe for:Homemade Hiker's Halvah (Halvah a la Alli!):3/4 cup sesame tahini1/2 cup raw honey1/4 - 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract1/4 - 1/2 tsp. pure chocolate extract (could use vanilla instead)1/4 cup powdered milk (or 10 Tb powdered milk if not using whey and egg white powders)3 Tb. powdered whey (milk protein)3 Tb. egg white powder Note: amounts are approximate; what you want at the end is a reasonably dry, solid mass. Instructions: Mix together sesame tahini, honey and extracts until smooth. Gradually add powdered milk, whey and egg white powder. Mixture will become thick; mix well. You want to get it to point where can't be stirred and you have to mix/knead it with your hands; otherwise, the halvah will be too soft and gooey. Press finished mixture into a container or make a flat disk (1/2" high) on a plate. Cover with plastic wrap and chill. Then cut into whatever size you like. Pack in ziplock baggies for the trail and you have a high-calorie, high-protein, high-carb, high-(good)fat power snack! Yum! P.S. from Alli: "The following are the brands I use. They're expensive, but make a superior halvah:*Joyva Sesame Tahini (a must! available in cans; cheaper in bulk);*Dawes Hill Raw Tupelo Honey (Tupelo honey apparently has a different chemical structure than other honeys and has a less dramatic effect on blood sugar; apparently can be used -- in moderation -- by those who are diabetic and hypoglycemic. I have a friend who's severely hypoglycemic and it's the only honey he can tolerate);*Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract (a kick-ass vanilla extract!); *Flavorganics organic Pure Chocolate Extract (amazing!);*I get the whey and egg white powder in bulk at my local food coop; are also available packaged.