Date: 2014-07-10
From: Stratton-Arlington Road

To: Green Mountain House - Manchester, VT via VT 11/30
Miles today: 17.5

Definitely a different experience walking without Big Dawg - thank goodness for the trail community to not make it seem as lonely!Woke up early in the morning and could not go back to sleep so I woke up and sat with Big Dawg and the Swiss down at the table. Cheese made us scrambled eggs and cinnamon rolls while we provided the pre-cooked bacon for a very hearty hiker meal! Big Dawg and I went over the final details and then it was time for me to return to the trail and say farewell to Big Dawg - sad to be leaving him but it is important for him to rest up so he can come back strong! Used Leonard's Taxi to get back to Stratton-Arlington Road and then started my first day of hiking without Big Dawg.First several miles were full of thoughts about this new experience. Is it fair for me to keep going on the hike without him? Should I wait for him to get better and hike the full thing with him? I know it will drive me crazy if I have to stop short of the end but I need to weigh that against the main purpose of the trip: to hike the AT with my dad. I do not know what the correct answer is right now but I am sure my heart and head will tell me in the next few days.Climbing up Stratton Mountain was a little muddy at first but cleared up as I kept ascending. A pleasant surprise along the way - ran into several old friends! Reset, Kristo, and Shivers were climbing Stratton as well and were talking with an older gentleman walking south by the name of Whiskers - he had an epic beard! It was great to see old friends and Reset and Shivers wished Big Dawg well so he could get better and return. Always sad to hear a hiker getting off the trail because of injury and they agreed that losing a partner like a father would be tough!Looks like I found some people to hike with over the next several days - thank goodness the trail community has not left me with unknowns right after Big Dawg had to leave! Hiking with friends will at least make things somewhat normal - no one will replace Big Dawg but good friends will make for good times.After the mountaintop I did hike most of the day alone though. I did enjoy the solo hiking as well it gave me time to think and enjoy the environment. After climbing the fire tower (very windy at the top) and saying farewell Reset, Critter, Shivers, and Kristo I walked on my own to try and get back into town before Big Dawg caught the bus up to Rutland for the evening. Climbing down the backside of the mountain was great - the trail was pretty nice to walk on and for some reason not as muddy. Weird! Stopped at Stratton Pond for lunch - very peaceful place with a nice view of the pond. Had a quick lunch and while I was eating I met thru-hiker Samwise. His brother and father were hiking with him for a bit and they had brought a dog along as well - it was trying to eat my food though! Nice chatting with them but still I moved on to catch Big Dawg.Right after lunch I ran into some tough muddy trail - right around the pond the trail had flooded or washed out in some areas and it was really hard to keep out of the water. After that the trail was fairly muddy in some places but it eventually smoothed out and the trail picked up an old road for a mile or so.Before turning off the road I stopped at Prospect Rock to enjoy the views into Manchester and the valley below - I was not going to make it back in time for Big Dawg to catch the four pm bus so I said goodbye to him on the phone. My pace after that slowed down some since I did not need to be in as much of a hurry so the walking was nice. Ran into an older gentleman out doing a day hike before reaching VT 11 and VT 30 - since Stratton Mountain I hiked most of the day alone which was good for thinking!At the road I had a successful hitch with a local driving his Prius - he and his 12 year old daughter recently hiked a long section of trail in VT and she was averaging 12 to 15 miles a day with him - she is pretty good! He dropped me off near town and I picked up a few supplies at the Price Chopper.Back to Green Mountain House for the night - it is still a great place to stay. Several LT hikers were at the hostel including Steady - she is a Triple Crowner who is doing the LT since she did not cover all of it when she thru-hiked the AT in 2011. Also met Iron Chef and Easy Rider who are around my age and pretty cool guys. Jeff said Big Dawg was pretty bummed about having to get off the trail (of course!) but he also said Big Dawg was very positive about recovering and getting back at it - keep the positive attitude Dad! Preparing for another day - rolling out to bed.