I was going to do this section southbound, but with rainy weather in the forecast I decided to go north. The best view today would be on Stratton Mountain. I wanted to try to reach the summit before the clouds rolled in. Lynn and I met a thru hiker named Blue Yonder at the trailhead. We gave her an apple to help her on her way.
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Lynn walked with me for a few minutes before heading back. I hiked non-stop up the mountain, trying to catch up with Blue Yonder, who was apparently moving at quite a pace. About halfway up the mountain I saw a moose on the trail. Being from Maine, seeing a moose isn't uncommon, but seeing one on the trail is. (You are more apt to see moose on the side of the road when you are passing in your car.) In fact, with all the moose I've seen, I had only seen one on a trail in the Whites. This was the first one that I got to see right on the Appalachian Trail. There was no way I had time to get a picture of him. I was more concerned about getting Madison on her leash before she took off after him. About 15 minutes later, my luck struck again with a second one. At first I reasoned that it must be the same one, but I talked with several hikers who stated there were a lot of moose on the mountain.
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Wild flowers near the summit
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Then I reached the tower on the summit.
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I met a very nice thru hiker named Spoon. (He makes wooden spoons.) He is from New Zealand and is thru hiking the AT for the second time. The first time he went north so this time he is going south. He said he looked on the globe, and by going south it would be all downhill.
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Spoon took a picture of Madison and me on the 3,936' summit.
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As a bonus today, I not only get to check off another completed AT section, but I also get to check off Stratton Mountain which is on the New England 100 highest list. Stratton Mountain has a uniques history in hiking paths. It was on this mountain in 1909 that James Taylor conceived the idea of the Long Trail running from the MA/VT border up to Canada. After the construction of the Long Trail began, Benton MacKaye was here in 1921 and expanded the vision into the Appalachian Trail running all the way down to Georgia.
The stairs on the tower only had treads. They had no backing (risers). There was no way Madison would have gone up these so I tied her to a sign and climbed up the tower.
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There is no natural view from the wooded summit, but if you climb the tower you will get a 360° view. The weather wasn't as nice as the last two days, but I got my view in before the rain. My camera broke yesterday so I am using my backup camera. It's tough going from 6 megapixels with an optical zoom back to a 2 megapixel camera with just a digital zoom.
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The top of the tower was glassed in with labels on the windows identifying the peaks. I could see down to Stratton Pond, my next objective for the day.
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Back on the trail
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I finally caught up to Blue Yonder who had stopped to talk to some hikers. Then I saw my sobo friend Thorny coming from the other direction. It was the 3rd day in a row that our paths crossed. I expected to see Quasi and Surge today, but surprisingly didn't see them.
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Stratton Pond.
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As I sat and enjoyed a snack at the pond. Blue Yonder caught up to me. She paused for about 2 seconds at the pond and continued on. Then a Long Trail hiker came through. He commented on Madison's doggie backpack.
"How do you know when she is getting tired?" he asked.
"I don't know. That hasn't happened yet." I replied.
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Two other thru hikers that I had just passed joined me at the pond. There names are Charles and Nancy. This is their 3rd thru hike attempt. Their first attempt they made it 1300 miles. Their second attempt they made in from Georgia to New Hampshire. I think their gonna' do it this time.
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I began to hike around the pond when I came to this sign. I obviously didn't take enough time here. See the blue diamond to the right of the sign. I assumed that must be a cross country ski trail and went to the left totally ignoring the bottom sign which stated the Long Trail (which is also the Appalachian Trail) went to the right.
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We went over a bridge where something got Madison's attention.
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The trail continued to follow the pond. I knew I wasn't supposed to follow the pond this long. I looked up and saw a blue blaze. Uh, oh! I headed back and realized my mistake. I only lost about 10 minutes.
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Entering another wilderness area
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There were a lot of bridges today.
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The trail dumped me out on to a dirt road.
The trail is poorly marked here (at least going north). I walked a long way without seeing a blaze. I really thought I must have missed the turn. I check my map and GPS. Both confirmed I was on the right course. I finally saw some hikers ahead. It was Blue Yonder and another hiker. They had missed the turn and gone another 10 minutes down the road. I was glad they were there. I already took one wrong turn today and didn't want to take another one.
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I had seen a couple signs for Prospect Rock, but I never saw it. It must have been on a spur trail. The rain I was expecting had started so I wouldn't have had a view any way. I hiked the next two miles or so in the rain. Spruce Peak Shelter was a little off the trail, but I wanted to get out of the rain so I made the trip.
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The shelter was very nice. Most of the shelters are just a lean-tos. This had a small porch area, a table on the inside as well as a wood stove. There were a couple people at the shelter already. One by one the thru hikers that I had seen earlier made their way to the shelter.
"Did anyone else have trouble following the trail back at the dirt road?" I asked.
Boy, did that open a can of worms. I certainly wasn't the only one who had trouble. Everyone had something to say about that.
It was fun to see activity at a shelter for a change. It was getting late in the afternoon and most were calling it quits for the day. I usually blow through the shelters when no one is around. This one was full of activity as hikers were getting their bunks ready, starting their portable stoves, and laying out wet clothes to dry. They were disappointed to find out that Madison wasn't staying. Dogs are apparently big hits at shelters since they help keep mice and other critters away. Some of the hikers were a little envious that I would be spending the night at a motel, but I was a little envious of their cozy spot in the middle of the woods. The rain had almost stopped so Maddie and I headed off.
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At Spruce Peak I took a short spur trail and tried to peak through the clouds into the valley.
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I got back on the AT and passed this rock. I thought it was amazingly square for a natural rock. It didn't have signs of ever being cut.
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I continued on my way, meeting Lynn a little ahead of schedule. The rain definitely motivated me to finish quicker.
