Agile Trekker: VT Appalachian Trail - Section 7 - Stratton Pond Tent Site to Stratton Arlington Road

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
05/28/2018	7+ miles

Map: New Hampshire-Vermont Appalachian Trail Guide
Parking: VT 11/30. We got a shuttle to Stratton Arlington Road.
Directions: Hike northbound

We had originally planned a 3 day backpack, but decided the plan for the 3rd day would be too much for us. 16 miles is pretty much our max for a day hike, and we had planned a 15.5 mile hike for our 3rd day backpacking. We aren't fast hikers, and we are even slower backpacking. So, we changed our shuttle plans, and decided to do a 2 day backpack instead. We got a shuttle from Silvia from VT 11/30 to Stratton Arlington Road, I think also called Kelly Stand Road.

We first hiked up to Stratton Mountain. It was a lovely hike - it's the kind of hike I picture when I think about hiking in Vermont. Lots of ferns, moss, and moose poop. Silvia knew the summit stewards for Stratton Mountain - we didn't see them when we were up at the summit though. We took a rest at the summit, and I climbed partway up the fire tower, but it was still foggy, so I had no views. I kept hoping if we waited long enough the sun would pop out and we'd get a view. We continued on hiking down the mountain. We decided to check out the shelter near Stratton Pond. We finished pretty early and there was no one there yet. It was a huge shelter which holds around 16 people! We continued on towards Stratton Pond, because we read that the tenting area was near the pond, and we prefer to tent than stay in a shelter (we've actually never stayed at a shelter). We reached the pond and saw a tent pad right where the AT reached the pond. It was a great site, but we had read that the tenting area was actually .6 miles around the pond. So we turned left at the pond and followed a side trail that was desperately in need of trail maintenance. I think there is a trail maintenance trip scheduled for this area this summer. We found the tent sites on the other side of the pond. The tent pads had been removed. The sites didn't have a good view of the pond, and they were incredibly buggy (as was the really nice tent pad actually). It did have the benefit of having a privy, while there wasn't one near the tent pad we past. We decided to go back to the original tent pad site.

We found out later that the tent pad is normally used by the shelter caretaker, who wasn't there that day - maybe too early in the season? We grabbed the site. It was right by the water, and a little beach area. The view was beautiful. We got to see hikers who were staying at the shelter (around a quarter of a mile away) gradually stop by to either filter water at a nearby stream, or take a dip in the lake. The bugs were awful. I couldn't imaging how people could sleep in a shelter without bug protection, but I heard they started a fire to help keep the bugs away. I spent time outside the tent, but Glen basically hung out in the tent as soon as we set it up. He spent his time killing black flies inside the tent every time I went in or out. You aren't supposed to eat in your tent, but he did. He was not having a fun time. I found a good tree to hang our bear bag on. He hung it for us. Later on, I found out that he still had hydrocortisone in his pocket (we were using it for the multitude of black fly bites we got). I told him it had to go up in the bear bag, but he refused, not wanting to leave the tent (due to bugs I guess). I went out and tried to bring the bear bag down, but couldn't - again, because he hangs it, I think it ends up being too high for me to bring down - so frustrating. So, we slept with hydrocortisone in the tent - which freaked me out, as I don't know if bears would be attracted to it.

I got to watch a beautiful sunset - I left the tent to see it, though you could actually see it from inside the tent. As can be expected, I slept horribly! I was nervous about bears since Glen had eaten in the tent, and we also had hydrocortisone in the tent. There were so many animal sounds at night! We heard a frickin moose! It was a bellowing sound. Holy cow! We also heard another sound which we were guessing was coyotes?? It happened a lot throughout the night whatever it was. I really wish we were with someone familiar with animal sounds who could ID the animals for us. It was fascinating and frightening to me all at the same time. I heard an owl for around 20 minutes really close to us. So, so many animal sounds. I guess many animals come to the lake after it gets dark. I did get some sleep, but mostly I didn't sleep. Glen seems to manage to sleep really well when backpacking. Me not so much. Lucky guy! In the morning, we heard hikers walking by our shelter before we got up. Thru hikers start so early. I do tend to wake up with the sun, but I find it hard to get out of my sleeping bag.