10:31. This is Just How the Trail Is!!!
Hawkeye was up and gone early the next morning from Kid Gore Shelter. It’s the advantage that he has from arriving early at these campsites. I’m finding that I have very little downtime in the evening once I get supper cooked. As a matter of fact once I crawl into my tent it’s a chore to even pick up my phone to attempt to write a story. The next five days the Verizon signal was highly intermittent if it existed at all. Other than it was impossible to make phone calls I can’t say I was disappointed that there was not enough signal to write. As a result as I write this I am 7 days behind.
I managed to get the tent down without falling off of the side of the mountain and stumbled out of camp at 07:50. By that time only Gravy Train was still in camp. Or so I thought. I made my way up the rock slide after making a cup of coffee in order to sit at the picnic table to drink it. Someone had left camp gear littered all over the table . I sat down and began to move some of the stuff out of the way when it moved. I jumped out of my skin…….someone was sleeping on the table. Gravy Train got a kick out of that and we ended up in conversation about the unexpected moments we encounter on this trail….. thus the late start. When I did begin I found myself on this kind of trail above.
10:46. A Real Live Leach
Not only that when I began to wash out my cook gear and removed the lid I found several leeches clinging to the side of my pot. That brought back memories of long ago… Memories I didn’t really need to bring up again.
10:58. It’s just too Dang Pretty
This would prove to be a quiet and long day. I was by myself the entire day and in need of finishing many miles.
15:45. The Fire Tower from Stratton
Although more than tired when I reached the fire tower and Stratton Mountain I we t ahead and climbed it.
Slow and Steady. (Sass)
The newest member of our Hiking tramily is Sass. She was an emergency room nurse who was working in Charleston South Carolina. She is now a hospice nurse working as a travel nurse.
The arrival at Lake Stratton was a welcomed moment. Just about everyone there was in swimming when I got there.
The talk of the day was about the hiking naked couple that we had all run into…..
…. I was just off the trail relieving myself when I heard a man and woman hiking SOBO and approaching me quickly. I scrambled to finish and get my pants done up. It would not do to have someone see me disrobed out here. I managed to get zipped up just in time and whirled around facing NOBO when they turned into view. The whirl set off Vert T. Go. It didn’t matter if I hadn’t made it with the zipper because right there in front of me was a woman wearing a backpack….. and….,,hiking boots…… and…….well …….nothing else. All I could think was “Look her in the eyes!” Behind her was her male companion wearing the same outfit. When she reached me she said, “Hello, how are you today?” I was spinning from the whirl but all I could think of to say was “I’m a little wobbly.”
That seemed rather a stupid thing to say especially after viewing her male companion wobbling untethered on his hike. I hiked on thinking I saw him way too long. I remember her eyes well ….. later I still wasn’t sure if I saw what I thought I saw. The others saw it. Confirmation was in place. They were missing their clothing….. something that’s evidently legal in Vermont! So I hiked on……glad that I hadn’t been spotted….. glad that my clothes were on….. glad that my support system was in place and functioning just fine.
Wanderings With Wayne 
You weren’t supposed to see me and my cohart naked😱🤣🤣
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I think pics & trail names of the naked hikers need to be posted to be be consistent with your interaction with clothed hikers i.e. “Here is a pic of Wobbles and Grand Tetons that I met on the trail.”
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