Pre-Pines Backpacking in Vermont

Dr. dEEplacEEbOO!  I am happy to report that I survived the wilderness!  All two days of it ;-)  Looking forward to returning to the area.  Really beautiful.

Hi Leah!

Sometimes when I backpack alone, I feel lonely, especially at night when it's dark and the chipmunks are doing their best impersonations of large, scary wild animals.  But this trip, I chatted with you in my head much of the time.  Or drafted blog posts for you to read, most of which I've now forgotten.  So maybe I'm a tad crazy (well, we knew that already), but it was nice having you along for the ride.




I hiked in on an easy trail, and was very grateful for this informative and fabulously illustrated map.  I really wanted to turn right at the lake to get to the camping area, but said to myself, Julie, listen to those who know!  Others who have been here before say the trial to the east of the pond is flooded, so don't go there.  So I turned left and was glad I did.  Beavers are wrecking havoc in the area and many paths are underwater.

Since you're not a backpacker, I took these pictures to impress you ;-)  Before and after.







After setting up camp, I hiked up Stratton Mountain.  This was the birthplace for the idea of the Appalachian trail!  The fire tower was quite high, as you might expect, and breezy, and I was very glad for the handrails.  Great views.



There were two caretakers (husband wife?) who spend the summer in this tiny one room building up there on the mountain.  They were very friendly and I talked with them about beavers and backpacking and Vermont for a while.  But I was itching to go swimming in the pond so said my good-byes and scurried down the mountain side.  There are three tenting spots available where I was, and I was happy to see no one else had joined the area so I could go swimming au natural.  The water was perfect and the caretakers told me there were no leeches.  Even better!

This morning was gray and I was feeling lazy.  Slept in.  Had some breakfast (ramen noodles - yummy!) and tea.  I'm reading this funny (e)book I got from the library.  It was written as two books in the 1940s by a Swede, and then translated and combined into one book for English markets in the 1950s.  It's called The Long Ships.  Great tale of a viking adventurer.  But the introduction is by a modern author, Michael Chabon.  Loved the intro, which you can read here. 

I finally decide to get up in earnest, so I hiked over to Bourne Pond, which is in the Lye Brook Wilderness area.  You might be thinking I was already in the wilderness. You would be wrong!  The Appalachian Trail and Vermont Long Trail are heavily used and well marked.  While they're in the woods, and tough trails, they are established trails.  When I got on the Lye Brook trail, I encountered two different signs warning me that I was entering a wilderness area.  Look out!

Basically, this means that there aren't bridges to get over streams and rivers (as are provided on the AT and LT), downed trees and branches aren't cleared from the trail (as they are on other trails), and the path isn't blazed as frequently (the trees aren't marked with a rectangle of blue paint very often).  In short, it's much more natural and a bit more work to hike.  They strongly suggest you carry a compass (oops!  left it at camp), a detailed map (really?), carry extra food (does a pb&j count?), and a whistle (oops!  left it at camp).  Feeling wholly prepared, I set out.

Perhaps not quite large enough to provide the level of detail recommended.

The initial stream crossing was challenging, but fun, and after that, just some downed trees to climb over or under.  I thought they were harmless, but I discovered their nefarious plan too late.

Bourne Pond was beautiful! Took a nice swim, had my lunch, relaxed in the sun, and rued my approaching deadline to hike out.

When my mom and I went to Norway, I bought this little viking.  He's my travel buddy.  I got the idea from my brother who carries a small stuffed animal on his hiking adventures.  So when I go a-viking, i.e. traveling and adventuring (without the looting, plundering, and raping, of course), I bring him with me.

Surveying the plundering prospects.

Well, during one of my trips over or under a fallen tree, he fell from my pocket!  Perhaps my lifestyle isn't sufficiently exciting for his predilections and he escaped.  But I think the trees wanted a hostage.  That they now have.  I left a note in the Stratton Pond shelter log book.  Maybe someone will find it and contact me.  I can hope. 

APB : Have you seen this viking?

So sad.  I hope The Fates will bless me with his return.  But it was a great little jaunt, even if he had to be sacrificed.

Wildlife viewings:  crazy chipmunks, heard a few loons, swam with two at Bourne Pond, frogs, toads, four snakes, lots o' birds, many tadpoles.  Saw fresh evidence of moose (why is the plural not meese?) and bear.

Final view of Stratton Pond with Stratton Mountain in the distance.