Fortunately after the shelter the trail went over a small series of little hills that weren’t too tricky, before starting a steep descent toward Clarendon Gorge. We considered staying at the shelter, but it was only 3 pm, so we decided to push a little further. Finally we started descending and after a while we pulled into the Minerva Hinchley shelter for a break and to rest our legs. This climb felt long and arduous after having already made a similar climb up the previous hill, and we slowly made our way up the trail with many pauses to catch our breath. Anyway, after we made our way to Stratton Pond, we continued down the trail, which stayed pretty flat although rocky.Īfter making our way out of the thick pine forests we descended almost 1500 feet and crossed a parking lot before starting to climb all the way back up to our previous height on the next hill. Feel free to save any convents about the validity of my hike.
I’m no purist, so missing a handful of AT miles when I think there’s a better trail option doesn’t bother me, and I like the option to choose my own adventure via alternate trails every once in a while. Sometimes when a side trail offers a cool waterfall, views, or slightly easier terrain on a tough day, I’ll choose the blue blaze over the AT.
Honestly, this wasn’t the first time I’ve blue blazed on trail. Manchester Center was over 25 miles away from the shelter where we started the day, which we knew would be too far for us to go in one day (especially with a hiker not used to pulling big mileage days), so we decided to take the Stratton pond trail to blue blaze around Stratton Mountain and cut off a couple miles between us and town.
The morning was full of small ups and downs, and it was good to get moving in the chilly wind. Ben was feeling the same way, and the forecast for the next night was even colder temperatures, so we set our sights on a hotel room in Manchester Center. In combination with the loud wind this meant that I didn’t get a ton of sleep, and woke up in the morning feeling cold and tired. During the night the temperature dropped into the 40’s and a light rain started falling.