July 28 Mile 549.7 Stratton Pond tentsite
It rained all night last night and I was ok with that. I had a feeling the sun was going to come out so I packed up and set off down the trail around 7am. These late starts. For a reason, lately. I only had 1.8 miles to hike downhill to the highway and I didn’t want to get there too early and not get a ride. Andy from the market gave me a ride to the laundry mat, which is next door to Mrs. Murphy’s donuts. I bought two fruit filled donuts for $2 and decided to pack them out. As I write this they are gone. I’m not a big donut fan but oh my, those were amazing. Just heavenly.
The ladies at the laundry mat gave me some loaner clothes (Bernie tee) and once my clothes were in the washer I plugged in my external battery to charge and walked over to Price Chopper for food resupply.
After I got back to the laundry mat I took my tent and pack outside to a sunny spot to dry. I organized my food and once my clothes were done, all my things were dry so I packed up and got a ride back to the trail from Larry, a self described ski bum and trail enthusiast.
What I’ve described I refer to as hiker chores. Laundry mats have become a kind of hub for my chore activities. I can do laundry, sort my stuff, charge my devices, clean up myself, clean out my pack. It’s not really very relaxing but it is necessary. I was back in trail by 11am which made me very happy. Town stops are necessary but I like to keep to my chores and get out as soon as possible unless I am going to take a nearo (nearly a zero) or a zero (zero miles hiked).
So here I am in my tent, happy for having met my goal for the day. The weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow, which is good since I’ll be climbing Mt. Stratton.
A Tent in the Whirl of the Universe 