Parking at the Kelley Stand Trailhead on Stratton-Arlington Rd to Stratton Pond and back ~ 10 miles

For today’s adventure, Todd had selected our route. We took the AT / LT to the IP Road back to the AT / LT to Stratton Pond. We then took the Stratton Pond Trail to the Winhall Brook Trail (Catamount) back to Stratton-Arlington Rd.

This was another easy hike, I can’t be sure but I believe Todd cut out any significant inclines, because we only had gentle ones. Unfortunately it had rained the night before which meant the trail was wet and mucky and toward the end even flooded!

The trail consisted of grass, dirt, rocks, and puncheon planks and one small bridge. It is a very pretty hike and of course to my delight had a ton of cool mushrooms. We also saw princess pines, treenises (shining clubmoss), quartz rocks, and moss.

On the way to the pond on the IP Road we saw two piles of “relatively fresh” moose poop. This was exciting! It is the closest I have come to seeing a moose in the wild. I am okay with that for two reasons: safety, and not having to say a stupid phrase which I promised Dana I would say if and when I ever see a wild moose. We also passed a cool beaver pond and I can’t be certain but I may have found a venus flytrap.

Stratton Pond was beautiful. We saw salamanders and loons swimming in the water and sat down long enough for Todd to brew us fresh coffee and eat some snacks. We got to meet some of the trail caretakers which is always great because you get to thank them for their work in person!

As I mentioned earlier the trail was wet and muddy, which also meant it was slippery. All of our boots were covered in mud. I discovered another reason to be grateful for my yoga practice. Doing cat / cows keeps my back limber enough that when I slipped on the wet puncheon and arched my back backwards I did not get hurt or even a pulled muscle.

The Catamount was flooded and even with some trailblazing up in the woods, we all soaked our boots. At this point we actually were actually grateful to be able to rinse some of the mud off.

Overall it was a beautiful day and a very pretty hike.

Adventurers included: Jes, Dana, Bryan, Todd & Dogo