Day 120: Stratton Peak

Day: 120 Miles: 18.3 Trip: 1645.0 Started: Kid Gore Shelter Destination: Spruce Peak Shelter

Stratton peak looking south

Last night was finally a good night for sleeping.  The temperatures last night got down to about 50.  This morning I got up early and planned a pretty decent days hiking.  The big highlight today was Stratton Mt.  I have skied at Stratton and it was interesting to see the terrain in the summer.  Stratton peak is not exactly the top of the ski resort, and from the observation tower at the peak I could see the ski lifts.  I was tempted to take a side trail to the resort but the thought of putting in any unneeded miles quickly faded from my mind.  I got up to the peak at about 1pm and it was totally fogged in.  Needing a break, I climbed to the top of the fire tower there and had lunch.  Luckily after about 10 minutes up in the tower the lower cloud cover broke and I was able to at least see some of the view.  I still had about 10 miles to go for the day and rain was slowly moving in.  The rain luckily did not last long at all and I made it down to the shelter by about 7pm.  All and all a pretty good day of hiking.  Even though Stratton was about a 2000' foot climb, I felt great and hope this is a good sign for the higher mountains to come.