Good night sleep at the hostel.

Phoenix made us some great omelets using food left by hikers in the fridge. Then, Jeff (owner of the Green Mtn Hostel) brought use to the trail a little after eight and we were on our way.

Beautiful weather with several stops at over looks of the valley near Manchester Center, mid morning stop at Long Pond and a long lunch at Stratton Pond. There is not a lot of camping/walking near lakes on the LT, so today we really enjoyed it.  With the good weather, it was great to bask in the sun in front of a couple beautiful lakes. We met a many hikers on the trail and at rest spots.  There were a lot of people at Stratton Pond.  Lots of college age guys that had come in to fish and hang out.

Just before Stratton Pond we came across a large group of folks that we assume were Amish…actually two groups.  There was about 10 women walking with one man, and then another group of 10 or so men.  They were not dressed as typical hikers, but were in street clothes and well kept.  We noticed that the women did not look us in the eye.

For the first time on the trail, there were a good number of black flies out while we walked. Camped away from a shelter up on the ridge tonight, in an effort to have a little more breeze and less black flies – this was largely successful.