• Date : Sunday, July 10, 2016
• Hikes : Stratton to Stratton
• Mileage : Zero
• Elevation Loss and Gain : Zero

We decided to zero in Stratton even though it was out of budget. (Note that in hiker lingo, “zeroing” or “taking a zero” means to walk zero miles on the trail on a given day.) Our gear was wet and taking the time to dry it seemed mighty nice. Alex hung up some lines in our private room and it dried all night.

The prospect of climbing more rocky mountains in the rain seemed daunting as well. When I walked into the hiker hostel common room, there were about 15 hikers crammed around a single TV, glued to some soap opera. They must have had the same idea as us : no more slippery rocks and high-mountain ridges during thunder storms.

For breakfast we walked to the small town gas station. They have a café attached which seems to make awesome pizzas. I had wanted to order the breakfast pizza, but Alex was horrified at the prospect. Utterly disgusted. A European does not understand cream sauce, eggs, cheese, sausage and bacon on a pizza for breakfast. We ordered english muffin sandwiches instead. Lenny and Turtle had ordered the breakfast pizza, and I could tell that Alex’s mouth was watering when it arrived. After Alex’s order of six english muffins in Millinocket and now with him denying me the beautiful breakfast pizza, I have decided that I will always order the breakfast for both of us. I am American, I know what is good. He agrees.

The laundromat was just across the street from the gas station, so we hopped over there to finish up laundry. Alex read a magazine article about the best Maine small towns to live in, and I wrote my blog. After we finished laundry, I headed over to the grocery store to pick up some things we had forgotten. Later, I fixed Beast a cheap, super fatty breakfast to fatten him up : rice, tons of Beef Suet and 8 chicken hot dogs. When I presented it to him he looked at me as to ask, “Is this really for me?”