issues with GNS3 or top;ology?

I am having weird issues with GNS3 topology or maybe config issue. The below image shows my topology.
Whenever I turn all the devices ON, I can ping 15.15.15.15 from any host for ex from host 10.153.1.19 far left. At first, traceroute indicates that the route goes to  10.153.1.1 which is right and then to 10.10.10.10 but as you can see, after few traceroutes, it goes to 10.153.1.1. then 10.153.0.3 (0.3 is the SW2 VLAN svi 5.) Why it is hitting that switch at all? It's an HSRP switch. I have SVI configured for each vlan on the 2ND switch. I have vlans configured with virtual IP machine both sides. I have no idea why it hits the 2nd switch. If I drop the 2nd switch, I can no longer ping 15.15.15.15 which is wrong since it shouldn't need the 2nd switch at all to get to 15.15.15.15.

The second issue I had before I found the above more concerning  was that when both switches SW1 and SW2 are on, I can obviously ping across all VLANS but when I shut off SW1, I can STILL ping all vlans except, when I do "clear arp-cash" on the host, I can no longer ping any vlan.

I am guessing this all makes no sense and it might very well be a gns issue. This will be topology I will be implementing into a real network scenario.


HOST (PC1)

PC1#traceroute 15.15.15.15

Type escape sequence to abort.
Tracing the route to 15.15.15.15

  1 10.153.1.1 24 msec 8 msec 12 msec
  2 10.10.10.10 40 msec 108 msec 24 msec
PC1#traceroute 15.15.15.15

Type escape sequence to abort.
Tracing the route to 15.15.15.15

  1 10.153.1.1 12 msec 20 msec 4 msec
  2 10.10.10.10 16 msec 20 msec 16 msec
PC1#traceroute 15.15.15.15

Type escape sequence to abort.
Tracing the route to 15.15.15.15

  1 10.153.1.1 44 msec 12 msec 52 msec
  2 10.153.0.3 44 msec
    10.10.10.10 68 msec
    10.153.0.3 56 msec
PC1#traceroute 15.15.15.15

Type escape sequence to abort.
Tracing the route to 15.15.15.15

  1 10.153.1.1 12 msec 8 msec 28 msec
  2 10.153.0.3 24 msec 40 msec 68 msec
  3 10.153.0.3 !H
    10.10.10.10 24 msec 60 msec
PC1#cle
PC1#clear ar
PC1#clear arp-cache
PC1#traceroute 15.15.15.15

Type escape sequence to abort.
Tracing the route to 15.15.15.15

  1 10.153.1.1 1040 msec 8 msec 20 msec
  2 10.153.0.3 24 msec 40 msec
    10.10.10.10 24 msec
PC1#traceroute 15.15.15.15

Type escape sequence to abort.
Tracing the route to 15.15.15.15

  1 10.153.1.1 28 msec 12 msec 8 msec
  2 10.153.0.3 40 msec
    10.10.10.10 24 msec
    10.153.0.3 32 msec

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SWITCH 1
links f1/8 between the two core's are my hsrp links

CORE#show standby br
                     P indicates configured to preempt.
                     |
Interface   Grp Prio P State    Active          Standby         Virtual IP
Vl1         15  150  P Active   local           192.168.100.15  192.168.100.5
Vl5         15  150  P Active   local           10.153.0.3      10.153.0.5
Vl6         15  150  P Active   local           10.153.6.3      10.153.6.5
Vl8         15  150  P Active   local           10.153.1.3      10.153.1.5
Vl9         15  150  P Active   local           10.153.2.3      10.153.2.5
Vl10        15  150  P Active   local           10.153.3.3      10.153.3.5
Vl12        15  150  P Active   local           10.153.12.3     10.153.12.5

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CORE#show ip int br | ex un
Interface                  IP-Address      OK? Method Status                Protocol
Vlan1                      192.168.100.1   YES NVRAM  up                    up
Vlan5                      10.153.0.1      YES NVRAM  up                    up
Vlan6                      10.153.6.1      YES NVRAM  up                    up
Vlan8                      10.153.1.1      YES NVRAM  up                    up
Vlan9                      10.153.2.1      YES NVRAM  up                    up
Vlan10                     10.153.3.1      YES NVRAM  up                    up
Vlan12                     10.153.12.1     YES NVRAM  up                    up

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CORE#show run | i route
ip route 15.15.15.0 255.255.255.0 10.153.0.2

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SWITCH 2

GIG_SW#show standby br
                     P indicates configured to preempt.
                     |
Interface   Grp Prio P State    Active          Standby         Virtual IP
Vl1         15  100    Standby  192.168.100.1   local           192.168.100.5
Vl5         15  100    Standby  10.153.0.1      local           10.153.0.5
Vl6         15  100    Standby  10.153.6.1      local           10.153.6.5
Vl8         15  100    Standby  10.153.1.1      local           10.153.1.5
Vl9         15  100    Standby  10.153.2.1      local           10.153.2.5
Vl10        15  100    Standby  10.153.3.1      local           10.153.3.5
Vl12        15  100    Standby  10.153.12.1     local           10.153.12.5

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GIG_SW#show ip int br | ex un
Interface                  IP-Address      OK? Method Status                Protocol
Vlan1                      192.168.100.15  YES NVRAM  up                    up
Vlan5                      10.153.0.3      YES NVRAM  up                    up
Vlan6                      10.153.6.3      YES NVRAM  up                    up
Vlan8                      10.153.1.3      YES NVRAM  up                    up
Vlan9                      10.153.2.3      YES NVRAM  up                    up
Vlan10                     10.153.3.3      YES NVRAM  up                    up
Vlan12                     10.153.12.3     YES NVRAM  up                    up

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GIG_SW#show run | i route
ip route 15.15.15.0 255.255.255.0 10.153.6.2

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topology.jpg