Category: #VTandMA

Blazer and I woke up at about the same time. I ate some goldfish and tortillas, drank some water, and headed out. 16 miles to Hanover. 
It had been a warm night and it didn’t show signs of letting up any time soon. There wasn’t much water between me and Linda the Trail Angel’s house, either. I stood in a meadow and asked for wind. It came.

I soon made it to her house. I knew I was there when I heard shouts of “HIKER! OVER HERE!! SODAS AND PIZZA!!!” I smiled and waved and headed over. Two hikers greeted me and I sat down and ate and chatted for a while.

After I’d  had my fill and filled up my water bottles at her hose, I headed out.
The heat was relentless, though. My skin was fire. After barely any time, I made it to a brook and stripped down. The water was shallow but I managed to submerge myself, gasping as the cold water went over my head and neck. I left an oily sheen of sweat and dirt on top of the water as I washed away two days of hiking. And icy hot, I guess.

I rinsed out my shirt and shorts and let them dry in the sun while I sat on my pad, enjoying the quick break. Only 8 more miles to town.
Those 8 miles were hot, but beautiful. Part of the walk was through Norwich, VT.

And eventually I made it to Hanover. I wandered through town until I found a hiker (someone dirty with a backpack), then walked up and said, “hey, you going all the way?” He said yes, and that’s how I met Honeybuns. We walked down together to a pizza place that gives out a free slice of pizza to thru-hikers, and I met up with the hikers from the trail angel’s house there too (wok man and the count) as well as brother and sister and sweet feet and macgruber. We ate and laughed became fast friends, the way hikers do.
We went over to the Dartmouth Outdoor Club to charge electronics and empty food bags for a few minutes, and then Honeybuns and I went to explore. We ended up at a Chi Eta fraternity house, and were invited downstairs to observe the final round of the interfraternal beer pong tournament. It was as hot as a blast furnace in the basement, and we weren’t even the grossest people down there, or the smelliest.

We chatted with some students for a few minutes, then decided to hitch a ride down to the river to swim. The British fraternity told us there was a dock we could swim off of.
We picked up a hitch quickly– a guy turned around and offered us blueberries as he drove us down the rode to the river. He told us the dock was only for Dartmouth students, but if we followed a path, we would end up at river access. We thanked him and went into the woods.
Eventually we did end up at the river, and we jumped in, enjoying the cool water as the sun started setting.
We got dressed and tried to hitch back in to town, but had no luck. We walked back, and went to get gelato. Earlier in the day we’d been to the grocery store and a woman had stopped her car to hand us coupons for free gelato– couldn’t let those go to waste! After a cup of dark chocolate, we met up with the rest of the group at an Irish pub. We had nachos and fries and I got bored and asked a group of summer students to do cartwheels on the sidewalk for me. Wouldn’t you know it, they did?

Honeybuns and I walked around town some more, and discovered the visual arts center was unlocked. We enjoyed the exhibits and the air conditioning and the bathrooms. We walked back into the tent site, beyond the athletic field in the woods, and set up tents in less than desirable locations. That’s what we get for being lazy and letting everyone else get the good spots.

We watched shooting stars and traded trail stories, but eventually it was time for bed.
Miles: 16

Trip total: 126.5

MVP: leftover pizza that really got me through the rest of the day. That was clutch.

LVP: lack of water

It was a hot day. It was a hot night. I slept well with the boys and an old man named Golden and the SOBO Grandpa cowboy camping out past the shelter. And in the morning, we got up and joked around and ate, then trickled out of the shelter and down the trail.
The boys were aiming for a 26 mile day, but I wasn’t so sure.

I started off climbing down a ladder (at least it wasn’t a rock scramble!!).
And as the day warmed up, so did I. I was hot and sweaty and happy.

I took the side trail to the lookout, a private cabin that’s open for hikers to stay in. I climbed up on the roof to take a look around.

And then I climbed back down.

I sat and chatted with Tarzan and ate some lunch. We talked weather and, hearing that there might be rain tonight, I thought maybe I didn’t want to do 26 miles to tent in a lady’s yard. Maybe I’d go for a shelter instead.
I explained my feelings to this sympathetic bird.

I fell more in love with Vermont.

And then there was trail magic! Red hot was NOBO last year, and he and his family had a hiker feed. Tarzan and Sunny were there, and I enjoyed a red snapper and a regular hot dog. And cookies. And a coke. And some water. And then hiked out.

The day didn’t get easier though. The uphills were sucking it out of me. I stopped at a creek for a quick cool down. The blue bandana on my wrist is for…well, really anything. Wiping my nose in the cold, wiping sweat in the hot, and taking off to use as a wash rag in a creek. So I did that whenever I could to try and cool down, but I was still just zapped.

I was zapped, but the trail was beautiful.

I passed a section hiker doing a survey and handing out snickers. I wolfed that puppy down.

And then down I went, to Cloudland road. There were two shelter possibilities today: Cloudland shelter, which is no longer an AT shelter and is on private land but is open to AT hikers, or thistle hill. Thistle hill was a mile further and up another hill, and so when I ran into a section hiker named Blazer at Cloudland road and told him my plan to go to Cloudland, and he said he might join me, well, that was good news. I wasn’t *really* relishing a night alone.

The other good news was that there was Magic Water (uh, jugs of water) at the road; Cloudland was dry, so we filled up and headed out.
After a bit of a trek, we made it to the empty shelter off trail. Clean, empty, and lonely.
I ate mashed potatoes, tortilla, goldfish, and sour patch kids. And now I’m ready for bed. Happy, full, and ready for Hanover tomorrow.

Miles: 20.3

Trip total: 110.5

MVP: mashed potatoes. No, hot dog.

LVP: heat

I got up and just started hiking. I didn’t even brush my teeth. Sorry mom.
I got down to Route 4 and tried to hitch, but the bus came before I got a ride. Well, I guess I hitched the bus.

I went up to the Yellow Deli. The Yellow Deli is a deli and also a donation-only hostel. It’s…maybe a cult? There’s a farm. Everyone is very friendly. I went in for a shower and laundry. The shower was great.
Before:

After:

I put on the hostel clothes (I went for a flowy skirt and yoga top so I could really embrace the hippie aesthetic) and started my load of laundry. Then I went outside and spread out the rest of my stuff in the sun so it could all dry out.

Eventually I realized I was sitting next to Mama Duck, a NOBO from the shelter the first night. We chatted, and he told me about his stay at the yellow deli. He was heading out in a minute though. I also saw fish and chips and his friend…whose name I don’t remember. They had all been at the Yellow Deli for at least two days. It sucks you in.
I did some laundry folding as my work for stay (lol) and finished up, then went over to Walmart. On my way, I ran in to optimistic dreamer. I’d met him with carpenter back in Manchester center. He was SOBO last year and is now doing a yoyo, headed NOBO with …little chicken? I’d seen them both briefly in yellow deli, but we had a brief chat on the street while I waited to cross. It was good to talk with him, and I felt better afterwards.
I bought some food and hit up subway for a dinner to carry out, then wandered around town trying to find lunch. I ended up with an ok Chinese place.

I caught the bus, chatting with Sidewind, a SOBO.

I planned on 10 miles to stony brook shelter and let me tell y’all, it wasn’t easy. I almost stopped at 2. But I kept on going.

Kent Pond was a pleasure to walk around. 
There was a boardwalk. The longest handicap accessible Boardwalk?

I climbed a giant hill and it was miserably hot and humid.

But eventually I made it here to Stony Brook Shelter. I’m here with Tarzan, who was at yellow deli this morning, it’s always sunny, and two SOBOs whose names I don’t remember. We had a good time. I like them all. I feel good. Only 38 miles of Vermont left!!

Miles: 11.9

Trip total: 90.2

MVP: egg roll

LVP: no free refill on coke