Total Miles: 448.0
It was great to wake up this morning feeling well rested and ready to head into town. I showered, ate breakfast, packed up, and headed out to the trailhead with a ride back from Karen. I'm happy I decided to stay there last night. What a great place and incredible people!
I was on the trail before 7:00 and was able to finish the first 5 miles to Hanover quickly. The morning on the trail was quiet and calm, and there was a blanket of fog covering everything. I was able to see a deer in a clearing before I startled it away. I came out of the trailhead by the Dartmouth softball field, which is conveniently located right by the grocery store. There were a lot of people camping right at the edge of the woods here. I sat on the bench outside the store while I compiled my list of things I needed to buy. There was a NOBO there doing the same thing, so we sat and talked for a few minutes before I headed inside to shop. I still had too much food left over, so all I really needed were snacks and lunch. Of course, I ended up buying way more than I need again. I'm still struggling to get used to having towns so close to one another, and I'm having a hard time not buying 6 days worth of food at a time. I shoved everything into my now too heavy pack and waited for my brother who was coming to meet me. I was definitely looking forward to it, especially because the plans were very last minute.
When my brother got into town, we headed to CVS so I could pick up a few things and stopped at the Dartmouth library so I could take care of some stuff there too. We headed to Lou's for lunch, a place that came highly recommended by Karen. I got an omelette, and it was delicious. I also got a giant slice of apple pie for dessert. The waitress thought my brother and I were going to split it, but I ate the entire thing myself, of course. We spent some time on the Green, just relaxing and enjoying the sun. It felt great to just sit and soak it in for a little while with good company. I made the rounds for some of the free food offered to hikers in town and got a bagel and two slices of pizza. Free food is always the best. I finished packing all my stuff and said my goodbyes. It was a little bittersweet and hard to not look back as I prepared to leave New Hampshire. Being my home state, I'm obviously a little biased so it will be hard for any of the other states to compare to it. It was also really great to see my brother again. I think I've seen him more in the past 2 months than I have in the last 6 years!
I walked the last few miles out of town and crossed the Connecticut River to Vermont. State number 3. My plan was to head to the first shelter another 6 miles or so. There was quite a long stretch of road walking, which got old pretty quick. Just before I entered back into the woods, a man pulling into his driveway said they were trail angels and offered me a place to stay. He named off some of the hikers I knew that had stayed recently, probably so I wouldn't be suspicious of him. I politely declined, knowing that I had to put in a few more miles. I do appreciate people that open up their homes to us - it really is great! When I went back into the woods, I had 3.5 miles left to the shelter. I think all the mosquitoes in Vermont were waiting for me at the trailhead because they all attacked as soon as I was back in the trees. I had to use bug spray for the first time since Maine. I'm glad I decided to grab a little water at the first brook since the rest of the hike was dry, and I didn't realize how dehydrated I was from being in the sun all day. That's one of the biggest things I dislike about road walks too. There's no cover at all. About half way there, I read in the book that the brook at the shelter was unreliable. This made me nervous since I was already getting a headache from being dehydrated. The remainder of the hike was uneventful. I made it to the shelter, set up camp, and was pleased to see there was still a small trickle of water at the brook. Good enough for me! I realized the ridiculous amount of food that I'm now able to consume as I ate the two slices of pizza and an entire box of macaroni and cheese by myself in one sitting. It's actually pretty disgusting to think about. There are a few NOBOs here that I talked to, but again no SOBOs. I wonder if I'm ever going to run into any again at this rate. I think the last one I saw was 2 days ago!
Crossing over the Connecticut into Vermont
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