Day 129: 0 miles hiked (trail mile 1706) (11th Zero)
By 8am we made our way down to breakfast where we had an omelet with potatoes. Breakfast was actually included with the room and was absolutely delicious!
When we saw that rain was expected all day long (and heard the rain pounding outside) we decided to enjoy a zero here.
Deep Fried picked us up for lunch in a rental car. He is taking some time off to recover from an injury while providing trail support for Trippin’ as she continues. We swung by a local food co-op for some snacks then picked up Thai food and brought it back at the hotel.
Ranger and Deep Fried played the “Life on the Farm” board game while I took a nap. We spent the rest of the day taking care of various chores – namely working on the blog and planning ahead.
For dinner we had sourdough bread and hummus that we had picked up from the grocery store. A perfectly relaxing zero…
Day 130: 15.4 miles hiked (trail mile 1721.4)
For our complimentary breakfast this morning Ranger had oatmeal and I had French toast. We took our time packing up, side-eyeing the rain still falling outside our window, but finally donned our rain gear and checked out around 10. Half a mile back uphill to the trail and we were off.
We hiked past a cascading waterfall, and then through a short boardwalk section with some pretty wild lilies in the marsh.
We hiked in the rain all day—which was thankfully never very heavy—and enjoyed the lush forest along the various mountain ridges. Today consisted of a lot of PUDs, all in all about 4200 ft of climbing and about the same in descent.
We stopped around 7pm at The Lookout, a privately owned cabin about .1 mile off the trail that the owners generously allow AT hikers to use. It is astonishingly nice, with windows, no leaks or drafts, a door that latches, and a second story sleeping loft.
The Lookout
Contrary to expectation, when we arrived there were only two other hikers here: Zane and JP. Today is their first day out in their final section: Northern VT to Katahdin. They are a Father and Teenage Son duo that have been hiking sections since 2017 and will complete the trail in 11 sections total.
Since no one else arrived, we strung our gear all about the cabin to dry out overnight.
Day 131: 19.7 miles hiked (trail mile 1741.1)
Upon waking much of the fog had cleared and we were able to climb the ladder to the “lookout” platform on the roof that the cabin is named for. From here we had a spectacular view of the mountains all around us, and even Mount Moosilauke, the southernmost mountain in the Whites, in New Hampshire, where we are heading!
We could see the Whites from here!
We began hiking around 7am and by 10 am had made it 6.5 miles to a road crossing where we were able to take a short road walk off trail to visit a farm that we read about on Guthooks. On the Edge Farm has a little farm shop that sells fresh berries and homemade pies and many other little goodies from local makers. Ranger and I split a full-size blueberry peach pie between us, starting in the center and working our way out. Small things like this really make us feel like we’re living life to the fullest out here! We also bought a few things for my sister and her partner, who are watching our dog while we’re away, as the farm shop offered a shipping service as well.
Fueled by pie, we conquered the next few climbs with an abundance of energy, eventually breaking for a real lunch on a surprise bench with a view of the mountains. We could see a rainstorm off in the distance, but it was sunny where we were, and that’s all that mattered.
Later, just before beginning our descent to West Hartford, it began to rain again. We put on our rain gear and moved down the mountain as quickly as we could without slipping, and eventually arrived in the small town.
A family of wood ducks, mama duck and lots of little ducklings, were paddling their hearts out through the strong currents on the river through West Hartford.
Hikers had commented on Guthook that thruhikers must stop in to say hello to Linda at the house across the bridge. Linda is a famous trail angel who allows hikers to sleep in her barn and camp in her yard. I had rehearsed what I would say in my head in the hopes of her offering us shelter for the night, and lo and behold, when we walked up there she was sitting on her porch. The first words out of her mouth before we even had a chance to speak was, “should be space still in the barn”.
JP, Zane, Lighthouse, and Dallas were already here and had ordered pizza from Domino’s. We opted to share a twin bed since this was a bring-your-own-blanket situation and we share a quilt. Ranger and I cooked dinner on the porch while chatting with Linda. She has been hosting hikers for many years and does so on a donation-only basis. She had all kinds of snacks on her porch and a mini fridge with cold drinks.
Linda
We sat with her for a couple hours and watched the sunset and 4th of July fireworks in the distance, while bats chirped and swooped across the lawn.
A wonderful day.
Day 132: 11.3 miles hiked (trail mile 1752.4)
This morning we hung out on Linda’s porch for a while and enjoyed a hot oatmeal breakfast as she told us wonderful stories from her decades of experience hosting hikers from the trail. She told us stories about her brush ups with Warren Doyle. One of the most fascinating things was hearing about some of the weird and surprising things people carried with them, and how she has observed the gear change dramatically over the decades. I can hardly imagine someone carrying a cast iron pot today. Ranger was pretty tickled that he was the first person she had ever met who carried an electric bug zapper as his luxury item.
Once we got going, we hiked 10 miles from West Hartford, VT to Hanover, NH. In Hanover we passed by Dartmouth University and stopped in at Lou’s bakery on the downtown strip because we heard that thruhikers get a free pastry. We figured it would be just a donut or something from a limited menu, but to our amazement they told us to pick whatever we wanted in the case! We each selected a giant Apple fritter.
At this point it started getting unbearably hot out and we decided to wait out the hottest part of the day at an Indian restaurant. Unable to exercise patience, I ate my apple fritter as an appetizer to my main course.
After lunch we resupplied at the fancy co-op grocery where we were able to find certain dehydrated items that we had been keeping an eye out for to add to our various hot meals, including seaweed and mushrooms!
Just past the store, the trail turned back off into the woods. After debating sleeping just inside the tree line where many others had obviously set up camp before, we decided to make the one mile up out of Hanover to Velvet Rocks shelter. Comments on Guthooks warned that this site has a reputation for unsavory characters from town making their way up to party, and harass thruhikers, so we were relieved when Hiccup and Prime arrived and it was evident that we would have the place to ourselves tonight. We ate dinner and hung out with them a while. Hiccup had hiked up the mountain carrying their Indian food in a to-go bag!
Hiccup and Prime
They spread out in the shelter, and we set up our tent in the clearing in front of the shelter. Later in the night when I got up to pee I just happened to notice a dead branch hanging over our tent that we had both missed before. After much analysis by the light of our headlamps, we decided to be on the safe side and go ahead and move the tent to a different site. The branch did not seem particularly dangerous but certainly would’ve shredded our delicate tent. Ease of relocation is another beautiful aspect of having a freestanding tent. We simply unstaked it, walked it a few feet over, and restaked it. As we were getting settled into our new site, PB & Jazz and Bess arrived, and joined Prime and Hiccup in the shelter.
Day 133: 15.2 miles hiked (trail mile 1767.6)
The rain arrived in the morning just before our alarm went off, so we slept in and finally left camp around 9:30 when the rain tapered off. Everyone else had the same idea so it was funny to crawl out of our tent at 9 and see everyone still asleep in the shelter. You never know with thruhikers, but most people are usually out of camp by 7/7:30 at the latest. It turned out that Prime had been bitten on her finger by a mouse overnight – presumably the mouse smelled food on her fingers.
Not too far into the trail this morning Ranger found a trail magic beer from a small red cooler at a road crossing. There was a riddle and a logbook. I can’t recall the riddle, but our favorite answer was, “What would Bill Bryson do?”
Guerilla art
We stopped for lunch with Meta and Grasshopper and Mountain Goat at a big fallen tree. Then later, on the last big climb of the day, a small porcupine crossed Ranger’s path and climbed up a tree!
Porcupine!
The last climb felt so hard, and we trudged into camp at 8:30pm, exhausted.
At least there was a view
Day 134: 19.2 miles hiked (trail mile 1786.8)
Eager to beat the rain and try to make it over Smarts Mountain before any incoming weather, we departed camp at 6:45. In the early part of our hike we came across a chilly, crystal-clear brook that had a pooling area about 20 feet down that was perfect for a foot soak. As I prepared to step into the pool, Ranger urgently whispered, “Sticks! Bears!!” Two black bears had run past just uphill from the brook. Bears can move with incredible speed and ease through the woods. Since I was down in the pool, I missed the sighting entirely.
We climbed strong over Smarts Mountain and enjoyed views of the Whites of New Hampshire, where we are headed, from the fire tower on top of the mountain. We had lunch with Meta, Grasshopper, and Mountain Goat sitting on the ground near the fire tower and hiked all together the last 12 miles to camp.
Grasshopper, Meta, Mountain Goat
It ended up being another day with a lot of elevation change and we were beat by the time we made it to camp. There was a high school summer group out for a short section that had taken over all the good established tent sites, so we ended up bitterly hunting around for and eventually finding suitable stealth sites on the outskirts of the tenting areas. Hiccup and Prime set up near us. We all went and ate dinner sitting in a clearing with the high school group and listened to their counselor give them motivational talks and try to build good character.
The campsite had a privy fit for royalty: the Castellum Excrementi
Another salamander sighting!
Day 135: 7.4 miles hiked (trail mile 1794.2)
Once again it rained in the early morning, and we left camp at 9 after the rain stopped. We hiked on and off with Killer and Wizard and made it to the road crossing for Glendale around noon where we took the short road walk to Hikers Welcome hostel. It turned out to be a great high-volume hostel, sturdily built and smelling of pine. The single outdoor shower, laundry, bathroom and sink station worked surprisingly efficiently for the number of people staying there.
In the late afternoon the hostel took us on a run to the nearby convenience store/deli for a resupply and to pick up dinner. We lounged around all evening and fell asleep early, around 7pm. Despite the huge number of (occupied) bunks on the upper level where we are, it’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The last thing I heard before falling asleep was a “zap” from Ranger’s bug racket eliminating a rogue mosquito from the bunkhouse, doing us all a favor.