Day 102 - Monday, July 12, 2021

Yesterday was a “Zero” travel day as we drove to Hanover/Lebanon, New Hampshire to begin hiking the White Mountains. 

And of course it’s raining this morning 😖 but we’re “slack packing” so we are in a rain delay 😉. The forecast calls for clear skies the remainder of the day. 

Today we are hiking from Elm Street, Norwich, VT (1748.5 NoBo) to Three Mile Road (NH) (1759.3 NoBo) equaling 10.8 miles. 

We finally began  hiking at 12 pm under partly cloudy skies and the temperature was 67°. 







This is “Swamp”. He started from Springer on March 2nd. “ Swamp” is from Massachusetts. 





Meet “Drifter & Hun”. They resumed from Springer on March 14th. They began their flip/flop last year so they only have a few hundred miles left - Congratulations and Happy Trails 👍🏻.









Today’s hike was fairly tame as you can see in the pics - no major climbs. Only one climb that was around 300 ft. 






And here is “Catapult” who began from Springer on March 2nd. 













The trail went right through downtown Hanover, NH and Dartmouth College campus.  There was still a lot of students here, even in the middle of summer. 




Dartmouth College’s Memorial Stadium. 




Lou’s bakery gives out free croissants to hikers - of course Turtle Power had to get his 🤤.







The W. Wheelock St. bridge over the Connecticut River which is also the border between Vermont/New Hampshire.



There was a sign prohibiting jumping off the bridge and if caught there was a $100 fine. I offered to pay Turtle Power’s fine if he got caught. He opted not to jump 😬.

We finished hiking at 5:00 pm and decided to go right to dinner as many places are closed on Monday’s. 

And since we have begun the “flip” of our “Platinum Slack Packing Flip-Flop-Flip Thru Hike”, it’s apropos  that I leave you with a new quote.  Happy Trails “Sunny”…


Till next time... Happy Hiking  🥾 

😋


“Acts of generosity in this wild and primitive setting…where basic amenities…are intentionally absent–are often received in a heightened sense of wonder and gratitude by hikers. These acts of generosity are referred to as “trail magic.”

                     (Appalachian Trail Conservancy)





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 163 - Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Image
Looks like we may get wet the next couple days but short of a hurricane we will be hiking to stay on track for an October 8th completion of our thru hike 🙏🏻.  Today was not quite a “Nero” but it was a coincidence that it was shorter aligning with our slack packing parking 😉. We hiked  from  PA 645 (1194.0 NoBo) to Pass Under PA 72 & Across PA 443 (1183.2 NoBo) for a total of 10.8 miles. We began hiking at 9:00 am under threatening skies. Pre-gaming thanks to some Trail Magic left in the parking lot. Since before I have been on the trail I can’t recall the last time I drank a real Coke or any soda for that matter; it’s nearly the norm now as you want to consume all the carbs you can 🤭. And it was too early for the PBR 😂. Crossing the old canal at Swatara Gap. Going underneath I-81. The trail wasn’t as rocky today… and I’m not complaining 🥵. Turtle Power is doing his part to save the environment as he has a new aversion of killing every Spotted Laternfly  he ...
Read more

Day 95 - Friday, June 25, 2021

Image
There are definitely pros and cons when you compare sleeping in a shelter vs sleeping in your tent. Some pros are:  you will stay drier in inclement weather in a shelter (notice I didn’t say “dry”,  just drier or not as wet 🙄) , you can break camp quicker in the am - not packing up a tent, you have more room (if shelter isn’t crowded) and a biggie is -  you can take a chance and hope to always use the shelters and not pack a tent optimizing base pack weight (this could also be the #1 con if you had to sleep outside in the rain w/o a tent 🤭) just to name a few.  Some cons are: sleeping on a hard floor - which I believe is the #1 con against shelters (getting a good nights sleep is key to rest and rejuvenate your weary body), could be noisy, the little varmints 🐁 sneaking around in the middle of the night,  some hikers don’t have a clue about maintaining their “personal” space or they just don’t care, on occasion you have to deal with some “personalities” (I ju...
Read more

The Final Chapter

Image
My favorite scene on the Appalachian Trail near Petites Gap/Highcock Knob, VA, March 26, 2021 (Day 31). Reaching Springer Mountain, the Southern Terminus, June 13, 2021 (Day 90). Summiting Mt. Katahdin, the Northern Terminus, August 25, 2021 (Day 131). Completing our thru hike at Harpers Ferry on October 9, 2021 (Day 174). In the Beginning … This adventure actually started about two years ago in the fall of 2019 when Jim asked me about how I’d like to hike the Appalachian Trail with him. I gave it a good 2 seconds of consideration before I wasn’t politically correct at all in my answer telling him NO…LOL. I was just getting over an injury with my right Achilles tendon as I ruptured it a couple years prior and long distance hiking was the farthest thing on my mind to do.  Now lets back up about 57 years when Jim and I first met. His dad owned and operated a local campground, Coldbrook Campsites in Port Leyden, New York. Port Leyden was also the home of my father and he knew Jim’s da...
Read more