Planned to do bigger miles today so that we would have short miles in to Hanover, NH tomorrow morning. Then we ran in to Right Here who told us about a market at a road in three miles.
This is a pic of Right Here. He has a great dry sense of humor and can really make us laugh.
Of course we had to stop at On the Edge Farm. Fresh baked muffins, breakfast burrito and .... a diet coke. Great stop and charming place!
Started hiking again through the green tunnel. Vermont is a really beautiful place, but sometimes the woods are so dense that you really start to yearn for the warmth of the sun. We had some great break out views today and came to the top and just basked in the sunlight for awhile!
Hiked on and came to some great trail magic. Loved the saying on the cooler (and on the bag of s'more fixings.)
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir
So, our miles were not flying by as quickly as we'd hoped today!! ( you can probably see where this is going)
We ran in to the adorable Kallin's again at about mile 14 and hiked a few miles in to West Hartford with them, where we came to 'the bridge'. It is hiker tradition to jump off the West Hartford bridge, and we'd been hearing about it for a week, so naturally we had to do it! There are blazes painted on the bridge marking the safe spot to jump from. All In, Mama Bear, Murphy and I all jumped off. Cartwheel and Robin Hood got in for a swim too. I have to admit, I was slightly terrified, in the best possible way :) but it was a blast!!!
Too much fun! Still had four more miles that we wanted to hike but hiking in soaking wet clothes is so uncomfortable!! As we were hiking out of town, we came to a lovely, well manicured lawn with a sign offering water and tenting for hikers. We stopped for 'water' and Kathy (yes, we are on a first name basis now) came out to make sure we knew we were welcome to camp there. It was 7:00 and the yard was great with adirondack chairs for relaxing in and they built a big bonfire. Plus, when Kathy offered us some golden Oreos, we knew it was a sign we were meant to stay. It would have been rude to hike on :)
Sooo...we have a few extra miles to hike in to Hanover tomorrow, but sometimes Plan B turns out better than Plan A.
I love that you jumped off the bridge! When we used to do the KU-KSU canoe race it was tradition to jump off the Wamego bridge. It was fine in the spring but in the fall a bit dicey due to the low water levels. So glad you are having fun and with such great people!
ReplyDeleteI just jumped off the "jump rock" into the Arkansas river on our whitewater rafting trip July 5th... kindred spirits? lol
ReplyDelete