Soaking wet to Hikers Welcome Hostel

We got on the trail by 6:30 this morning. I actually got a pretty good nights sleep despite the wetness. Can you figure out where my tent was in this pic? :)

So great this morning to see the sun streaming through the trees!

It was some pretty sloppy, muddy trail today! Pogano had a pretty great line for the mud in New Hampshire. "You're drunk Vermont! Go home." 

Slippery, wet rocks and then you come to spots like this .... kind of stops you in your tracks. What do you even do when you encounter a slippery slab like this?!

Then there was this cool rock with a white blaze running all the way through. I need a geologist to give me more info on this.

We hiked about 18 miles today with our heavy, wet gear and we stopped at this hostel to get clean and dry before....(drumroll) the first of the Whites. Mount Moosilauke.

Loaded up on real food and protein tonight. Let the fun begin!

Moose Mountain to Soaking Wet Tent spot

First... HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! Hope it was a great day! Love you!

Sunrise this morning from inside my tent. Not a bad way to wake up. A little more climbing today. Up and over a mountain and then at mile seven came to one of those uniquely Appalachian Trail spots.

Bill Ackerly's home that is 1/10th of a mile off the trail. Ice creams bars, sodas, water, croquet and best of all, a visit with Bill. He is a semi-retired physician from Cambridge, Mass, with a quick wit. 

Sat on the porch with Pogano, Kickapoo, One-a-Day and Stark and enjoyed Bill's company. Then we headed to the yard for a round of croquet. 

Turns out, I really stink at croquet, but I did show a little better on the pogo stick.

After about an hour and a half, with full water bottles, we set out to climb Smarts Mountain. Rain was in the forecast, but it was still bright and sunny at that point. 

It is interesting how things have changed out here as we grow closer to the end (no disrespect intended for NH and Maine. We know you will kick our booties) 

At the start of this trek, I remember thinking how strange it was that for the next few months, I would be living in the woods and hiking every day. Now, it's become normal life. Our conversations have changed out here recently too. We still talk about what's ahead - the next town or the next mountain, but now, we also discuss the end. When we hope to finish, how we are going to get home and what we are going to do when we get there. Bittersweet. 

Anyway, the last part of the climb up to the firetower on top of Smart Mountain was pretty steep and rocky. Probably a good intro in to what the Whites have in store for us.

Got to the firetower and hoped to knock out about 5 more miles. Murphy and I started down quickly and it started thundering. No luck finding a flat spot for tents so we kept moving and then the rain started. We came upon Stark throwing his tent up and found a few spots nearby. Setting up a tent in the rain is not that fun. Or dry. Pretty much everything was soaked by the time it was up. Tossed my pack in and hoped for the best. It's pretty wet in here, but as the saying goes, "No rain, no Maine."

Rained steadily all night. Thank goodness for all the gear that keeps other gear dry! Once I got my air mattress up, dry clothes on and crawled in my dry sleeping bag, all was good.

Hanover to Moose Mountain

Hanover is a tough place to leave! Stopped by Lou's Bakery where they offer a free donut to thru-hikers. It was awesome, but I also had to purchase one because they had a maple/bacon twist!!!

A delicious, heart-stopper for sure!!

Mambo and 50/50 got in to town late last night, so we met them downtown for lunch before we hiked out. They are not hiking until tomorrow. Hopefully they will be back with us soon for the trek through the Whites, which we will be starting on Friday. First up.... Mount Moosilauke.

The heat and humidity are back, so as we left town at about 1:00, we were reminded why we start early in the morning! Sweatiness!!!!

The last few days I have met a few hikers with Lawrence connections! Stark, went to KU and graduated in 2011 and Pogano, went to Colorado State but spent time in Lawrence (Free State Brewery specifically :)

Lots of woodsy trail today but a few spots were either overgrown or open fields. You never know what's around the bend.

Murphy and I were heading to Moose Mountain Shelter today, but stopped just short, when we came to the south peak of Moose Mountain.

Stealth camping on top of the mountain. Should make for a great sunrise!

Wow. The stars are absolutely amazing up here tonight. A beautiful night to be on top of a mountain.

West Hartford to Hanover, NH

Got up early so that we could get in to Hanover by noon. Left West Hartford by way of ...

 A big climb to start the day, but from there it got pretty easy!  Got in to town by about 10:30. We came to our longest road walk of the trail. 2.5 miles, through Norwich, VT in to Hanover, NH. THREE, count 'em three, trail magic spots as we hiked through Norwich. Sodas, then watermelon, then cookies, left by the people whose homes are right along the trail. Crossed  the bridge into NH. Cartwheel beat me there :) TWELVE states down, two tough ones to go!!!

Hanover is SUCH an amazingly hiker friendly town. There are several restaurants that offer free, or discounted food for hikers. First stop... free pizza slice! Smart marketing because they know most will not stop at one piece.

My friend, Scott, from high school (a few short years ago ) lives in New Hampshire and he drove in to have lunch, which was a real treat!!!

We weren't sure when we got here, if we would spend the night (hotels are expensive here) or hike out a few miles later in the day. Well, in Hanover, they have a list of trail angels that welcome people in to their homes. Tonight we are staying with Warren and Toni, and we  showered, laundered and sat on their amazing porch this evening, relaxing and enjoying watermelon, cheese and crackers.

View from the hammock on the porch...

I got three packages today!! Thanks to my mom and my sister for all the good stuff!!!!! (The birthday cake Oreos are already gone - shocker) I also got a much needed pair of new shoes. This pair lasted me almost 1000 miles. Not too bad!

Back out tomorrow and we will be in the White mountains in just a few days. Whoop whoop!!

Borrowed this from another site, but pretty much sums up how I am feeling. Just seems totally unreal!

Winturri Shelter to West Hartford, VT

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.

Killington to Winturri Shelter

We ate a good breakfast at the Inn at Long Trail and then started hiking by about 10. About 5 minutes in we came to a beautiful creek...

Hiked by the Kallin's and then heard footsteps running up behind me. Cartwheel said she wanted to hike with me for awhile. Spent the next couple of hours with she and Robin Hood. What great kids! Smart, interesting, fun and confident. The miles passed quickly.

Stopped for lunch and they hiked on because they were doing more miles today than we had planned for the day.

Came to.... a ladder?

Much of the trail today was deep in the green tunnel. We did hike up to the Lookout towards the end of the day. A really nice cabin with an amazing 360 degree view from the rooftop overlook.

Briefly considered staying there for the night but it was already pretty crowded and we wanted to get a few more miles in, so we hiked on.

Got in to camp about 7:00. Nights have been chilly! I am having some of my warm clothing sent back to me in New Hampshire. We will be heading into the Whites soon where the climbs and elevations return!!

Churchill Scott shelter to Killington, VT

So.... we have a new term for hybrid camping..... shenting. (thanks for the inspiration Mando) It is the tenting/shelter combo. Last night, Murphy and I were the only ones in the shelter again... so to avoid mouse attacks AND the fact that there were no flat tent spots, we pitched our tents in the shelter. Slept great!

Through most of Vermont, to this point, the AT and the Long Trail have been as one. (The Long Trail is the oldest long distance hiking trail and runs the length of the state) We came to the point today where the two trails split at Maine Junction. We met a southbounder the other day who had missed the switch and hiked 8 miles on the LT before realizing he was not on the AT. Strangely, both are marked by 2"x 6" white blazes. We checked and rechecked to be sure we were heading the right direction when we came to the junction.

Came across a Hershey bar tree in the woods while hiking this morning....

And passed the 1700 mile mark!!! Yikes! Time is flying by!

Short day in to Killington, where Murphy's friend, Karen and her husband,Terry picked us up. Ate, resupplied and relaxed. 

We are staying at the Inn at Long Trail where McGraths Irish Pub is and ended the day with a Guiness and live Irish music. Great finish to the day.

Tomorrow, back to the woods!