Live free or die (Day 135)

Linda’s had some coffee and boiled eggs in the morning, which was a welcome surprise, because the bear can is totally empty now.

Luckily, we encountered a farmstand within the first mile! With some delicious cookies and scones.

Into the forest we go. The forest has been eerily quiet the last couple of days. Sunlight also barely penetrates the canopy. But, we weren’t there for too long, because we have a 2 mile road walk into Norwich and Hanover!

New Hampshire!

We had lunch on our mind and what better place to do that than in Hanover, New Hampshire! We noticed that the license plates say “Live free or die”, which is the best one so far. Small Bites and Dreamcatcher wanted to see an old general store in Norwich, but my dad and I wanted to take our time in Hanover. So, just before the state border, we split up. It’s a bit sad we don’t have a picture together of crossing the state line, but that’s life.

Crossing into New Hampshire, we say goodbye to Vermont. Vermont has been a weird state for me. I have looked forward to Vermont for a long time, feeling like it’s the start of the final stretch, a return to nature. Which it has been. It has been very beautiful, but sometimes a green tunnel at the same time too. All in all, I’ve had a good time here.

Hiker friendly Hanover

Finally, we had lunch at the coffee place. Dreamcatcher and Small Bites joined us a bit later, after which we did some yoga in the park in front of Dartmouth college. When I sat on the bench, a young lad ran towards me like I was a celebrity. “Are you thru-hiking?! That’s so cool!!”. He told me he went to Dartmouth for the nature out here, which is awesome! It’s been awesome to meet you Ethan!

It was time to go to the post office. All the way back in Damascus, Virginia my dad and I did a pack shakedown. Ferdinand offered us to send stuff to his friends in Maine and get it shipped back when we need to. Most of it was winter gear like a fleece legging and gloves, stuff we definitely want back before we start the White Mountains! Ferdinand’s friends – The Ridgeways – are awesome! They even sent us some sweets and snacks with our stuff!

After a resupply, we went to the pizza restaurant. There’s a free slice for thru-hikers! When we sat down, we were greeted with a “Love you guys!” from the server. When we ordered the pizza’s, they asked for a name. I said “Gary”, because my actual name “Gerjan” is almost impossible to say for English speakers. Trail names cause confusion for a lot of places and saying “Hungry” as a name in a restaurant can come across very passive aggressive. But, this time when I said “Gary”, the cashier just said “No.” and shaked his head. “Hungry!”, I tried. “Alright, coming right up”. A fun little exchange, which also shows that Hanover is actually quite hiker friendly. My honest expectation was that it would be a bit snooty, with the Ivy League college right there and all. But it’s been lovely!

Think like a team

During our dinner we had one thing on our mind: Mount Moosilauke. It’s the first mountain of the infamous Whites that people have been fear mongering for since Georgia. We’re all at different fitness levels and metal space in the tramily, which makes for different ideas how to approach the hardest mountains so far. I’m still feeling very good and ready to take the Whites head on, but some of the others are a little more reserved. Sometimes we have different ideas, but we always figure it out.