Onto New Hampshire!

Day 131 Rutland VT Additional Rest Day — AT Daily Miles 0;  AT Total Miles 1708.2

As hard as it was for me to admit, I needed a second day to recover from the dehydration of the past five days. I had honestly pushed it too hard without taking in enough water breaks, especially two days ago over Killington Peak. I know the signs of dehydration and I had them all. After confiding in my wife and daughter, I was forced to do the prudent thing and take an additional day of recovery. In the end, it was the thing to do and I know it. I just kick myself for allowing myself to get so dehydrated in the first place. Live and learn. It’s a marathon not a sprint. I forget to try to be less Relentless (my trail name) but I’m not done yet.

Day 132 Rutland VT To Lookout Cabin — AT Daily Miles 17.4;  AT Total Miles 1725.6

It actually crossed my mind to take another day off to avoid the heat, but I just couldn’t sit still another day. It was so comfortable in the hostel and there were multiple places to eat within a five minute walk. While I was there each day, I had chicken noodle soup and pastry for lunch and turkey dinner and cherry pie for dinner. That’s hard to leave. But I got ready early and was on the 8:15 AM bus back to the trailhead.

Of course immediately it was a climb from the highway up to our normal cruising elevation. I was determined to take frequent water breaks and not get myself so rundown again. That strategy worked for a very long time. In fact, it worked until about 3 PM at which point the weather forecast said severe storms at 6 PM and I had about 7 miles to go to get into a shelter. I still stopped and did the smart thing and got water though when I needed it. I made it to the shelter about 15 minutes before the storm.

The shelter in this case is actually a private cabin the owners allow through hikers to use. It was a port in the storm. The cabin even had a crows nest where six of us watched the storm approach then hurriedly went back down the ladder when the lightning got too close. All were safe and even treated to a rainbow after the storm passed.

I think I have about 33 miles over the next two days to get into the next town for a resupply. It’s supposed to rain through the morning so I’m not sure what time I’m going get on the trail for sure. The good news in the forecast is that after tomorrow’s heat we get a break for an extended period. That will be so welcome!

Day 133 Lookout Cabin To Thistle Hill Shelter — AT Daily Miles 14.8;  AT Total Miles 1740.4

The cabin I stayed in last night was really cool, but I never sleep well with so many people in one place. So many air mattresses were crinkling and a couple people decided to start getting ready at 4:30 AM. I think there should be a rule that between 9 PM and 5 AM at the minimum it is quiet time. I’m not sure that’s gonna be a popular rule though.

The first 7 miles went by pretty quickly and I was at a popular coffee shop stop. It’s less than half a mile off the trail and has a lot of things that hikers like, for example, Wi-Fi, water refills, restrooms, donuts, and fresh coffee. The only negative is that took me off trail for an hour and contributed to my lower miles today. Plus, it was very hot out and showered hard rain in the afternoon. By the time I got into camp, I was a wet cranky mess. I had thought about going into the next town but that would have had me hiking until after 6 PM so I decided to make camp early at 4 PM.

Most of the day I hiked with two awesome young women named Chickpea and Chickadee. Listening to their stories and chatting with them made the day go by quickly. They didn’t want to stop so early and continued on into the next town.  I was really torn about joining them, but stopping early and getting out of my soaking wet clothes prevailed. I hope to see them up the trail.

Hiking today was a lot of uphill but nothing super steep. If not for the coffee shop I would’ve definitely gone into the next town and got a 20 mile day in. Tomorrow it’s supposed to be a little bit cooler with the next week in the low 80s which is much better than the upper 80s. I’m still looking at crossing into New Hampshire tomorrow and probably will be there for two weeks before reaching Maine.

Day 134 Thistle Hill To Hanover NH Stealth — AT Daily Miles 15.6;  AT Total Miles1756.0

Well, I finally made it to New Hampshire! Between the 11 days at home and the two days of dehydration recovery I didn’t think I would ever make it out of Vermont. Hiking in Vermont was very fair, not easy at all, and at times even scenic. The heat and humidity were so tough. Trying to climb hills with a full pack when the heat index is over 90 is not my favorite thing to do. I just hope I don’t look back on this time wishing it was back as I get up into the White Mountains and later on into the mountain ranges of Maine.

My day started slow as my hips were kind of on the ground. I had tried an Amazon brand air pad which I’ve slept really good on, but evidently it can’t handle more than a couple weeks on the Appalachian Trail. It has a slow leak. I had to order a new one to be safe to be delivered to my next hostel stay in three nights. That took me a good hour. And I am not positive it will be there in time.

Since the trail wasn’t too bad, I was out of Vermont and into Hanover, New Hampshire in about seven hours. I arrived at Dartmouth College, where there was trail magic just ending. I was able to snag a hotdog, some watermelon, and a couple drinks. I had planned to shower and do laundry at the rec center, but the person at the counter didn’t seem to think I could do laundry in two hours so I had to settle for a shower. A Big Bang Theory episode where Sheldon argues with a petty functionary with a clipboard came to mind.

Hanover is a very hiker friendly town. The pizza place for example gives us a free slice and naturally I had to have a second one and a beer to wash it down. There’s some other free food options around town and Dartmouth College does a lot for hikers as well. Hanover also has great resupply options. It’s a very underrated trail town..

After my resupply, it was after 6 PM and I really needed to get going. Ended up stealth camping behind the Dartmouth College athletic fields and got my tent set up about 7 PM. That was about as late as I like to go. I think there were a lot better sites on the top of the hill from where I set up but that would’ve meant another half an hour of hiking and sweating, and I was currently in my flip-flops after my shower.

The next three days I need to average about 16 miles a day to get to the hiker hostel that is just this side of the infamous White Mountains. That will begin a very tough stretch that is hugely weather dependent. I think it’ll take me about two weeks and then it will be on Maine. Fingers crossed.

Day 135 Hanover NH To Trapper John Shelter — AT Daily Miles 15.7; AT Total Miles 1771.7

I slept so great. It could’ve been the shower, the beer, or the pizza. Maybe it was all of them. I woke up refreshed at 5:30 AM and started my coffee but lo and behold my beloved bamboo eating and cooking spoon was missing. I knew instantly I had left it outside the food co-op where I had packed up my resupply the evening before. Luckily it was only a 10 minute walk back. I was able to talk to my wife for an hour waiting for the food co-op to reopen so I could get chocolate milk and a muffin. It was nice to turn the negative into a positive lol.

Because of my blunder turned positive, I actually got started hiking around 8:30 AM. Overall, it was a nice day with good terrain and only one really hard steep climb. I was able to get to camp about 5:30 PM which for me is the sweet spot. It gives me time to get camp completely set up, dinner eaten and myself cleaned up. It’s also nice when you’re hanging out at a shelter to catch up with fellow through hikers and familiar faces. Chickpea was even there!

I think I mentioned it before, but the other thing lately is that we get to talk to more and more SOBOs. They all seem so fresh having completed a little bit over 400 miles and have great stories about my upcoming White Mountains and Maine. They also seem to be in a bit of a hurry. I can imagine if they stopped to talk to everyone of us north bounders they would never get any hiking done. The hiking bubble is coming their way.

Tomorrow looks like a tough day with a couple mountain climbs and ideally I get in a high mile day to set me up to get into the next hostel early the day after. That hostel starts out the White Mountains and is reported to have great slack packing options as well as advice for the upcoming section. The White Mountains are not only hard, but they have a lot of complicated rules about where to camp for example. Much of the hiking is above tree line and the environment. The environment there is very fragile so there are a lot of restrictions. Planning this section is also hard because the weather is so unpredictable.

Day 136 Trapper John To Brackett Brook Stealth — AT Daily Miles 16.3; AT Total Miles 1787.0

I had attended to push for close to 20 miles today but going over both Smarts Mountain and Cube Mountain had drained me of energy by 5 PM. Getting to my intended campsite would’ve taken two more hours and then I always take at least an hour and a half to get camp set up, get myself cleaned up, have dinner, and blog. So when I came to a beautiful mountain stream. I decided it was time to call it a day.

I had woken up bright and early with the birds as usual was able to get out of camp by 7:15 AM. The first four miles or so were actually pretty easy and I made it to the base of Smarts Mountain just after 9 AM. The next 3 miles were really steep with over 2000 feet of elevation gain. Not much time to rest either because less than 4 miles later you start the climb up Cube Mountain. I really felt strong beginning the day, but by the end of the day I was ready for dinner and an early tent set up.

Tomorrow should be a relatively easy 11 miles into the hostel where I’ll spend the night. I had an Amazon order delivered there of food and will need some additional resupplies for starting the White Mountains. I’m looking forward to talking to the experts there and get any tips they have. I may also take advantage of one of their slack packing options while I’m there.  Anything I can do to make this last 400 miles successful, I’ll do.

Day 137 Brackett Brook To Hikers Welcome Hostel — AT Daily Miles 11.3; AT Total Miles 1798.3

I had a really incredible night’s sleep. I always sleep great when it’s by one of these mountain streams. I was well rested and ready to go by 7:30 AM. My goal was a very manageable 11 or so miles to get into the hostel where I’d be staying for a couple nights. How long I stay depends on the forecast and the delivery of my sleeping pad that is supposed to arrive in two days.

There were a few small climbs, but overall the day was not bad at all. Nothing like the two mountains on the day before. After about 3 miles of hiking in fact, I came to trail magic! A former through hiker named Popeye put on an incredible spread, and I had a cheeseburger, hotdog, chips, and a half dozen cookies. Much thanks to Popeye!

The hiking on this section of trail was not very scenic but that’s OK since the next two weeks are going to be more scenery and exertion than I can probably take. I was able to get to the hostel by 2 PM which gave me plenty of time to get a shower and laundry before the 5 PM shuttle into town to get my resupply. The hostel has a very cool and set up to accommodate about 30 of us with no issues at all. It’s very chill and I could be here for a few days to enjoy it all.

Tomorrow I will slackpack, which means not carrying much weight and a shuttle will drop me off 10 miles up the trail where I will hike back to this location. That will be a good way to get acclimated to the really steep trail and higher elevations. Like I said above, I’m really not sure yet how many days I’m gonna be here because of both the weather and my undelivered package. I want to get home but at the same time I want to enjoy this last part of my trek and be safe.

Oh, and I ran in again to Dragonfly! She is an incredible lady and on her third through hike of the Appalachian Trail. When she finishes this one she will be 84 years old. How incredible is that?