Date: 2005-07-10
From: VT 12

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 22.4
Weather: light rain

start: VT 12finish: Hanover, NH miles: 22.4day: 125Yup, Motel Moosie here again.  This time for two nights.  I'm taking a real zero for the first time since I started back on the trail at the Dover Oak in NY.  I'm psyched.I slept pretty well in the barn last night, but was woken at 5:15 by the section hikers packing up, walking around, turning all the lights on, and talking loudly.  Perhaps I should sleep in the woods more often.We hitched into Woodstock and got stuff for lunch at the grocery, then ate breakfast at The Mountain Creamery.  The food was good, but the prices were a bit high.  Vermont isn't the cheapest section of the AT, that's for sure.We started hiking at 10:00, with 22+ miles to do.  The trail was beautiful today, like yesterday.  Lots of hardwoods mixed with pine groves.  We passed many great stealth tent sites.  There was a lot of elevation, though.  It was up and down all day long.Towards the middle of the day we went swimming in White River.  We jumped in a deep hole from a rope swing.  It was cold and refreshing.The mosquitoes got thick in the evening, so it was actually a relief to get to the Norwich-Hanover road walk where there were no bugs.  I encountered a fellow removing July 4th decorations from telephone poles who let me use his cell phone to call the Chieftan Motel and see if they had a room, and confirm the rate.  That took a bit of the pressure off to get into town before dark.  The motel didn't have a "hiker room" available, so gave me a "deluxe room" for two nights at the hiker rate.  Sweet.  The only remaining obstacle was that the motel is 2 miles out of town and we wanted dinner and to still be able to hitch in daylight.Goldilocks walked on ahead while I was calling the motel, but I was glad to see that he waited at the bridge across the Connecticut River.  All the years we've been coming up here to hike - about 10 years now - we always stop in Hanover to eat on the way home.  We've often thought how it would feel to walk across that bridge dividing VT and NH as part of an AT thru-hike.  And now, finally, we're here!  We took some pictures and then formally stepped across the bridge's halfway point, kissing Vermont goodbye.  Only 2 states to go!  And our favorites, too!Walking down to the Brick and Brew pizza place we saw Snail and Tea Break across the street.  We waved to them to come on over to the restaurant, but they pretty much ignored us.  Then we looked for them after we placed our order and they were gone.  Not sure what that was all about.We are SO clever.  We walked into the pizza place and asked if they delivered as far as the motel.  Yes, they do.  Good, we'd like 2 pizzas and some sodas delivered there.  And can we get ourselves delivered, too?  Um, what?  So for a good tip we had the ride covered and could now relax.  This is the absolute first time in many years that I've been able to sample the "brew" portion of Brick and Brew.  It's the only time I've been here on other than a Boy Scout outing.  That Sam Adams tasted as good as I always thought it would.It's interesting to me that even though I'm not much of a drinker at home - one glass of wine, or a single beer perhaps once or twice a week - I thought I'd enjoy a beer now and then on the trail.  Well, up until recently it just hasn't been appealing.  I don't know why, perhaps because the alcohol dehydrates and makes me feel tired...?  But lately the occasional beer hits the spot.  I like it because it's filling, too.Well, I'm falling asleep writing this, and Goldilocks is already sleeping.  I'm zeroing tomorrow, planning to be a total slug in the motel room, watching TV, showering just for fun, and napping.  I'll have to hitch into town to eat once or twice, though.  Goldilocks is hiking, covering 43 miles in 2 days, to Glencliff.  I'll temporarily skip a section, probably from Hanover to NH 25A, and hike 10 miles into Glencliff tomorrow.  That way we can hike the Whites together.  This is where it all began for us, so it'll be fun to do it together.  I expect I'll drop behind again north of Gorham.  I dislike having all these little pieces of my hike to fill in, but it's much more important to me to do the hike with my son, if possible.  Also, this just gives me the perfect excuse to return during peak foliage season, when all the bugs are dead.  Not bad.