Date: 2011-07-22
From: Spruce Peak Shelter

To: Rosalie's House, Doset VT
Miles today: 2.8

(In which I reach Manchester and do not stay at the Green Mountain Hostel)I sleep in -- another benefit of the extra slow train -- and as I'm slowly packing up a girl walks over to my campsite looking for the privy. I point her in the right direction, and when I check the logbook before I leave I realize that I briefly met Freight Train, another April 1 starter whom I had never previously met (and, since I'm planning a 2.8 mile day, may never meet again).The day is hot and after an hour or so of hiking to reach the road to Manchester I'm already sweating. It's even hotter out of the woods at the road, and I'm glad that I don't have to wait long before a van stops to give me a ride.In town I head to the EMS -- the first major chain outfitter I've seen on the trail -- and buy a new foam sleeping pad, a Thermarest Z-Lite. Other than one night experimenting with an inflatable pad, it's my first real change in my core gear since switching to my summer gear, and at 14 oz it weighs more than four times as much as my previous foam sleeping pad, which I actually found quite comfortable.The two main advantages I hope the new sleeping pad will have are, first, that it will provide a sturdier frame for my pack (I tried Lemur's pad in my pack and was amazed by how much better it worked than mine, which I had previously thought was great), and second, that it will let me be less selective about my campsites. While I found my previous pad plenty comfortable on a flat surface, it did little to protect against any rocks or roots, and I quickly learned to scour the ground before committing to a campsite, knowing that I would discover the location of every rock and root as soon as I laid down. The strategy of only sleeping on smooth ground has worked well ever since, but the combined advantages of better pack support and more camping options were enough to convince me to splurge the extra ten-plus ounces.I resupply at the Price Chopper and then head over to the pizza shop for lunch, where I see some familiar packs waiting out front. Inside I see Twoper, Bait and Natti again for the first time since the shelter party. Fish, they inform me, is off meeting a friend who is getting back on the trail a ways south, and Natti and Bait worry about whether she will come back with them or stick with her other friend. Twoper and Bait also have reservations for the Green Mountain Hostel, but Natti, having called too late, was turned away and so plans to hike out to the next shelter.After lunch we hide from the broiling sun on the shaded sidewalk in front of EMS. We're lamenting the fact that team Natti Fish Bait, already down to two out of three, will be further split up for the night, when a woman walks over and ask whether we're nobos or sobos. When she hears that Natti couldn't find a place to stay in town she says that he'll just have to come home with her then. "Are you messing with me?" Natti asks, but she is not, and offers to take us all to a quarry near her house to go swimming as well. I'm all for it, having learned from my wonderful experience at Tammy's house in PA never to turn down offers from locals, and the others are soon enthusiastic as well. The woman's name is Rosalie, and her son hiked the trail two years ago. "So many people were so kind to my son," she says, "I try to repay the favor whenever I can."Rosalie has to run a few errands, and while we're marveling at our luck we're joined by Freight Train and her boyfriend Plan B, who are planning on staying in town as well, and Kid A and Doctor Push, two sobos. When Rosalie emerges from Price Chopper she announces that she's making us all dinner, and plans of Green Mountain Hostel are quickly put on hold. When she mentions that she has plenty of room at her house, having previously hosted 63 hikers on a single night, we all give in and agree to spend the night there. We call the Green Mountain Hostel to cancel, feeling bad but hoping that it will at least allow other hikers who would have been turned away to be able to stay.We drop our gear off at Rosalie's house -- she shuttles us in two trips -- and then are dropped off at a quarry where a hundred locals are already swimming and sun bathing. The quarry is hundreds of feet deep and has high stone ledges around much of it, making it the perfect diving spot. I stay on dry land with my camera, but Natti, Bait and Twoper dive in, and when the second car load shows up a row of hikers line up together to jump the twenty feet from one of the higher ledges into the water.When everyone has had their fill of water and sun we walk back down the road to Rosalie's house. As we walk I ask Bait what an equivalent non-hiking scenario would be to our amazing trail magic, trying to figure out a way to convey the enormity of our gratitude to those who have never been hiking, but come to the sad conclusion that in the so-called real world strangers never come out of the blue and offer such life-changing favors.Back at the house we shower, toss our clothes in the laundry, and then start in on the buffet of snacks that has been arranged for us. When Rosalie's husband and daughter come home we all eat dinner outside on the porch -- I'm excited to have my first home cooked curly fries on the trail -- and then help ourselves to freshly baked chocolate cake and a selection of ice cream, after which it is safe to say that nobody is still hungry.It is a wonderful day -- the type of day that you tell stories about long afterwards, that make you remember what a special experience hiking the trail really is, and how lucky we are to be out here enjoying it.