Date: 2014-07-07
From: Happy Hill Shelter

To: Etna-Hanover Center Road, NH
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 117-July 7,Happy Hill Shelter to Etna-Hanover Center Road, NH, 11.7 miles. We had a slower start today because we didn't have lots of miles to cover, getting on the trail at 6:45. About half the miles were to the town of Hanover which is in our second to last state New Hampshire! Of those first morning miles 2.5 were on roads into Norwich, VT and then across the Connecticut River to New Hampshire. As soon as we hit the road some trail magic began! I was drinking a cold Coke by 8 AM-life is good! We walked and drank our Cokes, finishing in time to stop for the next trail magic-watermelon! These two trail magics were in coolers in front of people's houses. It was a nice farewell from Vermont. Hanover is home to Dartmouth College and we walked right into the main campus green before turning down the main drag, looking for breakfast. We stopped at a sidewalk bakery display and the girl selling the coffee and treats asked if we were AT thru-hikers. When we said yes she gave us each a large donut twist! We continued our walk around town but decided we needed more to eat so went back to the hiker-friendly bakery and had a proper breakfast. We saw and talked to a bunch of other hikers in town, some who were staying and some who were moving on. Back in May a guy by the name of Tim left a comment on our Trail Journal saying that he and his wife were of similar age to us and owned a vegetable farm (Crossroad Farm) just north of Hanover and extended an invitation for us to stay a night or two with them when we got to this area. We have been in contact over the past week and arranged for him to meet us at a cross road north of Hanover this afternoon. So we made one more stop in Hanover, at the Co-op grocery store for a resupply. While shopping a young man stopped us and asked if we were thru-hikers. Again we said yes and he introduced himself saying that he thru-hiked last year. When we told him our trail names he asked if we were the ones staying at Tim and Janet's farm!!! How did he know??!! Well, he works there and Tim must have told him about our visit! We finished our miles from Hanover to the meeting road and now are waiting to meet Tim. Later: here it is way past our bedtime but we have been loving our time with Janet and Tim at their Crossroad Farm. They grow all sorts of vegetables and flowers in beautifully maintained rows and greenhouses. There is a store where they sell all this produce and gorgeous floral hanging baskets made by Janet. Tim gave us a tour of the farm and the planning and organization that goes into running a successful farm is impressive. And we have now made a big dent in our vegetable deficit! For a snack after we had showered and settled in we had fresh tomato and mozzarella open-faced sandwiches, fresh sugar-snap peas, carrots and peppers. For dinner to go along with hamburgers we had fried potatoes, peas and a green salad with lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers and peppers. All the veggies were freshly picked from the farm! Dessert was strawberry shortcake with their fresh berries! It was all very delicious and healthy! The evening has gone by very quickly and I feel like we've made new friends! To think that Tim and Janet opened their home to us just because they read our Trail Journal is amazing. We are so appreciative of this night off the trail at their home/farm. A note about the weather, shortly after Tim picked us up the rain started and it rained for almost an hour! Perfect time to be in a car! It is late, especially for hikers and farmers. All us well.