Date: 2006-07-17
From: West Hartford, VT 14

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 9.8
Weather: 0

I woke up this morning before the Harts roasters started to roost. Everything was wet from the morning dew when we packed up, but that was okay because we only had 10 miles into Hanover NH.        It wasn¢t long before the sun was up like a raging ball of fire. I was sweating worse today than I had in previous days. The heat brought back some memories of the trip that Navi and I took to the Grand Canyon in June of 2003. It was 125 degrees at Bright Angle Campground at the bottom of the canyon. A little advice from someone who learned the hard way. ¢ Don¢t go to the bottom of the Grand Canyon in the summer¢. Anyway, Two Step said he was going to stay at the first hotel we came to in Hanover no matter what the cost. The first one that came to my mind was the Hanover Inn which is the high end of a place to stay. The 2 12 mile walk into town was awful because there wasn¢t any shade to cool down in. We were happy to get to the bridge and cross over the line into NH, but I think the pictures we took had fake smiles, we were both dying from the heat, and we still had a mile to go.        We went into the Inn with the sweat pouring off our bodies and I smelt so bad, there was a fog following me as I walked threw the lobby to the front desk. The young clerk at the desk looked like she was new when she politely asked if she could help us. Two Step then politely asked if they had any rooms available? It looked like the girl was almost afraid to answer with a yes after seeing what we looked like. I¢m sure they don¢t get many hikers of our quality in here asking for a room. The girl said yes to a room and quoted a price of $260.00 for a room with two double beds. What happened then was hilarious. ¢The look on the girls face was of fear, or even shock when Two Step said, I¢ll take it.¢ I think even I stood there wondering if he was serious. He turned, looked at me and said, it¢s my treat. I was really thinking of walking out the door before he said that because that price was a little steep for me. After the girl got over the initial shock, there was another women at a computer who turned to her and said to give us the room for only , $ 200.00. Once we were taken care of and ready to go to our room, as I turned around I noticed two people looking at us with the same look that the young clerk had on her face. I think they were stunned. Their looks were priceless.        We went to our room, took showers, and then went across the street to the park so we could dry out our gear. It was still very warm even though we sat in the shade. It was interesting to sit and watch the people walking around the campus, and today, some students were showing parents around the campus. At one side of the field I noticed our friend Posie Picker with another hiker just relaxing in the shade like us. Later he joined us. After we vegged for awhile, we were on our way to eat when we ran into Crumbs and 4 Today, part of the Jukebox Girls. We didn¢t know that Crumbs had a younger sister by the name, Sarsaparilla. Crumbs said she is sick and was camped out about a mile out of town, on the trail. We haven¢t met her yet, but probably will on our way out of town in the morning.When we were in the room for the night, I found that I couldn¢t find my journal or my cell phone. I even dumped my pack out, and nothing. I think it probably fell out when we took one of our breaks on the trail. BUMMER!!!!!!!!!! Then I had to call Navi so she could get me a new phone and I would get it the next time I saw her in Gorham. The bad news didn¢t stop there. Two Step was on the phone with his wife Ann from back home in Topeka Kansas. When their conversation was done, Two Step told me he may have to cut his hike short and head home when we get to Gorham. We talked about it for short time, and I have to say I probably would have made the same decision. As much as we hikers love to hike, there are things in life that are of higher priority, and these mountains will always be here.        We certainly made the right decision to stop here today instead of going on. This has been the hottest day of the hike, so far. Hopefully it will be cooler tomorrow when we head on to Trapper John shelter.