Date: 2008-07-03
From: Happy Hill Shelter

To: Hanover, NH //Albany, NY
Miles today: 5.8
Weather: few clouds

Greetings today from Albany, New York.Albany????I am writing this journal on the 4th of July, from my friend Mike's apartment here in Albany. Remember him from the Mt. Greylock fiasco??? When I got into Hanover, I went and rented a car, and drove over here. My wife is driving up here for the long weekend, and we will spend some time together, before i head back into the wilds. Fun!!! It's good to see friends, and even better to get to see my wife. A big thanks to my mom for the care package in Hanover. Mmmmmm... she sent me dried apple bits (i need fruits and veggies) and a tub of brownie bites. Those were very yummy. I shared with Gobbles and Knuckles, and then took the rest with me for my car ride. I ate most of them already.Yesterday, was a good hiking day. It started with waking up at 4:30am, and packing up. Gobbles got eaten alive the previous night by the mosquitoes, and was raring to go at 4:30. Knuckles also got eaten pretty bad. I had my bugnet, so when they were talking about how bad it was, I just kinda played with my thumbs, and tried not to look them in the eye. I actually slept really well.the hike from the shelter to Norwich, the town just before Hanover was downhill mostly, and awesome. We did the first 3.5 miles in a little over an hour. Then we roadwalked through Norwich (and bypassed some trail magic. So sad... it was good trail magic, but it was soda... and although i have done it, i wasn't in the mood for soda at 6:30 in the morning). After walking through town, we crossed the CT river and walked into New Hampshire. Bye Bye Vermont!We continued up the hill into Hanover, and went to the green at Dartmouth, where we dropped our packs and got out the guidebooks to figure out what to do next. we knew we wanted a yummy breakfast, but we weren't sure of the location of a place called "Lou's", which was recommended to us by 2 local women the night before....that's when Pete showed up! I don't know what he was talking about "I can't keep up", because he still beat us into town. He got there the night before, which in hiking terms, means he was just about the same distance ahead of us the entire time. But we talked to him for a while, and told him we were going to Lou's and he agreed to meet us there. We first walked to the gas station, and got into our not-too-smelly clothes, and went to eat! The food was good, but pricey.After that, I went to the post office, and called a cab to get me to the airport to pick up my rental car. While doing that, Gobbles and knuckles figured out where they wanted to stay, and called and told me to get them at the sunset motor lodge. No problemo! I drove back, and met them there. Pete wasn't there, though. He stayed on the bus they all took out there, and we haven't seen him since. Maybe they reconnected last night. That was odd....Anyway, so i took them to EMS, and we grabbed lunch at Panera before i drove away. I got to Albany around 4pm, after a nice drive through the vermont countryside, and i even ended up driving back past the Inn at Long Trail (I looked for snake eyes and Trust me at the road crossing, just in case, but they weren't there) and through rutland on my way here. Once here, i got food resupply... i may need to get more. I already know I forgot my ez-cheese for lunch... and was just kind of aimlessly driving around until Mike got home. Even though I went to college here, I really don't know my way around very well.... ha ha ha....So Mike and i hung out and went to dinner, and then called it a night. I was exhausted from the early start.I keep thinking about how to describe Vermont. It was pretty, but wet. The first couple of days sucked, but the last couple were nice. It's a tough state, with lots of climbs, so you get tired out. But the trail is good, as far as no excessive rock scrambles, and location through the woods. It's got a mixed bag of forest types, which was fun to witness, and when you have good weather, some outstanding views. It's crowded with the mix of long trail people and the AT people.... so be ready for that. I wouldn't rank it low next to PA, but definitely above GA. GA gets a bad rating for me, because it was tough, and i was consistently cold and wet, and there were no views for me. Hikers behind me will probably love Vermont, unless they get rained on almost every day like we did.Which brings me to another question we all have... what is going on with the crazy weather? Is this typical for New England? It's been raining on us since Connecticut. All of us are curious, because none of us like hiking in the rain.So now that it's the holiday weekend, and I am in Albany with the wife, I will take some time to rest, and to outfitters and enjoy town food and see some fireworks. Happy 4th of July everyone!