Date: 2014-07-18
From: Thistle Hill Shelter

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 15.4

It's another perfect hiking day. I don't want to analyze our good fortune too much. These past few days of lower temps and humidity have been hiking heaven. The trail is excellent and Vermont is incredible. I feel like I lucked out by starting from Springer in early march. Now I'm looking at the Whites, just ahead, in July. It just feels perfect to me. So excited. The trail is heading for the Connecticut River, the border of New Hampshire. There are a couple open views where I can see a line of fog following a valley over the next ridge. I think it's morning fog over the Connecticut. Close. The trail takes me down into West Hartford, VT in the valley of the White River. As I come across the bridge I hear a bell suddenly start ringing. And off to the right someone is waving me over from his porch. It's Randy and Linda. They're serving up breakfast for hikers. Bacon, eggs, toast, potatoes, and coffee. Trail Angels. Other hikers are there. We're in their home. Randy and Linda have been doing this for years. Then Hurricane Irene wiped out their house. They've just rebuilt and they're back, blessing hikers with home cooked trail magic. I have no words. It's now ten more miles to NH. As I sit by a water source further up the trail a hiker comes by and tells me someone in a vehicle was asking for me at the last road crossing. Who could that possibly be, I wonder. It'll become clear eventually. Maybe. Life is simple for me. Just keep hiking. The trail will unravel the mystery. A couple miles up the trail I am greeted, by name, by someone I've never seen before. It turns out to be Sooner or Later, my cousin Don's pastor. Total surprise. He's an avid hiker and decided he'd catch me on the trail. What fun. He gives me a pastry and water. The next couple of miles go quickly as we hike and visit together. The tread way is soft with pine needles. Wonderful. And in the background is the awareness that NH is coming up fast. I part ways with Sooner or Later at the paved road the AT takes down towards the state line. I pass at least three coolers of trail magic beside the road. As if I'm not already excited enough. And there it is...the bridge over the Connecticut. I recognize it from pictures. Here it is. New Hampshire. Maine. The Crown Jewels of the AT are just ahead. 12 states completed. As I hike into Hanover I can't stop grinning. A few days earlier I had been invited to stay with a reader of this journal. I love the idea of meeting someone local. And Tim and Janet own a vegetable farm, something I like and respect a lot. So I contacted Tim and he came in to Hanover and took me out to the farm. Thank you Tim and Janet. It was a great pleasure to spend time with you both. Your farm is wonderful. So I end a terrific day on a 50 acre vegetable farm with some wonderful people. It's been a day of milestones and magic. I can't get over what an adventure this hike has been. And here's one more day that I am the recipient of an outpouring of unconditional good will. I have said from the beginning that the AT is magical. But I had no idea how overwhelming that magic would be. I'm no starry eyed kid. I'm 66. I've traveled all over the world. I am blown away by this foot path. "It's not about the miles. It's about the smiles."