Date: 2015-07-25
From: Norwich, VT

To: 1,764.6 campsite, NH
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Awful night of sleep last night due to the snoring of another hiker. It was the same style of snoring as Moosehead which has caused me many nights of lost sleep over the past few months. I was close to waking the guy up simply to tell him to turn over and stfu, but he magically ceased starting around 1:00am, allowing me to fall asleep through 4:00am when it started up again. He was up and gone before me this morning or I would've told him to screw off. He was a nice guy and all, but when you know you snore like that, find elsewhere to sleep so that other hikers don't suffer. Rant over. Up just after 7:30am and enjoying a cup of coffee soon after. I held off on breakfast, knowing I'd soon be eating a Saturday morning breakfast held by Norwich each week. We finally rounded up our gear, thanked Short & Sweet several times over, and headed a mile down the mountain into Norwich.Rabbit parted ways as we entered town, instead heading for Hanover where he planned to wait for us. Yoohoo and I went to an old-home-turned-community-center where, for $6.00, we could eat as much breakfast as we could stuff in our bellies. A roomful of mainly middle aged and older people sat talking amongst themselves and eating when we arrived. Everyone glanced at us from time to time, but always with a smile since they're use to and welcome hikers into the community. We spent the next hour enjoying scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, sausage, blueberry pancakes, OJ, and coffee while talking to various locals who threw questions in our direction. I actually only had one plate of food, having made the decision to begin weaning myself from eating my weight in food each meal from now on. Sure, my body could use the cals, but the more I prepare now, the easier the transition will be post-hike. After we ate, we headed for Hanover, NH, less than ~2 miles away.Although we crossed in and out of New Hampshire several times over the past day and a half, Yoohoo and I still found pleasure in the milestone of officially reaching our second-to-last state, hootin' and hollerin' above the Connecticut River bridge in the process. We continued into Hanover which is poorly blazed in the quarter mile stretch that runs through the town, but luckily we knew the general direction to follow after watching several hikers during our zero. We first walked to CVS where we did a light resupply - just enough to last us ~2-3 days to where we can resupply again before entering the White's. We then decided to get a foot long sandwich from Subway and pack half of it out with us. We breaked and had an early lunch even though we finished breakfast just over an hour before. With 6" sandwiches stuffed in our packs, we zigzagged our way through and eventually out of Hanover, returning into the woods behind the center field fence of the Dartmouth softball field. A couple hundred yards in we spotted a full Gatorade bottle sitting on the trail and happily split it. What can I say - towns have a way of sucking you in and spoiling you. We needed every bit of energy to return to the trail. We'd soon be hiking north, though, unsure of our destination seeing that it was noon. Time and terrain would tell.Most of today's hike would pass by uneventfully, Yoohoo and I hiking several feet apart, only occasionally speaking. I mostly listened to music and did what I've done for hundreds of miles in talking to myself - speaking to the trees, the dogs, and the trail. The terrain was mainly easy-to-moderate going, the only challenges coming in the form of 2 back-to-back ~1,000ft climbs up Moose Mountain and up to Holt's Ledge. We stopped in at Moose Mountain Shelter and enjoyed the 6"ers we packed out, as well as bottles of Coke, and chatted with a few familiar faces. With it being a little after 4:00pm, I commented to Yoohoo tat this wasn't Thanksgiving dinner and we should get moving in order to cover another ~6 miles to Trapper John Shelter, just on the other side of another ~1,000ft climb. Soon enough we were back to it.We continued in our usual formation with Yoohoo leading until we reached the point were terrain became noticeably steeper. He kindly stepped aside and let me past and I covered the ~2-mile ascent with relative ease, making it the first time I sweated all day. I reached the summit along Holt's Ledge, a series of rock outcroppings with sheer drops, most likely resulting in death amongst the trees a few hundred feet below. We passed though an old fence, once a deterrent to keep hikers away from the ledge, and enjoyed solid views of the New Hampshire "lower" country. A particular mountain in the distance had a peak obscured by clouds and is one, I believe, we'll be climbing over in a couple days as we close in on the White's. From these views it was only a few tenths of a mile downhill until Trapper John Shelter where we think Rabbit and Huey were held up for the evening. However, on our way down and after a wipe out on a slick rock by Yoohoo (a bloody knee, but nothing some water couldn't fix), we soon realized we missed the turnoff for the shelter when we reached a road ~1 mile beyond. Not wanting to climb back up the mountain, we decided we were going to cover another ~2 miles max and look to stealth camp.However, as we were nearing ready to continue, 2 locals on an evening walk stopped and asked if we knew the Ice Cream Man. No, but it sure peaked our interest. They informed us that we were a mere ~100 yards shy of his house and that we could camp on his property as well as enjoy free ice cream. They were hardly gone before we were shuffling to our feet in order to get there. As we rounded a corner into an open field, sure enough there was a sign stating we had reached the home of the Ice Cream Man. We followed a side trail for a couple hundred feet and reached a blue house with Tibetan prayer flags hanging around the porch and between the house and a nearby tree. We'd soon meet the Ice Cream Man, a kind, eldery man involved with the trail for many years, and he was soon handing us chocolate-covered ice cream bars which were gone in a flash. He's also supposedly not too shabby at croquet, but it was a little late in the evening to have a go on a croquet lawn he created just behind his home. Instead we set up our tents, enjoyed a dinner or light snacks, and filled up on water. I've also been utilizing WiFi as I journal tonight and will be charging my gadget via a power outlet on his porch overnight. At a moment where we were looking for something, the trail responded by leading us to the home of the Ice Cream Man. A nice surprise, for sure. It's just after 10:30pm and the half dozen hikers have been hidden away innthekr tents for close to 2 hours now, most likely already fast asleep.Tomorrow's forecast calls for periods of rain and possibly storms throughout the day so tomorrow's miles will be heavily influenced by what happens. As long as it's not a day-long drencher, I hope to be able to put in miles in between the rain. Tomorrow begins with ~6 miles and ~2,300ft of elevation gain up Smart's Mountain followed almost immediately by another ~1,400ft climb over ~3 miles. The remainder of the day wouldn't be too bad as the terrain inches ever so closer to the vertical wall that is the start of the White's. For now, I'm off to sleep feeling awesome about a 20-mile day when 15 would've been considered good.Here's to turkey and black forest ham, the Ice Cream Man, and taking advantage of fair-weather days.