Date: 2006-08-30
From: Hanover, NH

To: View Entry
Miles today: 389.0

That's right, as of today I have 441 miles left to Katahdin, wow time sure does fly! I'm having a great time being back in the real woods. The forest has been awesome lately. Stands of pine, fir (such an awesome smell), hemlock, birch, maple etc. So places are so open and other have lots of ground cover. I love the areas covered in moss and lichen, not as much fun to bushwhack through overgrown bushes... esp the ones with thorns... but the acres upon acres of touch-me-nots (in brillant yellow or orange) are awesome!Just got into New Hampshire yesterday afternoon! Soon I'll be climbing up some real mountains in the Whites :-) Looking forward to being above treeline for some great views...despite the cooler temps. Everyone else shakes their head at me and calls me a Mainiac when I jump out of bed in the morning and walk around in shorts, as they're all reluctant to leave the warmth of their sleeping bags. Here's hoping the trail magic in NH and ME will be as good as it was in VT, b/c it was awesome. Sodas in creeks (thanks to Hiking Gnome and The Outhouse Repairman) and in coolers alongside the road (w/ snacks too! thanks to the person who left those for us at the 500 mile mark!), and Gatorade and Apples too!! A visit from a hiking buddy's grandpa was also awesome! A visit to the Long Trail Brewery for lunch (after hiking 11 miles) was followed by a short jaunt through the woods (3 miles to the campsite) :-) then a 20 mile slackpack the next day in hypothermia temperatures and drizzling rain.. no sitting aroung that day! Thanks Steve and Dottie! They also came to my rescue and brought back my broken trekking pole... yes I managed to break a Leki Makalu pole... quite a feat to accomplish that, fortunately the pole got the worst of the fall not me!But the best story of all was yesterday morning! I was sitting in front of this house on the stone wall emptying out my shoes of full sized sticks, cluters of pine needles and large boulder like rocks... when Jim came out to pick up his newspaper with his dog Jakey. We started chatting and before long we were eating a gormuet breakfast! Can't beat that... a half a cantaloupe, 3 eggs, ham, toast, tea, and 2 tall glasses of OJ. Then when we were done he's like, How about some ice cream? - hiker's can't refuse food of course, so a large bowl of chocolate ice cream and some fudge stripes filled me up and fueled my sprint to Hanover. Meanwhile though I also got to take a nice hot shower while Jim did my laundry for me (his wife is 6' so he even hooked me up with a change of clothes) and let me call my parents :-) Can't beat that! I so enjoyed getting to know him and learning all about his family. Probably even going to call him up this winter and hit Killington w/ him since he's retired he said to come anytime :-) It's amazing how many great people I've met out here on the trail!!! I could go on and on, but I will not, that way you all have something to look forward to when I get back :-P Oh speaking of which, I just going to throw this out... if anyone who has been reading this lives near Rangeley or would like to visit there this fall and in the process bring me a maildrop please drop me a note on my guestbook! thanks :-) Alright gotta get back in the woods! Love you all and can't wait to see you before long!