Date: 2008-06-23
From: Katahdin, Baxter Peak

To: Tenting in Hanover, New Hampshire
Miles today: 26.3

What you must understand is that town has a powerful lure, it over takes your mind as you become closer. That's exactly what happened today, and it felt absolutely amazing.wake up call was 5:00AM, I was walking with Cookie at 6:00AM. Before I describe my day I want to note that I saw five salamanders on trail today, in case you were wondering.It was most downhill from the shelter to VT route 12. It rained on and off during this descent, which made for tricky navigation at times. Cookie had a semi-nasty fall about 15 minutes into the day. He was quite disgruntled, as I imagine you would be if you slipped on a root right at the start of the day. It was uphill and slippery, of course, coming out of the road. The climb seemed irrational. This section of trail is maintained by the venerable Dartmouth Outing Club. I had a few curse words for them today.It was then time to descend to Woodstock Stage Road, then reascend some other pointless landmass. Please know that it's raining on and off as the trail death marches me from ridge to ridge.Once I finished ascending this hill, I descended to Pomfret road, where I proceeded to be marched up yet another ridge. However, there were some neat looking fields I was taking through today, which made up for the hell in between. Some of the ridges, to the DOC's credit, would have had views if I was not walking in a cloud.After descending to yet another road, it was time to complete the final leg of the climb to Thistle Hill Shelter. These were the longest 11.6 miles I've hiked in a very long time. They were quite hard. At the junction for the shelter Cookie and I decided to push 4.7 more miles to a road crossing for lunch. At this road crossing we would have access to a store to buy some soda. We were determined to get there. Please note that ALL descents have some form of uphill at some point. Since it was no longer raining it was easier than it normally would have been.Lunch today consisted of two bagels with pepperoni and cheese, two nutri-grain bars, two granola bars, a coffee cake, a bag of chips and a pepsi. High calorie lunches are important on the trail. After lunch we walked down to the White River and attempted to find the leak in my air mattress, but it could not be found. We determined than when we rolled into town we would find an outfitter and get it replaced.Descending into a river valley brings a harsh reality on the other side: A climb. The climb out of the valley was persistent and got in my face from time to time, that's the way a lot of climbs were today. From time to time I would look up ahead on trail and see Cookie fading away in the distance, directly in front of me. The trail sent me up a lot of mini-ravines during the climb, it was actually kind of fun on some level. During the climb I had my mind focused on getting to the shelter.We rolled into Happy Hill Shelter at 4:40PM. We found out the mosquitoes had their regional headquarters set up here, which meant we would not be sleeping in the shelter. Our options were to set up tent at the shelter, or to push the final 5.9 miles to Hanover, NH, which also meant the end of Vermont. It was an easy decision: To Hanover.The descent to Norwich, Vermont was cake walk. I was so pumped with energy that I did not notice any uphill. I was ready for Hanover, I was ready to be in New Hampshire. I was ready to be done with Vermont. Once you hit Norwich, VT, it's and easy 1.5 mile road walk to town. Cookie and I were having a blast during this walk. We were marching down the middle of the street, listening to our radios and singing the songs as loud as we could. I don't think I've felt that amazing on this entire trip. It's as if something took me over, some form of excitement that rarely happens. My mind knew something big was coming. To top it all of there was trail magic on the road. In front of the house of "The Brain(AT NOBO 2007) there sat a cooler with watermelon, apples, cookies, chocolate and some Nature Valley Bars. it just could not get any better.Or could it? A while later we stepped onto a bridge leading over the Conneticut River. In the middle of this bridge was a stone monument that proclaimed on it the power letters: VT/NH. I had just entered NH: I was no longer in Vermont. The funny thing about this border is that while it is marked over the middle of the river, you are technically in NH the moment you are standing over water on the Vermont bank. NH has control of the CT river up to the river bank. I have high hopes for NH. The In three days I hope to enter the White Mountains, which is going to be the most amazing experience. I've been looking forward to the Whites for a very long time. Once we rolled into downtown Hanover, NH, we hit a Quizno's for dinner. I had a chicken Caesar salad while watching part of a Red Sox game.We then walked to the edge of town, where we set up tent. We set up our tents right where the trail re-enters the woods, I'm literally five feet from a wide open field. Tomorrow morning I'll walk back into town and complete some chores/I've now walked through 12 of the 14 states on trail. I sleeping in state 13.The end is near.And that's the way it was.Kirby