Date: 2009-08-03
From: Thistle Hill Shelter

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: broken clouds

I slept pretty decently during the night, as I was so tired. I didn¢t want to get up early, but at 6:11, Leon did a trumpet call, and called Halifax. I stayed in my hammock until 6:50, packed up, and headed out alone. MudD eventually passed me and I told him I wished I could hike as fast as him! He paused thoughtfully before saying, ¢I don¢t know what it is! It must be all the poptarts I ate this morning!¢    We had to do some road walking, which I found confusing, as there weren¢t many white blazes to guide us, and the landmarks in my guidebook weren¢t matching what I was coming across. I made it to VT 14 and saw the village store. There were several backpacks outside. I didn¢t know about this place and wondered if I should stop and have something to eat. Why, of course! All of the hikers stopped. I had an egg, cheese, and bacon sandwich on an English muffin along with a coffee. There was no dearth of places to eat along this trail. I felt very spoiled.    When I went to clean up in the bathroom, Mississippi had come in and put his things across from where I was sitting! I ordered a pancake and sat down across from him. SkyKing offered us his newspaper. I saw Michael Phelps on the cover and wanted to read about him. I told Mississippi that Michael looks exactly like my brother. He didn¢t care. He avoided any real talk by looking at either the paper or the phone. Stats came in later. Mississippi exclaimed, ¢Hey man!¢ The hypocrisy of it all was making me feel ill. People were being all nice to each other¢s face, but slandering them when they turned around- exactly what I felt was not happening early on in the trail, and why I felt so much happier back then. I left the table and went outside to re-pack and get going, while everyone else lounged on the grass.    Some ways into the hike, I reached a stream, and paused in front of it, wondering if I should collect water here or not. All of a sudden, I looked behind me and Kog, MudD, and Cyborg were right there! They startled me! I decided to wait to get water and precariously stepped across the rocks. One tipped and I screamed. It felt good to do that!    Later on, after another stream crossing, Mississippi, Stats and Joker passed me. They all went to the next shelter for a break, but I decided to move on. I almost had to call after Kog because he missed a turn, but he quickly noticed his mistake. When I was alone again, I sang and danced to the music on my ipod, which was fun. When I came out of the woods, I didn¢t realize the AT followed the road, and instead crossed it and headed around a field. It didn¢t seem right, however, so I turned back and found the correct way. We had a lot of road walking to get into Hanover. The houses and flowers along the way were really pretty and well-maintained. Joker and Stats caught up, as we headed toward the bridge. Joker kept waving excitedly to every car that passed by. We finally reached the VT/NH border on the bridge and took pictures. This was a big moment for me. It finally felt like I had reached a milestone. We had only two states left to go, albeit the two most difficult ones. But they were also the most exciting ones! I had come so far!   Leatherfoot, a man who attemped to thru-hike the trail this year, but had to get off as a result of sickness, had trail magic set up for us. He made us all sandwiches and had apples, oranges, drinks, and M+Ms for us! It was wonderful! We all relaxed, rested, and took in the moment. I called Erik and Laura to tell them that I had made it to New Hampshire! They were so excited for me! My feet were all cut up from wet socks rubbing against my skin and I didn¢t want to put my shoes back on. Stats made a call to the Hanover Inn and rounded up people to share a room. Mississippi quickly volunteered. I passed...   I headed into town, called the nearest hostel and left a message, and went to pick up my maildrop. I was quickly growing tired and feeling dehydrated. I called the hostel several times, but never got an answer. So, I headed over to the Hanover Inn for my own luxurious room! It was nice, but they had no laundry facilities, so I washed my clothes in the sink. Then I headed out to Ramuntos for my free slice of pizza, a salad, and a glass of wine! Then I topped it all off with a brownie sundae from Ben and Jerry¢s before heading back to my room to once again label all of my photos and finally drift of to sleep in the fresh white sheets.