Date: 2013-07-22
From: Three Mile Road

To: Happy Hill Shelter
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: broken clouds

DAY 43MILES ON AT FOR DAY- 14.2MILES TOTAL FOR DAY- 14.2We woke up to people walking by our tent at 5:30am. Up and at em! We wanted to get going early anyway to spend some time in town. Early into our hike we passed Turducken and Sprout. They were also up early and anxious to get in town. I put my headphones on to get into cruise mode. Not long after I did so, a NoBo named Monkey came through. He started May 16th! Impressive. I also met another NoBo named Grampa. Not too long after them ANOTHER NoBo came through. His name was Tallboy. His 21st birthday had apparently been the night before and he was quite dehydrated so I have him some water. Not long after him we came upon Furprittius which was a HUGE surprise! The last time I had seen him was back in Monson, ME!He had apparently done a 30 something mile night hike with Slips and Mutt and was not moving fast. They were who we heard hiking earlier that morning at 5:30am. Slips and Mutt were ahead and were planning to take a nap at the shelter before Hanover. That's where Furprittius was headed but we convinced him to slog through another mile and a half and just get to Hanover. As we neared the shelter we met some more NoBo's who had been with Tallboy. Their names were Tracker and Heart Rock with their dog "Dag the Dog" who they found in Virginia on the trail.Right after them we met a woman and her daughter hiking a section that the woman had apparently never finished from an attempted thru-hike in 84'. Her trail name was the "Clench Wench" which I found hilarious and would love to know the story behind haha. She was really nice though and was very excited to see us thru-hikers. She snapped a picture of us and we were on our way again. The 3 of us strolled into Hanover around 11am at the grocery store and saw Turducken and Sprout outside. Furprittius was exhausted and passed out immediately in the soccer field before the grocery store face down haha. Poor kid. As Nightwalker and I took the road walk into Hanover we shockingly saw Chef who I hadn't seen since Monson, ME either! He had apparently skipped the white mountains. Kind of lame. He was with another hiker doing a section named Sean. We talked for a bit and then continued on into town to get our free treats for AT thru-hikers: Lou's gave out a free donut, the Metro gave out a free bagel, and Ramuntos have out a free pizza slice. BEST TRAIL TOWN EVER!First I took on Lou's and got a free maple glazed donut and a large iced coffee When I came out to go across the street and enjoy it on a bench I saw Pivot Man crossing the street. Again another shocker! Hadn't seen him since Stratton, ME. Seems like EVERYONE was in Hanover! Nightwalker and I caught up with him and met an 03' thru-hiker named "Rock Hound" who came over to us. He welcomed us into the town just as pretty much everyone else in town did. I felt like a celebrity! After that we strolled over to the Metro for the free bagel. After that Pivot Man went to go find Furprittius in the soccer field and I went over to the Dartmouth Outing Club to stash my pack and use their computer so I could journal some. After about 2 hours Pivot Man and Nightwalker came back to get me to get the free pizza and a beer. Apparently Slips and Mutt had awoken from their nap after their night hike so we met up with them to say hi at a bar after.By the time we got to them it was getting late so Nightwalker and I decided to bounce. It was 5pm and we wanted to hike out to a shelter. On our way out of town still on the road walk we passed a NoBo named Puffy. Immediately after we passed over the CT river which was the border of NH and VT. We entered our 3rd state!!! It felt awesome! To celebrate we stopped at a convenient store before entering the woods and grabbed a local brew to pack out... a Smoked Maple Lager. Very celebratory of VT I would say. While we were in there a worker saw us and snuck us out some bagels. Could this day get any better? Well yes it could. As we walked up the last part of the now longest road walk, a woman named Betsy was driving down the street and told us to make sure we stopped up at her house for some trail magic. She had left fresh watermelon slices out. Ahhhh fresh fruit! And watermelon! My new favorite!!Finally we were back in the woods after what felt like we were walking celebrities. So much trail magic and kindness! It was unlike any town we had been through. I was already liking VT a lot! We cranked out the miles I the shelter and managed to sustain 3 mph. We were really hoping to get space in the shelter (even though we were showing up late) since the forecast said rain, but unfortunately a prayer group had taken it over. Tenting for us. How could we be mad though with a beer and free food?!Turducken and Sprout showed up after us and tented as well. We all hung out while sipping our delicious Maple Lagers and it began to rain. Rain couldn't ruin this day.