Date: 2006-07-16
From: Winturri shelter

To: West Hartford, VT 14
Miles today: 16.4

When I woke up this morning, the air was so thick from the humidity, it was hard to breath. I think we are in for a very hot one today. Posie Picker was still sleeping when we left and another young hiker who stayed at the shelter last night had already left. I gave him some advice on how to care for his feet because he was having some issues with the boots eating up his feet. I said he could probably get what he needed in Hanover NH.         I was amazed at the size of his pack, he said it was about 50lbs. I think that was part of his problem with his feet, and he wears leather boots. Heat, warm socks, and heavy warm boots, spells foot problems. I know what it feels like to have feet that are hot and hurting. Makes for a miserable hike. Oh yes, his name is Greg, he doesn¢t have a trail yet. I¢m sure we will meet again somewhere along the trail.        After about 10 miles we were in desperate need of a break from the heat, so we took a little detour up a hill 2 tenths of a mile to Cloudland Farms which has fresh ICE CREAM. ¢Man, What a treat¢, and lets not forget the two bottles each, of homemade root beer sodas chugged down before the ice cream. ¢Like I always say, Life Is Good¢.         A lot of our hike today was spent walking threw meadows and farmlands which was very hot in the open sun. The sweat was pouring off the end of my beard in a steady stream. I can see why some hikers prefer to do their hiking at night.         Our hike today will end at West Hartford VT 14, where there is suppose to be a store where we can pitch our tents for the night. Mad Hatter said he stayed there on his hike in 04¢. We walked down a road, crossed a bridge over the river and there we were on VT 14. We turned left on the street and the store was there, but it was closed up tight, with a for sale sign in the window. There was a nice green stretch of grass right near the river to camp but there was a no trespass sign, so Two Step went across the street to ask a neighbor if it was okay to camp on the grass. They said they didn¢t own the property, but that the owners never let anyone camp there. Then there were two guys who were fishing who were walking by us and Two Step asked them if there was a place close by where we could camp for the night. Their reply was, we either had to go 5miles north, or 5miles south of town. They weren¢t very friendly either, and we were thinking, this is not a very friendly town. I couldn¢t think of going on any further, I was exhausted and done in from the heat.        Then, just when we couldn¢t decide what to do, a van pulled up to us and a guy rolled down the window and asked us if we would like a cold drink. ¢ What do you think we said without hesitation?¢ So he told us to walk down the street to a blue house just past the library. When we got there, Linda his wife was coming out of their house with four cans of soda, which was gone about as fast as we could say thank you. We asked if they knew of a place in town where we could camp for the night and they said we could stay in the loft above the barn. We said thank you, but we would prefer to sleep in our tents because it would be cooler.        Larry just got back from fishing and told us that if we wanted to get cleaned up at the river, by the time we got back, he would have the four trout he caught ready for us to eat.What a family. They are the true meaning of Trail Magic, and Trail Angels. These wonderful people don¢t have very much, but they have Harts of Gold. They would share whatever they have.        They have taken in quite a few hikers it seems since 2002 and Two Step did see a few names he recognized in their log book.         This has been an unforgettable day. Remember these peoples names if you hikers should ever pass this way on a hike threw here. Larry& Linda Hart, and two delightful young daughters and I believe another older daughter. I don¢t remember their names, but I will never forget them for the kindness that they showed us in our time of need.