Date: 2017-07-12
From: Dan Quinn's Barn, VT Rt 12

To: Norwich, VT
Miles today: 21.6

7/12/17, Warren & Toni Thayer's House, Norwich, VTMiles hiked: 1427.3, Miles to Katahdin: 444.6, Miles to go: 762.5I survived my night alone in the barn loft. Apparently, it is not a haunted barn. There was a creepy doll hanging from the rafters; but, she didn't animate during the night and chase me around with a knife. She didn't even cry like a real baby. Either one of those would have made a really cool blog entry; but, alas, it was a quiet and restful night. I was up and on my way by 6:45 AM. I had another 20+ mile day planned to bring me to the VT-NH border. The day was beautiful and sunny. I started out with a steep climb away from VT 12. We have had a lot of ups and downs on the trail the past couple of days. At Maine Junction, where the AT diverged from the Long Trail, we turned East. So now, instead of running parallel to the ridges, we are running perpendicular to them. So, we go up, and down, and up, and down. At one point, the AT ran along an old forest road with mossy green stone walls on either side and huge old maple trees overhanging it. It put me in mind of headless horsemen (yeah, I know Sleepy Hollow was in NY) and Robert Frost poems. I am still enthralled by the feeling of History that pervades the New England section of the trail. I wonder about who stacked all the stones I see in the random walls I come across in the middle of the woods. What did the land look like when these walls were built? The AT runs right through Hanover, NH, and its counterpart across the Connecticut River, Norwich, VT. Hanover is home to the Ivy League school Dartmouth College. As a result, even though the towns are very hiker friendly, all the accommodations in the area come with Ivy League price tags, leaving nowhere for poor, smelly thru hikers to rest their weary heads and stinky feet. To counteract this problem, many residents of these fair cities have opened up their homes to thru hikers. Jeff at the Green Mountain House in Manchester Center provided me with a list of these trail angels when I stayed at his hostel. About 10 miles out from Hanover I started down the list, calling and leaving messages. I assume that most people were at work. I was beginning to get worried when I got a call back from Warren Thayer offering me a bed for the night. I was pleased because I had heard raves about Warren and his wife, Toni, from a SOBO hiker a couple of days ago. Warren's house was easy to find. It was the first one I came to after leaving the woods and entering Norwich. It was also the house with AT stickers all over the mailbox and a cooler full of trail magic at the end of the drive. This whole list was a toss of the dice, not knowing anything about the people or homes. Well, I rolled the dice pretty well, let me tell you!This house, which is in a very up-scale neighborhood, would probably go for $750K - $1M. Warren works from home as a magazine editor and Toni is a nurse. They are incredibly nice people who converted their basement into a place for hikers to sleep, shower, and do laundry. All for the grand price of zero, nada, goose egg! Wow!I am sharing the basement with a nice NOBO hiker named Grapenut and am once again clean, dry, and non-smelly. Not only that, there is no creepy doll hanging from the rafters.  Tomorrow - a new state!