Date: 2022-07-13
From: Churchill Scott Shelter

To: US 4 
Miles today: 1.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Baxter has become our de facto Public Relations Officer on the trail. He talks with everyone we meet. I don¢t say that as hyperbole. He¢ll strike up a conversation with every person in the shelter, the SOBOs on the trail, day hikers, people at the outdoor cafes, store proprietors, and NOBOs passing us. He remembers everyone¢s trail name, reads every shelter log, and frequently asks where other hikers we¢ve met might be and when we might see them again.I talked with the boys before we came about people on the trail. Yes, we¢ll meet some winners but the trail has its share of losers and weirdos. I wanted them to have at least a small, if not generous, dose of skepticism about strangers. Baxter got none of that. If anyone here invited him into their van to see the puppies he¢d be all about it. Thankfully there are no vans and few puppies.So I struck up a conversation with him a few days ago about ¢sizing people up.¢ About listening to what people are saying, asking questions, watching behaviors, and noticing details in order to make a rough call about the person¢s character. We¢ve met several hikers over r past month that I reminded him of one by one and we talked about each of them. We¢re not at homeschool-group day anymore. Not everyone can be your friend.>span class="s2">Rich, a mid-sixty-year-old car mechanic, spent the next 20 minutes regaling me and the boys with stories of martial arts and archery, air-drew me a map of the road we were on and where it went in both directions, and continually tried to get Coco to swim or drink from the creek. He was a character. After he pulled off and we all went back to our evening doings I said to Baxter, ¢Let¢s size Rich up. What do you know about him?¢ Interestingly, there is very little we actually knew about him. Was he from the area? He said he was. Was he a black belt martial artist? Did he compete in the world longbow championship? Was he just out driving backroads with his dog? Was he a mechanic? Did he own the car he was in? Was that his dog? Was his name Rich? The list went on and on. I think Baxter learned that we don¢t really know much about Rich at all and that a 20-minute talk does not a friend make. We did decide he was probably a mechanic (he dressed like one), and that Coco was a kind dog, probably attached to a kind owner. Rich was also pretty entertaining. None of these talks have really dampened Baxter¢s outgoingness - it¢s who he is. It¢s fun to watch. He has soaked up our afternoon and evening at Hanover Adventure Tours. It¢s the first hostel we¢ve stayed at. Grandpa dropped us off here about 12:00 and we¢ve been enjoying our nero ever since. There are several new people here to meet and greet and Baxter has been all about it. They are all hikers or staff and all are up for swapping stories. Dad met us at US 4 just east of Rutland at 9:30 this morning. The 2 mile hike out was uneventful until within site of the road. I was, as usual, in the rear and came upon two treetops in the trail within 50 yards of each other. They were still green and completely blocking the trail with no sign of hikers walking through or around them. They had fallen in the storm yesterday. The hail and rain had been heavy, but not dangerous. These treetops were another deal altogether. These were deadly. Mountain Man (who arrived just as the storm ended) and the two hikers who had left the shelter headed north before the storm hit, all walked by this place within minutes of these tops coming out of the trees. It was a sobering lesson in the dangers out here that often go unthought of. I am, again, thankful we were inside a shelter. After we climbed into the truck we headed east for almost 2 hours. Hanover Walmart was the destination. We loaded mom & dad up with lunch and breakfast resupply food. Joni found a Moe¢s restaurant within a mile and we headed over. The boys were insistent that I pull into the McDonalds for burgers and were vocally unhappy with me for instead turning left into a low-slung shopping center. ¢WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE. GO TO MCDONALDS. there¢s a moe¢s. THERES A MOES!¢My kids like Moe¢s. We ate our fill of burritos and queso. Grandpa treated.  We left Moe¢s and drove to Hanover Adventure Tours (HAT). We gear-exploded under the circus tent outside and repacked with a 3-day resupply. Then we borrowed tubes from the nearby shed, crossed the road and the railroad tracks, and jumped into the Connecticut River. Thirty minutes of swimming in the wide & lake-like river was a blast for the boys.We have 2 rooms at the hostel. Five people in the bunk room is almost as expensive as 2 private rooms. The boys got their own room and love it. (The parents love it too.)We moved in and then headed downstairs for our $1 pint of ice cream (subsequent pints are $4.50). Reading, chess, naps, guitar, conversation, and more all filled the afternoon and early evening. We bought 2 frozen pizzas and soda from the fridge for dinner. We met Hot Rod and got her story. Laundry and showers did everyone good. Our bodies appreciated the day off but still let us know when 8:00 rolled around. That¢s about hiker bedtime, if not a little late. Clean clothes in clean sheets with a window unit AC blasting in both rooms now. Goodnight.