Date: 2018-09-10
From: North Woodstock New Hamsphire

To: Woodstock Vermont
Miles today: 66.1

http://www.trailjournals.com/m... - Trail Journals link to my site   https://share.garmin.com/willi... - Map allows you to follow my travel including location of stops for each night.   ----- BLUE FLAGS ¢ Start and finish  ----- RED FLAGS ¢ Daily night stops along the Appalachian Trail  ----- YELLOW CIRCLE ¢ Down time locations where I got off trail to enjoy area and couple days of real   beds / food.   Also for those with access to FACEBOOK and want to see PICS, please view ¢SCAMPING WE WILL GO¢  NORTH WOODSTOCK NEW HAMPSHIRE to WOODSTOCK VERMONT (fall hiking New England States)  66.1 miles  Dates: September 3rd to September 10th, 2018  New Hampshire into Vermont  After a night at the Notch Hostel in North Woodstock NH, I headed over to the Hiker Welcome Hostel in Glencliff NH. The owner of the Notch Hostel gave me a ride back to Kingsman Notch where the driver of the Welcome Hiker Hostel arrived taking may backpack in exchange for a small one so I could slack pack over the 4800 ¢ Mount Moosilakee arriving at his hostel that afternoon. The day started out great but by ten the weather changed with thunderstorms overhead raining on me. At first I was worried about being outside in lightning but then there was simply nowhere to go so I kept hiking. By 11am the rain had stopped and the winds shifted to the north blowing around 20-30 miles per hour and cooling off fast. By the time I reached the top I had stopped to put a hooded shirt under my rain coat as I was getting cold. Heavy fog hung over the mountain top as I entered the alpine zone on top void of any vegetation. So far the hike was great, especially knowing this was the last mountain of the whites, putting that behind me for good. It would take about 45 minutes to traverse the top of the mountain before descending back into the forest. With very low visibility I followed the cairns of rocks used as markers to show the path of the AT. After a few minutes the sound of distant thunder rolled across the sky. Another hiker close to me also stopped with that worried look on his face and we had to make a decision to either turn back and take shelter in the trees or hope that we could get across the top before the next storm rolled in. We both decided the second choice and I picked up my pace quite a bit. It was overall an enjoyable hike without much gains or loss but my wet hand began to go numb from the cold and it was hard to hold the poles. I finally reached the other end and into the forest I went. After about another hour the sky began to clear and within 45 minutes I was under bright blue sunny skies, but still with a cold strong wind. Apparently a cold front passed overhead. By 3pm I reached the base and into the Welcome Hiker Hostel. At the hostel was the printed weather forecast for the next few days of sunny dry skies, highs in the low sixties and lows in the mid to upper 30s. Fall was definitely in the air today.  It took me two days to reach the small town of Lyme NH after crossing the Dartmouth Skiway, a private ski area dedicated to the students of Dartmouth College. The first night was just cold enough to make me use both my winter sleeping bag and my emergency down blanket that did a great job of keeping me warm. I was planning to stop for the second night at the Cabin John Shelter just off of the Skiway but as I read my AT guide, it listed a small lodge in the town of Lyme just over 3 miles away that had an AT hiker rate with breakfast that sounded great, so down to the road I hiked and within 5 minutes a woman in her mid-40s in a blue pickup truck stopped and asked if I wanted a ride ¢ which I accepted. I told her of my plans including stopping for dinner at any local restaurant. She was friendly and helpful suggesting and dropping me off at the Dowd¢s Pub. After a beer and burger with all of the trimmings I headed another half mile to the Loch Lyme Lodge and Cabins located on a small and beautiful lake. When I got there, the owners greeted me but indicated they had no extra rooms of cabins as they had a wedding party that booked the entire place. Instead they offered me to use for free one cabin that needed a lot of work but was functional including power, hot shower and toilet. I would have to use my own sleeping bag. It was a deal that I could not pass up, so off I went among the wedding goers to my cabin, took a long shower, climbed into bed and off to sleep.  I slept in that morning until nearly 8, got packed up and headed back to the road. Again I got picked up within a few minutes by a young man also in a pickup truck that took me back to the trail head, but only after stopping to buy me a cup of coffee. Today would take me to the outskirts of Hanover NH, home to Dartmouth University. I spend the night in a shelter just outside of town, getting up early the next morning and heading into Hanover. The trail literally came out on the edges of the Dartmouth University soccer fields where children leagues were in progress. Many of the parents waved as I passed by, in amazement at the beauty of the area.  I decided to get breakfast at a local place called Lou¢s. As I stood in line the couple ahead of me asked if I would like to join them. Tom and Jean were locals that frequented this place. They were telling me the history of this restaurant as I looked at the pictures on the wall. There framed were pictures of many presidential candidates from all of the past elections. They explained that New Hampshire is the first state to hold primaries and this restaurant is one of the most sought after places for candidates to start their campaigns at. Jean explained that the press would descend on the town prior to the primaries in hopes of filming and interviewing candidates at Lou¢s. Even the waitress, who has been working there for 33 years came around to tell us stories of candidates over the years. After I heard the stories and saw the pictures, I realized that I have in fact seen this place on TV many times before.  As we talked another hiker by the trail name ¢Riverstrap¢ came in. I had seen him several other times over the last few weeks, so Tom and Jean invited him to join us. As we talked, it turns out that he and I are near neighbors. He lives in Loveland also. This was a pleasant surprise to both of us, exchanging information and promising to connect after we both complete the hike. He had just started his hike and would not be done until late year or early next year. We agreed we would talk more that night as we would both be headed to the same shelter. Tom and Jean insisted on buying us breakfast and telling them of our adventures on the trail. As we ended and departed, I headed to a small store for some resupply, then over to a barber for a quick trim and then to Northface to get a sleeveless fleece vest. Forecast for the night was upper 30s, and that was in town, not up another 2000¢ in the mountains. The town was full of new students and parents as this was the weekend of school opening. It was fun to watch the hustle and bustle of students everywhere. I silently thanked Marilee for sending me my winter sleeping bag knowing it would come in very handy tonight. I departed Hanover to cross the Connecticut River and into Norwich Vermont. Today was going to be a pleasant day, hiking along city streets and old neighborhoods for nearly six miles before I would reenter the woods. The last turn in Norwich would take me up a neighbor road full of old brick gorgeous homes lined with trees everywhere. Many of the homes had placed ¢Trail Angel¢ boxes in their driveways full of food, snacks and drinks. One even had two chairs to sit in and relax as we enjoyed their treats.  The hike to the next shelter was one of the best paths to date. No steep rocky climb, instead wide, dirt paths across farm lands and field filled with blackberries in bloom. Riverstrap and I stopped several times to eat blackberries. By five I reached the shelter and could already feel the cold in the air. By seven we had both ate dinner, set up for the night and crawled into our sleeping bags as the temps were falling fast. I had put on under my PJ¢s my long undershirt and underwear, then my hooded shirt over the top. Even that was not enough as I was cold so I got up and got out the down blanket as well. In the morning, Forager Mike came into camp who I have connected with all the way back to Maine. He indicated that by Monday we were expected to get heavy rains. Riverstrap was able to get a signal from his phone and confirmed the forecast. Monday afternoon through Tuesday would be a washout as both an approaching cold front and what at the time was Tropical Storm Florence would converge over the eastern U.S. and drench us. This day would also be another amazing hiking day of great trails and great weather. As I hiked I began to devise bail out plans and share them with Riverstrap. Neither one of us had any intent of hiking or sleeping in shelters in such a storm. I had enough of those back in the 100 mile wilderness. We would hike to Thistle Hill shelter and finalize plans there. As we entered the small town of Pomfre, Vermont we came across a hostel in the making where the owner was cooking a large turkey over a campfire and invited us to join. There were several other AT hikers there who were working for stay and food helping him get the place fixed up. As I stuffed my face with turkey, the owner offered everyone to join him jumping off the bridge across the road into the nearby river below. I looked over to a 30 plus foot drop into clear waters seeing the bottom. The owner had marked a spot on the bridge where the river was so deep that he stated no one has ever touched the bottom including those that tried. All I could think of was getting wet and cold so I let Riverstrap have all the fun while I watched. After food and fun, we left for the shelter. More of the same beautiful trail as yesterday passing through fields and farms on a nice trail.  When we got to the shelter, Riverstrap was able to download the latest weather from the National Weather Service. Tropical Storm Florence had transformed into a Category One Hurricane off the Carolina's¢ coast and expected to make landfall within a day or so. He was also able to bring up a radar shot where I could see both the cold front approaching and the hurricane off the coast. The decision was made.  We would get up and hike to Highway 12 where the AT crossed it and head down into Woodstock Vermont. I found a hotel in my AT guide and he called to confirm reservations.  As I hiked this morning, I could feel the temperatures slowly dropping to the point I stopped to add a layer of clothes. My hands were getting cold and I had problems holding my poles. I exited the AT and followed a beautiful dirt road down into got to Woodstock lined with old colonial farms and building straight out of a postcard. The road was lined with small businesses selling everything from apples to maple syrup. At the end of the road was a very old cemetery lined with stones from the early American days of the revolution. In the cemetery were old headstones with dates of the 1700¢s with several having American flags on them. Here before me most likely laid some of our forefathers that held and defeated British forces during the opening days of America. Along the way was a large old farm that belonged to the Rockefeller's. This is what I wanted from the AT and I was getting to see American history first hand.   I got to Woodstock about an hour before him so I got breakfast and sent him a text I was in town and would be at the library where he could find me. By the time I finished breakfast he sent me a text he was in town as well. Across the street from me was Riverstrap sitting holding two bottles of local fresh chocolate milk, one for himself and one for me. We sat outside drinking the chocolate milk. I left him for a couple of minutes to go down the block where one of Paul Revere¢s bells where hanging in an old church with the date of 1781. After we crossed the street so Riverstrap could get food and I headed to the library where I sit now. My journey so far has been everything I had hoped for and I feel good about my decision to return and finish the AT.   As I look out the library window now I can see heavy rains have begun so I will close for now, find my raincoat and backpack cover and hike down the road for a well-deserved rest in a real bed with a real pillow and a real shower.