Date: 2014-08-31
From: Hanover, NH mile 442.1

To: Cloudland Shelter mile 458.6
Miles today: 16.5

Passed two benchmarks today. I finished another state crossing the Connecticut River to leave New Hampshire and enter Vermont, and I got the miles to finish meter under 900. I left the motel before they opened their little breakfast, caught a ride into Hanover, and ate another quality breakfast at Lou's Bakery. Then I walked across the River to Norwich and picked up supplies and drank a chocolate milk at Dan & Whit's delightful general store. On the way to Norwich I made my first mistake of the day. I was wearing my new rain pants which have a pocket for my map. When I checked the map I stuck it back in the leg side zip instead of the pocket where it promptly fell out. I did not notice it was gone until I was in the middle of Norwich. I dropped my pack in the yard of a lady who was tending her flowers with her baby and backtracked to find it. So far I really like Vermonters:The Watsons who took me in yesterday live on the Vermont side of the River. When I returned for my pack with my recovered map the lady had talked with her little boy about hikers and had him give me some Reece's Cups.Later in the day at West Hartford I was looking forward to getting something cold to drink at the store listed in the trail manual, but the store was closed. When I stopped on the steps of West Hartford's new library to use the WiFi to contact May Louise, the lady at the house next door invited me over for a coke and hamburger. Linda and Randy live on the trail in front of the bridge over the White River that younger hikers jump off of for a swim. They have gone into the full time trail magic business sitting on their front porch and ringing a bell to invite every hiker that passes up for a free meal and offering an overnight stay in their garage. While I was there Linda told how during a Hurricane Irene the River rose, washed away their van, and flooded their house. She also described how her three year old grandson took over operation of the bell, learned how to distinguish hikers from fishermen, and proclaimed his intention to become a hiker.   The rain finally started while I was there and I was tempted to accept their offer of a place to stay. As I was walking up the road after crossing the River without jumping off the bridge I missed the trail turnoff into the woods, but before I had gone over a half mile out of my way a Vermont driver stopped after passing me, got out of his car, and let me know I had missed my turn.The trail was delightfully smooth today and for the first time in weeks it felt safe to distract myself with music while I walked. I listened to Pete Seeger's wonderful collection of union songs. The first time I heard Seeger was in Birmingham when he followed the Freedom Riders there to do a supportive concert at the Black College there. It was also the first time singing We Shall Overcome brought tears to my eyes. Between my stops to eat and my errors I ran out of daylight before I got to the Thistle Hill Shelter where I was heading. In the dark hiking by headlamp with my vision impaired by the rain and fogged up glasses I missed the turnoff to the shelter and ended going an additional two miles to the turnoff to an abandoned shelter a half mile off the trail. With the extra half mile to the shelters and the backtracking to correct my errors I did almost 18 miles today, a record for me with a full pack. If the rain stops maybe I can make big miles tomorrow that are all in the right direction. I am alone in the shelter. While changing to dry clothes and looking for ways to start drying my wet things I discovered that somewhere I had lost the 25 feet of parachute cord that I use for a clothes line and for bear bagging. I need not get lax about bear bagging. A northbound hiker advised me to make noise as I entered the next clearing because he had passed a bear feeding there. I entered the clearing announcing repeatedly "Move over bear", but did not see any of the critters.