Date: 2007-07-23
From: camped 2 miles past Wintturi Shelter

To: Podunk Rd
Miles today: 16.2

I woke up this morning when it was still dark and thought it must be almost time for the sun to come up. I checked my watch and found out it was 1:09 AM. I was awake for about a half hour and then went back to sleep. The next time I woke up it was 7:00 and I saw Olivier hiking past on the trail. I got up and was on the trail at 7:30.We stopped at the On the Edge Farm, but they were not open yet. The signs out front listed ice cream, pies, jerky, and a lot of other good things. I needed to get over 15 miles in again today, so I didn't stick around until it opened at 10.Bugbite showed me some black and red raspberry bushes today. I didn't like the black raspberries very much. I found ripe red raspberries in several fields today. They were very good.Today was a tough day to get going on the trail. It went up and down a lot of small hills and I just didn't feel very energetic today. The day started warm and humid with partly cloudy skies. By noon it was completely overcast. That is when I reached Cloudland Farm just 0.2 miles off the trail. It was time to do something about my low energy. I ate two pints of organic ice cream and had two sodas. The farm is a small family operation. The dad and kids were busy putting hay bales into the barn loft while I was there. They have an Australian cattle dog named Roo. I gave him the trail name doorbell because he barks to announce hikers approaching then runs over to them to get petted. Everyone was very friendly.It started raining as Bugbite and I left the farm. I wore my poncho. It was cold and I didn't want to be wet and cold. The rain decreased to a sprinkle about 30 minutes later and I took the poncho off. I reached Thistle Hill Shelter about 3 PM and found The Beav, Widow Maker, and Rangoon taking a break there. They are all nobos. I had heard of Widow Maker before from Flick and Golden Boy. He got his name after a tree limb fell on his tent one night. Fortunately he was not injured.After another break we moved on. I passed a group of about 15 kids with 2 adults taking a break at a road crossing. They were from New York City and out hiking for a couple days. I was feeling more energetic this afternoon. I am not sure if it was the 3,000 calorie ice cream lunch or the desire to get to the grill at the new store in West Hartford. Either way I was moving. I reached the store about 6:30 and was worried the grill might be closed, but was happy to find it still open. I ordered two bacon cheeseburgers and fries. I bought a one liter coke and uploaded yesterdays journal while I waited for my food. Bugbite arrived and ordered a bacon cheeseburger. I thought I might have ordered more than I could eat, but I had no trouble finishing it all. The store just opened on Wednesday of last week. It is a family operation and they were very friendly and have a hiker register and some tables to eat at inside. They also had ice cream and other foods, some fresh fruit and vegetables. The trail follows the road right in front of the store. You can't beat bacon cheeseburgers cooked fresh 20 feet from the trail!The trail seemed difficult today. There were a lot of hills to climb, but there were a lot of fields to pass through also. There were lots of places with nice views to enjoy.I spent another hour or two tonight trying to figure out a schedule and resupply plan for the White Mountains. There aren't any convenient resupply points in about a 10 day span through the toughest terrain on the AT. I am still not sure how to handle this section. I have gotten somewhat comfortable with resupplying every 3 to 4 days. I am going to send myself 5 days worth of food to a state park 2 miles off the trail at Franconia Notch. I need to buy and ship the food tomorrow from Norwich, VT. I won't have time from Glencliff, NH because it is only three days away and will be over the weekend. I think I am going to end up carrying 20 pounds of food up the biggest, steepest, rockiest mountains on the trail. Enough for now. I need to get some sleep it is 11 PM now.