Date: 2014-08-06
From: Elm St, Norwich VT, Mile 1740.7

To: Trapper John Shelter, Mile 1759.8
Miles today: 19.1

Well... That's 12 down!Short 'n Sweet had the day off and left early for a yoga class at 6:00. I thought I'd see her when she got back, but she wasn't home by 7:30 when Greybeard was leaving for work. The other hikers had already hiked the road between their house and Hanover, so Greybeard drove them into Hanover for resupply on his way to work, and I hiked on down the road. On the way down the hill I met Short 'n Sweet on her way home, so I did get to say goodbye and to thank her again.The AT follows a three mile road walk through Norwich and Hanover before re-entering the woods on the east side of Hanover. It crosses the river between the two towns where I entered New Hampshire, my 13th state! On Greybeard's recommendation, I stopped at Lou's Restaurant for breakfast. Great recommendation! As a thru hiker, I started off with a free cruller and ordered the Big Green - two eggs, two pieces of bacon, a large piece of sausage, home fries and my choice of French toast. Per Greybeard's suggestion again, I chose the cruller version of the French toast. Pretty awesome! I was full again!I then stopped by the post office to mail a couple of items home and ran into Goosechase and Apple Pie who had just picked up their resupply packages. They had more food than would fit in their packs, so they gave me a couple of bars. Then I hiked over to the Co-op on the east side of town for some resupply and eat-now shopping. I got enough food to fill my food bag plus stuff my stomach then. I normally wouldn't need that much to make it to Franconia Notch, but I had some calorie catching up to do! It was after 11:00 when I finally entered the woods. I had a sluggish start, with a full pack on my back and my digestive system and my legs battling each other for my blood supply. I kept on stuffing my face with food as I hiked, so the battle continued. Finally, about 3:00, I felt like my old hiking self.I have been emailing with our friend Swede who we met three years ago on our Alpine hike. He and Nancy live in CT, and Swede wanted to hike with me in the Whites for a couple of days. He hikes there a lot, even leading groups from his church each year. Last winter he did some frozen waterfall climbing there! I had planned to get to Glencliff, on the south side of Mt Mooselauke, tomorrow night, so Swede is planning to park his truck at Franconia Notch and hitch and hike to the north side of Mt Mooselauke tomorrow. Then we'll meet at the top of Mooselauke Friday morning and hike north together. So I wanted to get in a little over 20 miles today, but the late start out of Hanover cut that short a little. Stopping and chatting with other hikers along the way slowed me down some, too, but I enjoyed that! Just after leaving Hanover I met Big Foot, whom I'd heard about way back on the trail. I stopped by the Moose Mountain Shelter and met Nobo Sparrow and Sobo Fis, who were planning to stop there for the night. Right after that I met a large group of Boy Scouts on a dinner break who were planning to camp at that shelter - it will be crowded there tonight! Then, as I came up on a beaver pond, I met Sobo This Is It from Australia. He was trying to see the beaver after hearing it slapping his tail on the water. We waited a while and chatted some, but never saw the beaver. House in the WoodsIt was 8:00 when I finally reached the Trapper John Shelter for a 19 mile day. There were several folks set up in their tents and I picked a nice spot near Joe, from Germany, who was fixing his dinner. He came over and chatted while I set up. He started from Springer on April 5, but had a rough first five weeks due to blisters on his feet. He finally got a size larger shoe which seemed to do the trick. I told him I wear a size 12 street shoe, a size 13 running shoe (even though I don't run any more), and size 14 trail runners. He's figured out he has to do the same thing, although about 4 sizes smaller than I in each category.A quick bite of supper then off to bed! 27 more miles to Glencliff with rain in the forecast for tomorrow, so we'll see how far I make it.