Thursday, July 21st

Norwich, VT (1750.6 mi) to stealth site near Lyme-Dorchester Road, NH (1771.6 mi)

Hiking Miles: 21

Total Ascent: 5,006.3 ft

Total Descent: 4,419.6 ft

Total Grade: 448.8 ft/mi

Steps: 58,629

STEVIE NICKS – Edge Of Seventeen

Gator/Sunrise: I woke up early and enjoyed a few cups of coffee on the front porch, one of my favorite things to do at home. Today it seriously felt like we were in the homestretch, even with 342 miles to the summit of Katahdin because we would be entering New Hampshire within minutes of starting our hike today, and there were only 2 states remaining. Albeit they are the two toughest states technically, however at two-thirds our typical pace (the expected reduced efficiency for the Whites and Southern Maine), we were looking at about four more weeks to finish.

We enjoyed a continental breakfast (bagels and cream cheese, hardboiled eggs, granola and oatmeal, coffee, juice, blueberry muffins and various fruits) in the dining room. We knew things were going to get tough today upon entering New Hampshire, including our mental state knowing several challenges were awaiting us. So fueling up this morning was essential to help us push through it all.

By 8:34 am, we crossed into our 13th state – NEW HAMPSHIRE! Croc was so excited, he knelt down to kiss the ground of his hometown. It was starting to hit home (no pun intended) that things were going to get really hard on trail. Not so much for Croc, but for me and I think for the first time on trail I was seriously getting nervous as to how I would handle the next four weeks hiking through consistently tough terrain, and at times unpredictable weather conditions.

Before heading back into the woods, we did have to pass through the campus of Dartmouth College. This was the site where Bill Bryson (author of “A Walk In The Woods”) had his calling to attempt an AT through hike, which later inspired his cool book and subsequently a movie. We had both watched the movie separately prior to starting the AT, and had promised each other that we would watch it again together in celebration right after we completed it.

Twenty one miles today (twenty in NH) was not a bad start for hiking in New Hampshire, although we hadn’t formally hit the whites yet, at which point 16 mile days tops was expected. The day was cool and pleasant, mostly under cover, however there were a few beautiful clearings where we could see the mountains ahead. Absolutely beautiful and exciting! It wouldn’t be long before we tested our physical and mental strength.

Around 4 pm, the sky was darkened by rain clouds and the forecast called for downpours, and did it ever. We were still a ways from setting up our tents at a planned location near a road and stream. We needed water and a place to escape undercover before we got drenching wet, and the trail delivered. We found a little paradise where we rested under a large rock overhang, that happened to have cool running water (good flow) to collect and drink until the rains subsided. It was just what we needed.

The rains didn’t stop, but it certainly slowed to a light drizzle, making the remaining day’s hike reasonable, and not too bad for setting up our tents at the base of a high mountain for the night. We did eat our dinner inside our tents to keep as dry as possible, and shortly after we settled in for the evening. It felt later than it was because it was dark with little light coming through the trees. Besides, I planned on getting an early start in the morning as we were heading to the Hikers Welcome Hostel just before Mount Mousilauke and the start of the Whites!

Croc: Gator and I woke up this morning excited and ready to go, knowing that New Hampshire was less than a mile away. We meandered over to breakfast and filled up, thinking this might be one of the last substantial breakfasts we’d have for a while since New Hampshire lacks affordable hotels and hostels are hard to come by. Little did we know that we’d end up planning our future weeks almost perfectly to hit every major stay, and could probably have hiked the rest of New Hampshire as a slack pack (if we had someone with a car to pick us up).

At breakfast, we met a young hiker who was also heading northbound and planned to stay at the Inn with his partner for the next day or so. Gator and I tried to figure out his schedule, thinking we could slack pack with him if his partner could drive further up the trail. However, it turned out he was several miles behind us and was slacking back to the Inn. He was an extremely strong hiker and would quickly catch up to us towards the end of the Whites (and I believe he took a zero in between too). I later found out he was a traveling nurse in between contracts and had to finish his hike by a certain date for a wedding, which I’m 95% sure was actually his own wedding. I remember asking him how he got away with not helping with any of the planning and was instead hiking for four months.

We eventually convinced ourselves to get going, reluctantly leaving the AC and breakfast buffet. Thank God for Gator, because I could have easily convinced myself to go back to sleep, grab a second breakfast, and then leave at the 11:00 am checkout. We hiked about a mile and came across the sign we had been waiting for all trail—the VT/NH border! I may be biased, but I think it’s the nicest border crossing on trail, etched into the rock. Up until this point, most border crossings were small, graffiti-ridden, etched wooden signs that didn’t offer much satisfaction. New Jersey/New York might have been the worst with just a little white spray paint on a rock. Props to Pennsylvania/New Jersey for having a more colorful border crossing painted on the ground, and even New York/Connecticut for having the big “Welcome to New England” sign. Anyways, I was pumped to see this NH sign and hit this milestone. I even kissed the ground in excitement. It was my second time kissing the ground! The first time was National Trail Day, where you can honor the trail by kissing it.

However, we couldn’t stay at the sign all day because, like most days, we had a lot of ground to cover. They say when you hit New Hampshire, you’ve completed 80% of the trail but only done 20% of the work. I always thought this was a funny joke until I actually hit NH and learned that it was true—or maybe we’d only completed 10% of the work.

We quickly hit Hanover, NH, and walked by Dartmouth College. It was familiar ground since I had run these streets many times back in high school when we’d have track meets at their dome. Many hikers would stop by Dartmouth and hit up their Facebook page for free housing and meals at the cafeteria. Students were always very welcoming of the hikers that passed through and willing to share their space. No such luck for us, but it was also only morning, and we had just had breakfast, so it wasn’t a loss to not get a free meal.

Unfortunately, we had heard rumblings that people from Hanover wanted the AT to be re-routed around the college and go further north. I heard it was mostly the local, ritzy shops that didn’t want smelly hikers walking by their establishments. I feel like Hanover is such an iconic spot on the trail and the students love the AT atmosphere that re-routing the trail would eliminate such a great experience.

We pressed on and actually made some great mileage even though the terrain was becoming more strenuous and we typically slow down coming out of a hotel. We were then brought to a halt after a severe thunderstorm rolled in and got us absolutely drenched. We luckily found a rock to seek refuge under and made a game plan for the rest of the night. We were planning on hiking up to Smarts Mountain, but now that we were soaked, and it felt later than it was because of the clouds, and Smarts Mountain was an additional 4 miles uphill at the end of our day, we decided to just find the next closest stealth spot. We quickly found a spot by a road crossing and set up camp. I believe this was the first night we set up our tents in the rain since there was no shelter around. We were also then forced to eat our meals in our tent while it rained. I decided to throw some old pepperoni into my ramen, but I’m not sure if that was a great idea since it had been sitting in my bag unrefrigerated for quite some time now. Thankfully, I don’t think it had any bad effects.

I dozed off to bed and actually had a great night’s sleep with the calming patter of the rain on my tent.