Category: Appalachian Trail

Looks like I’ll be working with no notes today, though I remember taking notes, even some well thought out ones about the book I had been reading at the time, “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg.  Maybe that was my imagination.  I remember writing down or at least having a better understanding the value Alcoholics Anonymous provides for creating habits.  It’s crazy how photos can bring back so much of my memory.  I distinctly for example remember as I had been hiking past Mt. Jefferson, how dull “The Power of Habit” read, constantly having to refocus.  I bet if I re-read the book, it would have the opposite effect.  I’d remember where I had been on trail at the time.

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I woke up to the sun and the wind.  It was a little chilly, but as always, getting up and moving is always the best way to heat up (One of the reason’s I don’t linger in the morning when backpacking).  The shadows and the sun peaking through at low elevations were beautiful.  I can almost remember the warmth of the rays and the brisk cold of the shadows.

As before, the Appalachian trail skipped several more summits along the trail, this time Mt. Clay, Mt. Jefferson, and Mt. Adams.

Stopped in for a bit at the next hut, Madison Spring Hut to see what they were serving, as well as fill up on water.  If I remember correctly, I was low, as you would expect for this stretch like this above tree line. 

After the hut, the trail pretty much jumps 600 feet in less than half a mile, as you can see in the photo above.  That wasn’t even the hard part.  The trail as you can see in the next photo of the summit photo of Mt. Madison shows the next 1+ mile as rock scrambles similar to Pennsylvania’s stretches, but in an area where if you fell, you wouldn’t be able to grab the branches as you fell, so each there had been a tremendous amount of effort into foot placement.  Usually there is, every step counts, but I had been so drained towards the end of my hike with foot placement that I had in a innocuous environment bumped my hit pretty hard against a stump.

As you can see from Mt. Madison, you can pretty much see where I woke up and to the left, where I’m heading.  Here is a better picture of where I am coming from rock scramble wise.  As a south bounder the various rock levels would be called false summits…I wonder what it would be called in my situation going down, for it was a similar sensation. 🤔

Reached tree line!

Very shortly after bumping my knee into that stump, I ran into Speedy again.  I was quite surprised he didn’t hear my cussing from behind him.  Last time I had seen Speedy was Day 123.

Speedy had been much more animated this time around.  He had been telling me that these were the trails he grew up hiking on, that he couldn’t wait to get to the Whites.  Speedy is from Peru, Maine, which happens to be quite close to the Whites.

There is a 3D-map model of the White Mountains in Pinkham Notch Visitor’s Center.  A representative there was telling us about the trails and their hardest ones.  Then Speedy said, hmm now I am thinking that I should have not taken previous dates up that route for first time hiking.  I just laughed.  We were idling to eat at the buffet dinner there.  The food was plentiful, but okay.  Nothing amazing and the prices were high so I don’t recommend this stop for future hikers.  From there, we talked about splitting a room in the next town Gorham, NH.  I agreed, but I had no way to communicate, we set up a meet up location for Rattle River Shelter, which was quite the feat at Mile 1891.8.  Speedy had convinced me it was doable, and I was game.  We left late from the Visitor’s Center, sorta kinda walking in the dark until where we camped together on the edge of Lost Pond.

Side Notes:

• I don’t have any flattering photos of Speedy, so for his sake, I’m not going to post them.
• I don’t know if I mentioned this earlier, but Speedy doesn’t listen to music or anything else on trail. He is already an impressive dude, but that had impressed me the most.

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I want to point out, that I am using version 7.0.10 of Guthook dated November 12, 2018.  Instead of having faulty mile ranges throughout the rest of my blog, I intentionally made it so there is only one inaccuracy on day 131.  This is due from my switch to a newer phone.  Also, I neglected to record the mileage of where I was every night.  Instead my mileage had been based on waypoints on the map, such as a shelter, town, viewpoint, stream, etc.  On the rare occasion, if I was not be near a waypoint, I simply made a screen shot of my location on Guthook, as you will notice in this blog post as well as possible future ones.  That said, the end mileage for the day will differ from the mileage in the screen shots.  This will also become more apparent when I reach my destination, Mount Katahdin in this blog.  The end of my journey in 2017 the final mileage is 2,189.8, but in 2018 the final mileage is 2,192.  Why does the trail mileage change?  Usually, from modifications such as switch backs or reroutes.

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Woke up to a very beautiful day around 8:30am, got to the top of Mt. Jackson, three miles into my day, and could see my destination of the day, the tallest mountain in the shot, Mount Washington.

At the lowest point coming down from Mt. Jackson, I came across the next hut along the Appalachian Trail, Mizpah Spring Hut.  I originally did not plan on staying too long, but the lentil soup they were serving for lunch was delicious!  I had three bowls!  Reconnected some hikers I had met further south.  They said they were doing a flip flop of just the White Mountains due to the fantastic stretch of weather.  Supposably, it is a rare occurrence.  I do not remember their names, but they were a couple in their 50s.  I think their names were optimistic and pessimistic…their names we definitely opposites.  By the way, if I came back to visit, this would be the hut I’d stay at.  The hut gave off a cabin cozy feel and it is located in a niche of evergreens below tree line.

The next mountain was Mt. Pierce

This was starting to look like the most beautiful stretch of the Appalachian Trail.

The next two mountains before Mt. Washington, Mt. Eisenhower and Mt. Monroe were not part of the trail, which to be frank is weird.  Hopefully, in the future, they’ll be re-routed onto the trail.

Next, I reach Lakes of the Clouds Hut…

…where I run into these hikers around my age who were impressed by my feat.  One of the hikers said he could not afford it.  In reply, I said, maybe not right away, but it is attainable.  He then starts to blame his situation.  He mentions that he is working in retail and currently paying for his girlfriend’s way through college.  I try to convince him he has control over his situation.  I say for starters; I personally would not be with someone who doesn’t take ownership for themselves.  From there, from my judgement of his relationship, I could tell he took that to heart and was not going to listen to anything else I would say.  If I just kept my criticisms to myself, I would have had a better chance to have gotten through to him. As he starts to walk away, I recommend him the book, “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck” by Mark Manson, for it would help him a great deal with personal growth. To give a fuck about what really matters.  Immediately, from his expression I could tell he thought I was being cheeky, when I genuinely wanted to help.  He said he currently had too much on his reading list, likely to deter me.  I tell him to download the audio version and listen to it while you’re at the gym, cleaning, or driving.  He says nothing and continues to walk away.  I then I add that the knowledge is on the table!

An older well-built guy who had been standing by listening in says the reason he feels he cannot change his situation is because his outlook is too narrow.  I talk a bit more with this guy, including where I have been + where I plan to go, then completely catches me off guard with the question, “Do you have any business ideas?  From your interest in books and  direction, you have the outlook of a leader.” In reply, I say I have never thought about it.  He then says with an interview, you’d get any job you’d apply for with just a conversation, claiming I have some depth.

Later, as I am climbing the WRONG way up Mt. Washington, I do some introspecting.  I have really grown since my last self-reflection and it feels good. I am flattered someone thinks I have depth.

I notice that the trail is heading in the wrong direction, check my map, and I am way off trail.  Retracing my steps back, I veered off in the wrong direction after talking to that guy way back at Lakes of the Clouds Hut.  I must have gone at least a half of a mile in the wrong direction before realizing something was off.  The trail on these balds are marked with Cairns, as well as every other trail up there.  To fault of my own though, I missed the junction sign pointing in the clear direction of the trail.

Top of Mt. Washington

The views up there were spectacular!  Surprisingly there is quite a bit of stuff packed up on top up there. 

There is even a train and a mini-mall up there.  Typical tourist trap sort of deal.

Ate here as well until the place closed which was 5pm (I arrived at 4ish).  As I watched the last train head down, I realized, that really needed to get a move on.

Climbing down still from Mt. Washington, I ran into an intern from the Mount Washington Observatory.  I mentioned I was surprised to see someone out this late up here.  He then said, oh I work up at the observatory as a meteorologist intern and then turned the question to me that I was up here as well pretty late.  I said that I didn’t realize that tree line would be so far away and that I was probably going to have to night hike.  He in turn said that tonight is supposedly going to be one of calmest nights of the year so if you were going to camp up here, tonight’s perfect for it.

I considered it and committed.  While it was foolish of me to be in this situation in the first place, especially if the weather had been ordinary (bad), the choice to make camp was a wise one because the following day had been one of the most tedious sections I had hiked through on the trail with zero spots for an emergency stealth.  This being said, I thank you intern from the Mount Washington Observatory!  You may as well saved my life!

Based on screen shot of my location, it looks like I had camped 191 feet off trail.  If I remember correctly, I camped a few feet off the Mt. Clay loop trail, so between that blue and red line where I drew that white oval, between Mt. Washington and Mt. Clay:

On the map I know the top mostly looks like rock and it is, but there were also these patches of heavy thick moss in the grassy areas where I set up my tent.  The stakes were pretty much useless, so I had to use rocks to keep them in place.  Said and done, this was a comfortable spot.  Little windy the next morning, but not anything extreme.

This was by far my favorite night on the trail.  As you can see in the top photo, I watched the sun set and probably took more photos that night than any other day on trail.

Put my headlamp in my tent so I could find it for when the sun had gone down.  It also looks cool 🤙🏻

Camping on a bald is completely quiet. You can see the roads light up at night but there is no sound. It reminds me of looking out of an airplane window.  If I had a better camera you could see the nearby towns light up.

Probably didn’t need to worry, but just in case. 👌🏻

Tons of great views today as well!

Made my way towards South Twin Mountain. Great views of Mt. Washington from this summit as well as Mt. Lafayette from yesterday.

Ran into Disciple here.  The last time I saw Disciple was on Day 130 at Hikers Welcome Hostel.  Anyway, he is looking through his phone, like two inches away from his face.  I ask him what he is doing, and he said he was using his phone to look at Mt. Washington and I was like why? 🤔 He said he was legally blind.  I was like wait…how come you didn’t mention that the first time we met?  He was like, I thought you knew.  I was having a mind-blowing moment right then and there. 🤯  This was not an ordinary passerby, this guy was hiker, I have had long conversations with off and on since Day 116!  Everything right there was coming together.  In Vermont on Day 117, he had been hiking in front of me and was not phased at all when the pheasant came charging at us.  That should have been my first clue.  I thought at the time that he was a courageous dude.  It also made sense how he mixed up Speedy and I.  Yes, we look similar beard and hair wise, but he has blue eyes and I have brown.  His YouTube channel that he mentioned earlier in Vermont called, “Not By Sight” would have been the big give away, but I never took the time to check it out.  It’s shocking to me how oblivious I was.  Even though I did not watch his channel, I knew the channel was called Not By Sight.  Casually (Nope), I ask how do you hike?  He said, I can see shapes, just not detail.  I apologized for being obvious and talked a bit more before I parted.  That was the last time we had crossed paths.  It was the last time I saw a lot of people including Cur Dog, who always hiked with Disciple.  Apparently, I was crushing large miles in the Whites.

Update:  Disciple had been vlogging up on top of South Twin Mountain so look who I found walking across the shot in his vlog: 😃  https://youtu.be/D0isREglzj4?t=650

Around Zeacliff at Mile 1837.8, I ran an older fellow in his 60s who went by Chef 6.0.  We spoke and after our conversation he thanked me for, as he put it, one of the best conversations he had on trail.  From what I remember we talked about life direction after the trail including his business idea, if I am remembering correctly was to become a chef at a non-profit.  I had just recently finished “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek so it was likely, I was in the prime mind state to pick his brain.  I mentioned age discrimination and a couple of other factors he might encounter.  He appreciated my honestly and thanked me for my input after listening to him.  After our conversation, he was much more animated, and to me seemingly excited for life post trail.

We split at Zealand Falls Hut.   I decided to take a break there for a bit.  There were some self-serve honor system snacks out on a table inside the hut.  I bought something…I think it was cornbread and ate it outside on a bench.  I was chilling there for a while when I noticed what appeared to be a pile of snakes huddling together for warmth in the sun behind the bench I had been sitting on.  I spot five.  How many do you see?

It was pretty chilly for snakes to be out.  I remember having to start hiking again to regain warmth after the sun snuck back into the clouds.

After the hut, the trail was pretty much flat until the train tracks by route 302.  Somewhere in this section, I decided to start listening to a new audio book called, “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson.  This is probably the best self help book I have ever read…well listened to!  It was also quite entertaining as well.  This was the first time I listened to it, but on trail I listened to this book a total of three times.

Before the train track, I had crossed a foot bridge, home to the beautiful river as posted in the beginning of this post.  For my 25^th birthday a very close friend gifted me this painting based on that photo.

Incredible work! Right!?!  The artist has other work and I will be sure to attach her website here as soon as it is finished and live.

Stealthed again tonight this time at Webster Cliffs.  Again, to find the spot, I looked on Guthook.  I remember being a little uneasy this night.  One of the previous commenters, said they had saw a moose there while stealth camping.  This particular night I also remember breaking one of my stakes here.  While there were very nice flat spots in the trees by this cliff as mentioned on Guthook, the ground seemed to be mostly rock an inch under the dirt.  I had gotten all the other stakes in fine, but the one I broke near a tree of all places would not go in the ground in that 3-square foot area.  I should just have moved my tent, but out of (impatience) not wanting to set my tent a couple feet towards another direction, I just tried for force it in with my foot, stupidly.

Aside from that mini frustration, the sunset views were great!

Side Notes:

• I managed to find some notes for my previous post, Day 133. That said, here is what I typed up:
  • The whites are worth the hard work! Tons of balds today! No place to piss.  Some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen on the entire trail.  Felt like I was on top of the world today.  Making it this far, I am confident I can handle any problem life throws at me.  I’ll simply approach the problem the same way on the trail, one step at a time.
• Headphones broke today, though not from water damage this time. It doesn’t look like I wrote what from, but I do remember listening to my audio books out loud for portions of the trail.
• Tomorrow, day 135, was probably the best day I had on the Appalachian Trail. Again, I will try my best to encapsulate my extraordinary experience. 😆
• Recently found out you can bring up the emoticon window on a Windows machine using the short cut keys: “Windows Key” + “.” or “Windows Key + “;”

So, I unfortunately do not have a lot of notes from Day 133, only a lot of photos, mostly of the same beautiful stretch of balds, particularly, before and over Mt. Lafayette.  I was pretty hyped up from what I remember.  The views were stunning, and it was also cool to see people.  Would have been nice to know what I had been thinking.  Anyway, started the day down the mountain, passed Lonesome Lake Hut on a beautiful lake with a dock that I noticed I do not have photos of.  If I am remembering correctly, there were sun bathers on that dock in my line of shot. Ha!  Then, under I-93 and up the mountain to the 5k footers, Mt. Lafayette being the tallest one in this stretch, at 5,250 feet.  If you are visiting the whites, I would say this is one of the most beautiful spots along the Appalachian Trail aside from Mt. Washington in the Whites.

The summit of Lafayette was quite crowded, there was even a glider sailing in the clouds above.  I noticed this couple on the summit who were drinking this drink with a neat design and asked what it was.  They said it was a brew from the Tree House brewery in Maine.  Aside from hiking in the Whites, this particular brewery was one of their destinations, which sells only a limited supply (4 cans per person) on certain days of the week to pick up.

I mentioned that I had been 1800-miles in to my hike and startled them a bit.  The guy was so fascinated with my trip, he offered me a sip.  It was hands down the best API, I ever had.  To be fair, everything I ate tasted fantastic during my journey, as if my taste buds were enhanced.  For example, I revisited a salad I had at Delaware Water Gap this year and it was not as good as I had remembered it to be.  Though now that I think about it, I did have other beer on trail, not as good as this so keep this in mind if your blessed with the opportunity of getting a taste. 😁

Maybe a mile after hiking over Mount Garfield, I arrive at the above view which pretty much shows my entire hike for the day from Little Haystack Mountain at Mile 1823.6 to what I think would be Galehead Hut in the boulders off to the left in the shot at mile 1831.9.  It may be a little hard to visualize.

I arrived at Galehead Hut.  After asking about work for stay, the person running Galehead Hut said they did not need help and did not have any more bunks available.  She said they usually start accepting helpers at 4pm.  I got there after 7pm.  Not knowing this, I probably expressed concern so the woman said I could have some left overs and stay for a bit.  I wasn’t too concerned.  I just needed to figure out where I should camp.    While browsing Guthook’s comment section under the Galehead Hut, I noticed that “ActiveDuty” user commented there was a nice stealth camp area just .1 north of the hut.  So, I stayed until sunset and made my way to the stealth site.  I had a neighbor in this stealth site which was nice.  It’s always easier to sleep when you know another person is nearby.

Side Notes:
– From this day forward, I stopped attempting to aim for huts as camp destinations.  I personally was not comfortable sacrificing the three plus hours of extra hiking left in a day after 4pm nor was I going to pay $120 for a bunk.
– It is actually illegal to stealth in the Whites.

 

After taking photos with Terodactyle, we headed out.  The wood bear Terodactyle and I are standing in front of was a gift from a hostel, “Chet’s Hiking Hostel.”  I believe he said he helped with shuttling people to and from the trail.

So, while I did not specifically outline blogs for these days on trail, I still took notes, but some of these notes are very hard to understand as if I wanted to take the note quickly and get back to whatever I was doing.  This is what I have under day 132:

On Trail Note	After thought (Post Trail)
The whites are like a jungle gym.	The trail changes as you step into the whites (NOBO).  They are another animal in difficulty.  It is like the feeling of difficulty right after you unlock a more difficult level in a game.  I 100% was being challenged with this new terrain and I loved every second of it!  At this point, I really needed a challenge too.
I will likely not finish when I expected to.	I planned on taking advantage of the weather with at least 15-mile days and now I am likely rethinking if that is even possible.
My pack is much heavier with the 5+ days of food I am carrying.  I should have planned more stops thru the whites with my winter gear.	I am thinking this b/c the terrain is rough and a heavier pack will only make it more difficult.  I mentioned “with my winter gear.”  I was not carrying my winter jacket prior to Hanover, NH.  Looking back, while I could have, made more stops, I am glad I didn’t.  It was much easier logistic wise.
I am now reading “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek.	This was a book that was recommended to me by a section hiker like 1000+ miles ago, I finally got around to listening to.  It was a very inspirational book.  It gave me hope to work for a company in the future with a great leader.
Camping with Peasant Melon, Dozer, and Umbrella Face for the night showing videos to each other and talking to the day hikers.	I am not too sure what videos we were sharing, but I do remember camping for the night at Kingsman Pond Shelter, a pay shelter.  Lucky for us, there was no caretaker to be seen to take the $10 overnight camping fee.  I believe if you are through hiking the fee is instead $5.  I was going to stealth to get to a lower elevation, but it was about to rain, and the temperature was starting to noticeably drop. It was the first time I wore my puffy since snow in the Smokies, so it was quite the temperature drop.
Took a very interesting picture of a tree by the Eliza Brook Shelter.  Can you tell where the tree started to grow?  I can’t.

Took some beautiful landscape photos as well:

If you look closely in the 2nd photo, you can see the power lines from the 1st photo next to the pond.

Side Note:
Tomorrow, as in day 133, is intense and probably one of my best days on trail.  That being said, I will try my best to encapsulate its beauty to the best of my ability now that it has been almost two years.

Left today at the last minute I am allowed as pretty much every other place I have stayed.  I don’t remember when that was exactly, but the first photo I took for the day was at 10:46am.

Met up with Young Gandalf close to the top who did the slack pack the opposite direction (Side Note: The hostel from last night, if I have not mentioned this before, uses a scare tactic to slack-pack southbound).  He slept above me at the hostel last night. Showed him some music last night, but he seemed more interested in his basketball podcasts. He used to play basketball if I did not mention that before. He seemed very happy with his decision to slack pack. He was telling me about the hike ahead.  Because of the good stretch of weather, last night he mentioned spending as long as he could in the Whites, while I was more interested in doing more mileage, taking advantage of the weather in a different way.  This was the last time I saw Young Gandalf.

Got to the summit and thought of a neat t-shirt idea: A picture of a mountain with the text, “Get Over It” though it likely has already been done.
Super chilly up top.

Ran into some Yale orientation students.  They seemed interested that I was a thru-hiker and were asking about which order they should walk in.

As I mentioned earlier, Hikers Welcome hostel, the hostel I stayed at the previous night will use scare tactics to scare you into slack packing with them south bound instead of north bound.  You really don’t need to be worried if your careful.  I am an example that it is doable, but the hike down will tedious.  If there is a chance of rain, slack-packing or even zeroing is a good idea.  The trek down I encountered partially wet wooden steps bolted into the slick rock terrain alongside a waterfall.  Some of the steps were broken off, meaning there was a slight possibility that even if I achieved footing, that the step could break.  Not a pleasant thought.

I ran into Pheasant Melon, Dozer and Umbrella Face close to the 1800-mile marker before Lost River Road.  They seemed done for the day and were setting up camp.  I talked with them for a bit and decided I would continue for a bit longer.

I ran into guy around 6pm who said he had hiked the previous year, trail name, Terodactyle and was out giving trail magic by camp site near the parking lot off Lost River Road.  We talked a bit about burnt out blogging our experiences (he actually finished his daily blog) and right before I was about to go, he mentioned that today was his last day he’d be in town and offered to eat the rest of his food at his summer house in Lincoln, NH.  My first thought, was this is way too good to be true, even a little sketchy thinking back.  I was alone and not comfortable so I said, hey, I have some friends who decided to camp less than a half a mile back, if they come, I would be comfortable.  He asked how many, agreed, I ran back, and grabbed them before they started putting up their tents.  Pheasant Melon’s face lit up and they thanked me for coming back for them.

 

This guy brought us back to what appeared to be a condo, with a room enough for all of us, a fridge full of mostly beer, Jacuzzi, pool, gym showers, and a sauna!

I am a little hazy on the details next due to the lack of photos, but I am pretty sure we went out for dinner.  Besides the outlandish level of trail magic this was, this trail angel, Terodactyle was one of the coolest, I’ve come across, to the extent that was courageously kind.  It was a pleasure and I hope to cycle that kindness back.

This was a very chill day or at least after I made it to my next mail drop location. What I should have done, was mail my box to the hostel across the street. I was in a little bit of a rush today getting to the post office in Glencliff, NH. There open times are M-F 12-2pm so quite the small window of time. Knowing me I did not get up early and when I finally met the Omelette Guy, I wish I had more time to spend there and talk to him. I had heard about this guy hundreds of miles ago. So basically this guy has been making omelettes for thru-hikers for free every day since May! Insane! Right?!?  There was more than just omelettes, but clearly omelettes was what this guy was known for…

The Omelette Guy: How many eggs do you want in your omelette?
Me: How many do people usually get?
The Omelette Guy: Well I have had people request from one to twenty-eight eggs?
Me: I forget my reaction, but I am sure it was something the lines of “Holy Shit.” 😮
Me: I’ll have three then.
Me: Who holds the record?
The Omelette Guy: A girl named Summer Camp.
Me: Oh I met her close to the beginning of the trail. She recommended me to read/listen to “The Martian” (which I had not at the time) When did she pass through?
The Omelette Guy: I have a trail journal, let me check.
The Omelette Guy: It looks like a few weeks ago.
Me: Oh wow she is really far ahead.
Me: Why do you do this?
The Omelette Guy: You get to meet a lot of people that you would not normally get to meet. I have met quite a number of foreigners. There were other reasons, but I do not remember.
Me: I can agree with that.

After looking at the photo of three egg omelette…can you imagine a twenty-eight egg omelette?!?  Sounds like an all day activity. 😮

Hikers Welcome Hostel

After I picked up my package, I went across the street to check out the hostel across the street. I am sure I planned to go further this day than I did, but with combination of the very large package I needed to organize into my backpack, the fast paced day I had to get the the post office between the hours of 12-2pm, waking up at 9am (along with stopping by The Omelette Guy), Mount Moosilauke up ahead next, I made the decision to stay at the super chill hostel.

 

Got some grub later at the Roadside Grill. I think I had a burger.  I don’t remember if they were good.  I do remember them though taking a long while with the orders though there were a lot of people here.  This is the place the hostel drives people for dinner if you sign up to go.  They also stop by a gas station on the way back I believe.  I remember buying lottery tickets while Pheasant Melon, Dozer, and Umbrella Face were picking up a resupply.

I found out Cur Dog and Disciple were staying here. They did the Moosilauke slack pack the hostel offers there the day I arrived. I had the chance to talk to them more. Curious, I asked Disciple what he did prior to the trail. I asked him if he did a job that where he lead people.  He was hesitant at first to say for understandable reasons, but said he is a minister.  I was like oh that makes a whole lot of sense.  Also, explains the name a little more in detail.

Bat flew into the hostel late when we were watching “The Departed”. It flew upstairs where the beds were. We were honestly unable to find the bat that night, but left the windows open.

Side Note:
– Warning: The Hikers Welcome Hostel will try to scare you into a slack pack with them for Mount Moosilauke north to south. If you were able to backpack the entire way here, there is no need at all for your to slack this section. The section is strenuous for sure, I just wanted to make a note that the people running this hostel are over emphasizing the difficulty of this section.

Props to this guy:

I am having a little bit of a hard time remembering exactly where I stopped to camp this day. I remember some events, but not all. I have a couple photos, but not enough to suggest a if I stayed at a campsite or stealthed. I took a morning photo (above) of where I camped at 9:02am so I am going to take a guess and say I stealthed. Also that may have rained that night based on the surrounding area. Normally, I would take a screen shot of my location on the map if I had stealthed, but with how burnt out I was with the blog, it is possible I missed a couple of days here and there. Based on the next photo I took that day by a road, I am going to think I was most likely no more than 2 miles before that road, only that I do not remember which road out of the three I am looking at on Guthook. Based on the comments in Guthook, the road I am looking for must be Cape Moonshine Road. I am thinking my original destination was Ore Hill Campsite for the day. I am glad I didn’t make it. I would have missed some of the best trail magic I came across on the trail the next day! As I got closer and closer to the possible place I set up my tent, I noticed something interesting in the comment section on a dirt road way-point location in Guthook, my own comment I made on August 22, 2017 reading: “Less than 0.1 North of this dirt road to the left in between the trail and some ruins are room for two tents.” LOL =D I comment rarely on Guthook. I may have made 3-5 comments on the entirety of the trail.

What I remember:
– Not having any service except for on the tower of Smarts Mountain.
– Taking a rest along with Young Gandalf at the top of Smarts Mountain
– Apologizing and reconnecting with Apache for something I would like to not disclose on this blog. Nothing bad, just getting involved with something that was none of my business.
– Semi remember over hearing Young Gandalf listening to Harry Potter series audio books out loud in the Smarts Mountain shelter.

A note I left on my phone from this date:

I realize I will be entering the Whites tomorrow, but even with the change of pace around the corner, I am tired of the same routine. Even with the change of pace, It will still be the same old same old no matter how beautiful. Maybe I’ll take my words back later. Simply, I hike to finish. People are great still but having the same conversation with a whole bunch of different people has been starting to annoy me. I can tell I am less eager to start up conversations with my fellow hiker. One south-bounder I had run into today said, not one north-bounder had a smile on their face passing them in Maine when they had started after I had mentioned how it was to me to hike after hiking for four months now. I am beginning to understand why. If I didn’t have audio books, I don’t know how I’d survive mentally. My thoughts are about executing what I plan to do when I get back. I have ideas but without the tools to execute those ideas, life is pretty stagnant. I can only continue to learn and take in. Something as simple as a pen and paper would excite me, but not even for my sanity would I be willing to carry the extra weight.

Look at this tree just hanging there!

Thinking back, I thought this was a short day because I was the first one to get to the camp site (Trapper John Shelter) hours before anyone else, but 17.7 miles is pretty decent for a day so not too sure why I think this. The math checks out for the distance from where I got off the trail in Hanover, NH so maybe I had intentions and the daylight to get over the next mountain, Smarts Mountain a 3200 footer, but didn’t have it in me.

Anyway, I was back on the trail after a very enjoyable time with the Madison’s. David tried to make sure to get a picture in the exact spot he picked me up from to I think see if my Mom could tell difference between the photos. I don’t have the photos, but I am pretty sure I was wearing my rain gear in the pick up photo. 😀

Shortly, like almost the exact time I split from David, I saw Pheasant Melon, Dozer, and Umbrella Face walk up the block to get back on the trail. I was a little surprised and happy they were not ahead of me with how long I had spent off trail in Lebanon, NH, but like a couple of other people such as Young Gandalf, they had all took more than one zero in Hanover.

I wish I took the time to write (type) down what I was thinking during those 17.7 miles, but I hope it was something along the lines of accepting my close friend’s decision and looking forward to the less than 500-mile journey ahead of me. To this day, April 27, 2018, I am so very happy I made the commitment of asking her before the summit. A great amount of weight had been lifted from my shoulders and I felt as if I was hiking the hike for myself if that makes sense to anyone reading this. Not that I wasn’t before, but I was now being completely honest with myself now, true to myself.

So as I mentioned above, I made it to the Trapper John Shelter camp area before anyone else, tent all set up and everything so I start to re-watch what I had on my phone for entertainment, Rick and Morty S03E03 “Pickle Rick” out loud and I start to hear some really loud hustling behind the shelter and a tree fall, so without checking it out, I climb the fire place about half way up above and start making loud sounds phone in hand still. I am thinking it is a moose and I learned a while back on the trail not to mess with those so I stayed up there until I finished the episode which was maybe 15 more minutes. I don’t know what I did next, but no one saw me up there, which was probably for the best in my opinion. It could have been a squirrel behind the shelter and a random tree falling for all I know. =P

Later that night Young Gandalf and a few others joined me, not in climbing the fireplace, but the campsite. 🙂

 

If I remember correctly, Suzi had work today so I had spent the majority of the day with David, though we did visit her at work. Not too much security at that hospital. =/

Suzi put some of that tea I liked out for me to enjoy for when I awoke. Here is that mason jar with the maple syrup I mentioned yesterday!

David treated me to some breakfast at a diner in town. I wish I took more photos. I was still in my head. Like I said earlier, I wish I was more mentally available to focus on what was in front of me.

Picked some of the red potatoes from their garden. More like I watched…I was very interested in learning how David for example dug for the potatoes. I realize this is basic, but I really don’t know. This is something I’d like to learn on my own when I have the land to have a garden, but the extent of my gardening skills is to tomatoes from when we had a garden at my parent’s old house. Well we have one now, but I do not tend to it. I learned about their learning experiences. Even David’s and Suzi’s opposing opinions. David mentioned you could use material as cheap as tyvek for the ground cover (for the weeds), but Suzi mentioned the problem with tyvek is that it is made to be water proof so the only water going to the plants will be to the cut outs.

Suzi also mentioned that if you use the potatoes the same day you pick them, when the moister is still contained within them from the ground, they taste creamer. Spot on! They were delicious!

Went out for ice cream!

Suzi and David are perfect for each other.

I would like to take the time and thank Suzi and David Madison for their hospitality! It was a warm welcomed stay and I would love to visit again in the future! Thank you! 🙂

Best tea ever…
Suzi adds maple syrup from a mason jar in which contains a vanilla bean for a hint of vanilla flavoring. This is brilliant! I wish I had thought of this!

So…I asked for that close friend’s answer to the question I had asked her in that love letter I wrote. For those who did not read the blog early on, I wrote a 12 page letter (small pages) to a close friend asking if she could get back to me with the answer of exclusively dating when I had finished the Appalachian Trail. I knew she was as eager as me. She wanted to tell me. I just mistook her eagerness as mutual emotions because there is only so much you can say without giving the way you feel about someone over text or phone.

I wanted the answer to essentially end my suffering of not knowing. As mentioned previously, I could not stop thinking of her and it was getting to the point where my thoughts were even annoying me. I also was mentally planning on being with her over any other scenario without truly considering the scenario without her.

Welp, I received my requested answer…throat tightened. I kept repeating in my head…where did I go wrong?…even though I knew perfectly well there was always that slight possibility she would not be interested. The weight in my throat got heavier. I was crushed and in shock. The world that I had envisioned and had hoped for would no longer be.

David taking me along the ride to take out the trash/recycling…

Then as time passed by, a weight lifted off my shoulders. I realized the benefit I have gained from obtaining this information at this moment, the bright side one could say. I get to hike through these roller coaster of emotions and work through them on trail. I could not be in a better place. Could you imagine me finding out at the end? I may not remember the hike for the hike. I am very thankful I did this when I did, to face my shit now and get over her.

I would like to mention that Suzi and David Madison were extremely kind when I had been going through these emotions. It was authentic. No offense to anyone prior, but this was the most welcoming stay on the entire trail. I just wish I could have given more of my energy to them from the trail while I was with them for the weekend. During my time here, I was lucky enough to indulge on Suzi’s phenomenal cooking. I wish I took more photos!

Here are the jars of jelly she made:

I believe she was letting me eat the film she had scraped from the top.  Comment if I am wrong.

Her snacks too…they are ah just ha.  I was very eager to learn from her.
She made the salsa for this.

After David’s son, Danny showed me his motorcycle, he invited me back to a fire pit gathering. I did not stay long because of my sleeping habits, but long enough to witness a friend of his shooting a fish with a BB gun…did I mention on the first shot? He gutted it and then promptly stuck it on a stick to cook on the fire to I assume eat, but the smell of the fish when it was cooked indicated that it may have been sick.

 

Woke up to some coldish rain. I thankfully was in a cabin, but some of the windows in the cabin, particularly the one I slept next to were not sealed correctly.  Normally I am one to take my time leaving in the morning when it is raining and I did, but not as late as I would have normally.  Last night I made the goal to get to Hanover, NH by the end of the day so I got on moving.

Stopped at this store, “On The Edge Farm” off the road a bit.
The homemade cookies were amazing! I highly recommend people to stop here!  I did not stay long though for reasons no fault of the store.  I just had to hike. I could not stop hiking if I tried today.  I had to keep moving.  So much so, I packed out the cookie dough ice cream I also bought here.  I wish I allowed myself more time enjoy this place.

There is something about raining days I enjoy, besides the fact I do not need to retrieve, carry, and drink water as much.  Everything is more vivid and still. On a rainy day back home, I am not to much the type that wants to curl up on a couch, book in hand, sipping some tea (although that does sounds nice).  I want to get out and explore!  See the world in a different light, quite literally.  Yes, raining days are a pain when you have to go to work and sit in traffic, but when you are free they are peaceful.

First fording experience!
There was a huge bucket of trail magic on the other side! Thank you!

It had been raining non stop all day, so I didn’t even bother taking off my hiking shoes for the crossing to put on my sandals.  Boots were a little heavier, but already wet.  With the non-stop mentality I had all day, it was better this way.  Plus, if I make it to Hanover tonight, I do not need to worry about the cold for later.

I am very happy my camera picked up the fog I had been trying to capture.  Way better in person, but check out these photos anyway:

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There was a woman I didn’t catch the name of across this bridge…
…that did some trail magic from her porch. She had quite a lot of food and log book, eager to talk so I took the time to chat. Apparently, the river at one point had flooded her house. She brought this up because when I said where I was from she mentioned that the organization that helped rebuild her house was an organization from Maryland that I do not remember the name of at the moment. I don’t really remember what else we talked about, but here are her roosters:

Entering Hanover, or rather the town on the south side of the river I ran into Oakley going south bound.  He was doing a flip flop thru-hike from somewhere near McAfee Knob.  He had felt he was not going to make the October 15 cut off date for Katahdin.  I may have mentioned him earlier, but we met each other in the Smokies and then again at Trail Days.  He has a very unique quirky personality and very much enjoyed talking to him.

Managed to pull a 30 mile day in 8.5 hours.  I am very proud of myself.  Plus, I get more time to talk to David and Suzi!  They were both surprised I managed that kind of mileage.  It certainly has been a while since I have achieved that kind of mileage, though it was an easy 30 since that entire stretch contained just rolling hills.  I don’t even think there were rocks on the trail.  Perfect day for some rain.

David picked me up in his old truck, took a photo of me for my Mom, and took me back to his home, which was significantly closer to the trail than my Mom had described.

Side Notes:
– Listened to the Steve Jobs book pretty much non-stop all day, not because I particularly enjoy it, but to get through it.
– I am leaving out a major detail of this day for my privacy, but would also like to remember for myself what that detail is by typing this sentence.
– Fell in the shower that night. I didn’t injure anything too important. 😉
– Hanover, NH had a very rich vibe to it. Found out later, it was home to Dartmouth College, one of the Ivy League schools.

Left minutes before check out as usual and headed out.  No hitch, just walked back down the road to the trail.

Waterfall not too far into my hike along with a board walk on its north end.

The folks that took my photo by the waterfall had tons of questions so I took the time to answer them.  They were the basic ones you’d usually hear.  When did you start?  Are you alone?  How are you doing food?  The great thing about having a blog at least in my opinion is that you can give them your blog in case they have more questions and turn a long conversation into a short one.  I am always down to talk about the trail, but at times when I am on the move or vice versa, it is handy.

Ran into some very eager south bounders at the next shelter…as well as a chipmunk, which I finally got the chance to get a picture of!

They gave some tips for the up and coming Whites.  I learned about the huts here. Huts in which you can work for stay.  As well as how expensive they are to stay in for the night.  To reserve one of these for the nights, it will set one back about $100.  Not entirely a bad idea since breakfast and dinner are included for anyone besides thru-hikers.  For thru-hikers, I would rather work for stay.  Stealthing in the White Mountains apparently is not an option, illegal.

Another unique part of the trail:

Shelter I stayed at for the night was super chill.  It was more like a log cabin with a door that closed called “The Lookout.”  I can see why…

Yak stopped here with another guy for dinner and a long weed break. I thought they were going to stay, but instead broke out the LSD, cut them up, took a micro-dose, and went on their way after dark.  Met another south bounder.  She had quite the interesting background.  She purposefully carried non-down material with her, the extra weight because how the down used in coats and sleeping bags were plucked from ducks in a harmful way.  I do not remember her trail name, but we connected on Facebook after the trail.  Her name is trail name is Mama Duck and it is quite funny how we reconnected.  A close friend of mine shared this article and  then I reached out.  It is crazy how the trail connects people.

Had service here and called David Madison (family) that I will either be arriving tomorrow night or the next day around noon.  They live near the trail and offered a place to stay when I come through.  I am very happy that I will be arriving on a weekend to see David and Suzie Madison.  Not completely sure, but I think David is my second cousin and if you have been following the blog early on, they sent me two packages of snacks for the trail.  First one on Day 30 and the next on Day 58.

 

Left very early in the morning, eager to get to town and pick up my package from the Base Camp Outfitters there.  Get there on time, but the place opened 30 minutes late. Must be a lax area when it is not ski season.  The guy there said he did not have my package.  I asked to barrow the phone to make a call and said I need to pay for it to my surprise, so I walked over to the visitor center next door to use their WiFi to figure out the issue.  Amazing WiFi at the visitor center just to let future hikers know!  I don’t want to say the owner there was rude, but he did not seem interested in helping me.  Anyway, my Mom thinks there is a possibility the package is still in transit and advises me to stay in the area to see if it arrives tomorrow.  Instead of pushing onward, I decide to make a call from the visitors center there to reserve a spot at the Inn At Long Trail.  Fortunately, they had one more spot!  Not sure why the Appalachian Trail had changed, but the trail and Long Trail used to cut across right where this Inn used to be.  No worries, but it would have been nice to get to the Inn last night.

If I knew the WiFi situation at the Inn At Long Trail, I definitely would had stayed much longer to download Game of Thrones while I was at the visitor center, before walking up.  There was a bus system in the area, but a mile up the road to me is really nothing so I walk.  I walked and it must have been a little more than a mile because the walk in total took me 45 minutes.  Oh yeah I passed through some construction and this one dude holding the stop/slow sign handled me an energy bar.  May not seem to interesting to include this detail in my blog out of all of the other details I exclude from my blog, but it really meant something to me.  I choose to share, to inspire mainly, but this detail is more, more about the community as a whole, the community of people that you have never met, but somehow have your back too.  Ah…this reminds me of an essay I read in my Freshman seminar class in my Freshman year at Mount St. Mary’s, “A Shared Moment of Trust” by Warren Christopher.  It is a very quick read or even a quick listen if you’d prefer to listen: A Shared Moment of Trust ~ Warren Christopher.

Made it to cute looking log cabin with the very homey feel to it, showered, tried the WiFi, gave up, and decided to take an Uber to Rutland, VT for the Walmart.  Yeah I was surprised too, there was an Uber in the area and probably the only one for that matter. I could have hitched or waited for the bus, but I was impatient.  I figured I would prepare myself for the worst and pick up some Cliff Bars in the neighboring town.  Well I was not really preparing myself for the worst, I just really wanted some more of those blueberry crisp Cliff bars.  Fortunately it paid off because as you will find out in the next blog, my package had yet to arrive.  Rutland was much larger than I was expecting.  I was caught off guard by the homeless population there.  On my way out of Walmart, I ran into Legs who had been staying at the Yellow Deli.  He was major in love with the place, but it is understandable why.  They offer hikers a place to stay for free and apparently have amazing food.  I did not get the honor of trying their food, but it is very much well known on the trail.  So here is the thing with the Yellow Deli one needs to know before staying.  It is a cult, or rather group of believers apart of “The Twelve Tribes” in which beleive that humans must return to an ancient communal life in order to achieve salvation, to be one with God.  Not that I have a problem with this, but they will ask you to stay.  Do not quote me on this, but I think if you choose to stay, you need to donate everything you own.  I can see why they target hikers.  There are a lot of us who are lost, not knowing their place yet in the world.

Anyway, I was heading to Ben and Jerry’s and asked if Legs would like to tag along.  He was very much willing.  It may be just in my head, but Ben in Jerry’s ice cream is significantly better in Vermont.  Talked to these two people sitting down at the Ben and Jerry’s, table next to ours outside and asked if they could give me a ride back.  They were eager to help.  Normally, not the way I operate, but it was getting close to dark.  They are both interns for a nonprofit close by on their last day before heading back to school.  I did not catch their names, but they were super helpful, eager to even drive Legs back if they saw him on their way back.

While I don’t recommend the stay, the food alone in the bar is worth the stop at the Inn At Long Trail.

 

Side Note:
– The guy at the Camp Outfitters never sent back the food that eventually arrived there as he promised to do so.  I would like to note that it may be a better idea to get your mail drop sent elsewhere.  I do not know for certain, but I think when they informed my Mom that my package had arrived, they in reality lost it then found it.  Maybe there really was a mix up, but it may be in your best interest not to take chances with this place. Fortunately for me, this package only contained a days worth of food.

At view of an airport, met up with these two guys smoking a joint. Stayed and chatted for a bit. I don’t remember his name, but the unique story on how he received his name. He rescued a lost dog on the trail. We then talked about society. I remember saying I was very eager to return. Those two seemed to think quite the opposite, wanting to enjoy the last miles of the trail as long as they could.

Cool looking suspension bridge

Another view of that airport earlier, this time on a different mountain.

Stopped at the Clarendon Shelter for lunch. This campsite would be perfect for tenting. There has to be at least 50 flat grassy spots here. Ran into Disciple and Cur Dog leaving the shelter. We all had stayed at the same shelter last night. They had left about four hours earlier than I from camp, so I was a little surprised to run into them again so early in the day. Filled up water, forced down a liter of water with two of those Scratch electrolyte packets I purchased in Manchester Center and continued onward.

Not too sure how old this sign is, but I have around 500 more miles to go!

Climb up Killington was brutal. It felt as the trail went on forever. Also, there were some sketchy narrow parts of the trail too.

The goal for the day was to make it to Cooper Lodge on top of Killington at Mile 1694.5, but I was feeling good so I continued onward! Oh by the way, there is a phenomenal piped water source by the Cooper Lodge. I even convinced myself I could make it to a campsite at Mile 1703.9 by VT Route 100 if I were to hike at night, but as soon as night fell, I quickly changed my mind. While hiking at night is very doable, it is not worth the risk of possibly injuring myself this far into my hike.

Made it to the next shelter, with the intention of just eating my dinner there, but decided to stay. Was talking to this guy at the shelter and he said his son was hiking the AT too. I asked what his trail name was and he did not seem to know. Then Speedy walks up to my surprise, and says that guy is his Dad. We catch up and talk about meeting later at the Inn At Long Trail if time allows.

Very happy I decided to stay, hours later there was a down pour.  More happy that I stayed in the shelter instead of a tent.  I tend to not get up as early when I wake up in a wet tent.

Woke up, hiked down the mountain to refill water at the Peru Peak Shelter to find Disciple and Cur Dog packing up to leave. We talked a bit while I filtered my water and split from there. They mentioned that no one was there to collect the $5 payment for the shelter. Definitely would have made the extra effort last night if I knew that.

Shortly after filling up water, I found myself on an endless plank bridge along Griffith Lake. The official term for this structure by the way is puncheon. This section of puncheons may be the longest yet on the entire AT. This term does not come up in Google, but if you were really interested in reading more on National Park Service structures of the trail, click here.

 

After crossing a relatively new looking suspension bridge, there were some south bounders chilling there so I decided to take a longish break to talk to them. One of them was European I believe from Great Britain based on her accent.

Started to read the Steve Jobs book I had downloaded back in Manchester Center. I made the purchase of this digital download not only because I was bored out of my mind with my own thoughts and current playlist of music, but because, I had picked up this book in college, never finishing it. Interestingly as I was listening, the book that was recommended to me to buy by that old folk in Manchester Center, “Be Here Now” by Ram Dass was referenced. Quite the coincidence.

Not too sure on the purpose or reason, but at mile 1674.8 by a side trail to a view called “White Rocks” there is a rock garden of sorts. I thought it was pretty cool so I took some photos.

Decided to walk the .4 miles off the trail to a shelter with a poor water source according to Guthook. I was going to leave since the source was the smallest trickle I have seen on the trail, but I happened to meet these two very interesting people so I borrowed Cur Dog’s method of retrieving the water with the cut bottom half of a sawyer squeeze out of a puddle and set up my tent for the night. Brilliant idea to be honest. If I go on another through hike, I will be sure to make a cup like that for scooping up at poor water sources.

Those two people were a Mother (Momma Bear) and Daughter (forgot name) section hiking. The daughter looked really young but was going into her sophomore year at Brown University. Not that the daughter was not interesting, I was more interested in speaking with Mamma Bear who spent her younger years traveling all over the world. I took some notes. I mentioned it is really remarkable that she traveled alone without the help of the internet. With the internet at least one would be able to get an idea of where your going looks like. In response she mentioned that there were these travel books and if you didn’t know how to speak the language, you could show certain people the book and they would know exactly what you wanted. She knew several languages, but for when she didn’t it is truly remarkable to me how she navigated by herself.

Travel was not the only topic. We talked about the trail as well. Mamma Bear showed concern for her daughter’s will to hike the entire AT after she had finished school. I have heard the concern from practically every person I have come in contact with when I said I was or was going to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. Yes, you need to use your best judgement, but the trail is not as dangerous as one might think. I understand the perspective (With the exception that I do not have children of my own), without knowledge of the unknown, what it actually is like out here, the unknown can seem quite frightening. While it is not necessary I told Mamma Bear she could hike with a dog and bring a GPS communication device. She seemed to warm up to the idea. When it comes down to it though, the decision is really up to the daughter and for Momma Bear to learn to let her daughter grow outside the nest.

Side Note:
– I have no idea what I was trying to accomplish or if I was accidentally taking photos…but here is one of the photos I took somewhere after Griffith Lake and before the suspension bridge:

 

Toad

Made our way out of town pretty slowly today. Stopped at the seemingly popular destination for thru-hikers, “Up For Breakfast.” I was recommended to go by a previous thru-hiker, the one with the bourbon a couple days ago. It was strangely a cash only restaurant so both Speedy and I had to run to the Rite Aid next door for the ATM while awaiting for a spot. There were quite a number of people interested in speaking to both of us about our journey. In my experience, while I am not too phased, most people are just in awe and full of questions. It is understandable, but there are just more interesting people to talk to, not in the open, out in the world, accomplishing greater things. I am just simply walking. Or as FuckIt explained to me in New York, paying top dollar to be homeless. While the restaurant was cramped, the food was well worth the stop. We both had the “Hungry Hiker” (A platter with two eggs, bacon, sausage links, hash browns/home fries, toast, and two pancakes). I wish I ate the pancakes first. The pancakes may be the reason why this place is so popular, aside from the atmosphere.

Hitched back to the trail. Speedy is a god when it comes to getting a ride. I cannot figure out how he could get a ride so quickly.

Very much bloated, we both made our way up Mt. Bromley. We have very similar paces and I love talking to him, but I very much wanted some space since we had spent the past two days together. I am likely over thinking it, but I felt I came on a little too strong when I said I would like to hike alone for a while. He said that was fine since he was supposed to meet up with his father soon at certain time for Mt. Killington, a 4,000 footer coming up in Vermont. He and his father are apart of this 4k club that involves hiking all of the 4,000 footers I believe in the New England region. I may be wrong on the the region. The interaction felt a little awkward because a top this mountain we both sat and chilled up there on an inoperative ski lift. Speedy Skis during the winter if I have not yet mentioned that.

The other ski lift there was operational and the engineer there said we could take a ride down the mountain if we wanted to, although we would have to pay if we wanted a ride back up. I believe the ski lifts stay operational for the view up there.

I was feeling pretty lazy today so I cut the day short. With an already low mileage day, late start day, I knew I could not hike a high mileage day I seek out to accomplish on a day to day basis. With low hopes of being able to have service in my tent for Game of Thrones, I sought out a stealth spot on top of Peru Peak, right before Peru Peak shelter. Good on water, I decided to stealth at that spot. There was no service unfortunately, but at least I have the alone time to work on my blog.

Side Note:
– Bought a Probar in town to try it out and I would like to say while, it was very nutritious and almost twice the amount of calories than a Cliff Bar, it was no where near a meal replacement as advertised, at least for a thru-hiker. They are very expensive, so I am a little relieved I didn’t end up feeling replenished after eating on of these.  Must though credit how tasty these are!

 

Woke up earlyish today (with an overwhelming amount of slugs on the outside of our tents) with the main intention getting to town before the post office had closed, but more because we both really wanted a full day in town.

On the way we saw a dead porcupine (puddle of quills around its skeleton) if anyone is interested:
The night before Speedy and I reserved a spot in this women’s house who normally uses the rooms normally for foreign exchange students during the school year. She said she would pick us up at noon, but we got there much earlier and were talking about hitching. Before I was even on board, Speedy sticks out his thumb and literally the first car pulls over to pick us up into town. Those people were really friendly even making multiple stops in town for us.  I felt like I couldn’t thank them enough.

After the post office and dropping off stuff at our place of stay, we explored the touristy town of Manchester Center, VT.  Learned a bit about Speedy.  Definitely would like to hang out after the trail.  Genuinely cool guy.

We were especially excited about the Ben and Jerry’s

Had two helpings and came back for more later! Favorite flavor was fish and chips! 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

Pro-tip: Avoid House of Pizza. We didn’t even box our leftovers. Not a good sign for thru-hikers to dislike food.

Had quite the interesting experience while looking around the self help section of the Northshire book store in town.  An older fellow after hearing about my journey repeated over and over before parting that the book in the photo below “was for me.”  I do not quite remember what was said, but he was so pushy about this book that he even offered to buy the book after I said I could not.  I explained it was not the money, but the weight since I am hiking the Appalachian Trail.  The title of the book is, “Be Here Now” by Ram Dass.  If this book was not a picture book, I certainly would have bought the audio version.  Maybe I will pick it up after my travels.

Here are the books I did purchase on Audible:

• The Power of Habit – Charles Duhigg
• The 7 Irresistible Qualities Men Want in a Woman – Bruce Bryans
• What Women Want in a Man – Bruce Bryans
• The Four Agreements – don Miguel Ruiz
• Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action – Simon Sinek
• You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth – Jen Sincero
• The Martian – Andy Weir
• Steve Jobs – Walter Isaacson
• How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease – Michael Greger
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counter-intuitive Approach to Living a Good Life – Mark Manson
• Sex at Dawn – Christopher Ryan

The result of those past three wet nights:

Ran into Legs while Speedy and I were heading to McDonald’s after drinking some. I was surprised he was in the process of leaving town minutes before dark to go hike at night to keep hiking.

Woke up early, as planned to catch the sun rise on the fire tower with everyone else. The views were phenomenal. It looked as if we were looking out to a sea of mountains from the top of the tallest pine tree.

Had some service up there so I texted my close friend what I was seeing! She sent me that one emoticon with “x” for the eyes.  I will admit, it was pretty scary coming down.  I was likely too tired to care on the way up.

I should have taken advantage of the day, but I crawled back into bed only to lay there for two hours and not regain the warmth I had lost.

The mud seemed non-stop today.

That climb to Stratton Mountain felt like it went on forever!  Speedy had been hanging up there looking at a Appalachian Trail map posted up there. He is really into Maps I believe since he went to school for graphic design. I first met him at the first shelter in Vermont, but really didn’t get to know him until today. We were both interested in splitting a place in Manchester center to save some money, but did not have a reliable way to keep connected so we camped and hiked together to guarantee the plan.

Received another night of some of that unexpected rain. I am not complaining. I would prefer rain any night than during the day.

1600 miles!

Still not feeling good.

Chilled at the next shelter for a while to eat some weight off of my pack. I gave all my unwanted tuna to Legs. We were both thrilled. He gained food he wasn’t yet sick of and I lost a significant amount of pack weight. It was at least a pound, but it made all the difference to me. =D  The couple in the photo before were some people that started the Long Trail yesterday.  They offered a tangerine for us to split, but Legs took it for himself.  Wasn’t too bothered, just a little surprised he’d actually keep it to himself. Oh well. At least I don’t have to carry the weight. 

Found out Legs had also did the miles to also get to Vermont last night. That guy is not afraid to hike big miles at night. We leap frogged each other until I left him behind at kick ass the trail magic at the parking lot off of Route 9 before the sorta steep incline that neither of us were excited to do. Trail magic was thanks to a Thru-hiker who happened to be off the trail a couple of days due to small injury and also had his truck. I think he is from the area.

A south bounder getting dropped off from town, mentioned to Legs and I that there was a rock scramble up ahead that reminded him of the whites, in which I responded, “can’t wait” sarcastically, not at all eager to start the climb ahead as everyone else chilling by the trail magic. Clearly, I have not had the pleasure of hiking through the whites, but I imagine it can’t be as bad as the rock scrambles in PA, which it wasn’t.

Legs mentioned something about wanting to get to the fire tower to see tomorrow’s sun rise, which interested me as well so I said I would meet him there. The fire tower was only .3 more miles than I intended on doing for the day.

I stopped at the shelter with the intention of waiting up for Legs behind me, but found myself debating on staying the night at the shelter instead, since it was a really nice and relatively new one with a pipped spring. Also, there was a former thru-hiker there with some bourbon. While all very tempting, I decided to hike the additional .3 miles with Legs.

Met some other hikers who had the same idea as us by the fire tower. By the way, camping spots up there were superb! One of those hikers was a very interesting character named, “Yak.” He was offering weed and a micro dose of LSD for the morning (I wasn’t interested). He decided to call the weed rat poison from then on because of the way I rejected, which I will explain because I will admit it was kinda silly after hearing his response. So…I do not remember why this conversation came up, but my Mom was giving my brothers and I advice if I were to buy weed, not to buy it in the city because they may trick us since we were, “rich white kids” and actually give me rat poison instead of weed. My Dad then turns to my Mom and says, “shouldn’t you be advising them not to buy weed at all?” While, I agree people can lace drugs with something harmful, I did not at the time know what weed looked like and for that matter, know what rat poison looked like either. My Mom was clearly trying to scare me at the time, but I to this day did not know what rat poison looked like, as a result, looked like an idiot rejecting Yak’s proposal. Yes, I know judge me. I lived under a rock for some time. Anyway, I am not sure the reason, but this fellow acts like a hillbilly. I very much was entertained by his colorfulness.

Another beautiful day with an unexpected rain for the night (Making our days really muddy to point that out). This time after night fall while talking around the fire.

 

Left Chesire, onward to Mt. Greylock, which I believe is the highest point in Massachusetts. Came across some amazing trail magic practically taking over a parking lot a little before the summit of Greylock. There were BLAT (Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, and Tomato) wraps, fruit salad, beer, soda, bagels, etc.! This may have been the largest trail magic I have yet to come across. Turns out this trail magic was put together by Blue Bird’s parents. If there is a possibility Blue Bird’s parents are reading this, I would like to thank you guys again for your generosity.

That fruit salad! 👌🏼

Cool little pond before the top of Greylock with what appeared to be a small cabin on the other side of it.

Greylock as expected, a little before the summit, with all the roads up there was very much touristy. I didn’t look too much into the history, but there was a light house looking structure on top of Greylock. Beautiful view too!

On the way down from Greylock, I ran into this painter…

…painting this view:

We talked for a bit. Apparently, he retired from an IT profession and now spends his days painting. One of my friends, Hope is an artist in training…I wonder if she does this sort of thing.

After Greylock, I pretty much felt like crap for the remainder of the day. It could be one of two things. The six doughnuts I ate the previous night or the beers I drank at the trail magic. I’m going to bet on the beer, but it could also be the combination. I have endured much worse, so I kept on pushing the remainder of the day.

Made it into Vermont and the start of the Long Trail, which I could be a thru-hiker of too if I go back and finish the remainder since it runs along the Appalachian Trail for a good bit, after I complete the Appalachian Trail. As of now, that is not an interest of mine since I don’t particularly hike for the completion part.

Also, at this border was a guy who I won’t mention the name of was smoking his weed and when I asked he said it was because weed will not be legal again until Maine, which I found strange because the law is not something that would stop this guy or anyone for that matter on the trail.

Made it to my destination, the first shelter in VT and it had quite the pool of people. It seems they had the same goal as I, to get to Vermont. It is also the first shelter for the Long Trail. There was not the best place for tent camping. It was pretty much impossible to avoid the rocks.  Met Disciple along with Cur Dog (Two older men in their 40s or 50s) for the first time here along with several other new faces which I will likely mention in the later days. Disciple is simply a follower of Jesus. More on Disciple later. He is truly an inspiring human being.

Unexpected rain while eating dinner. You could literally hear the confusion as everyone scrambled, leaving their dinners in the rain to make sure their gear didn’t get wet. Fortunately for myself, I had eaten the majority of my dinner and always eat my dinner after I am set up for the night so the only task left at hand for me to do was to tie up my bear bag.  Although, to avoid the rocks in this one spot I decided to set up my tent on a not completely flat surface improperly for rainy conditions.  On a hill I need to set up my tent with the sides of the tent on the down hill, which are the sides with the doors.  I do not remember if I mentioned this prior, but if I set up the tent laying parallel to the hill, my feet (or head) could potentially slide into the bug netting pushing out past the cuben fiber, which will let water in if raining.  Yes, I know, major design flaw, but still worth the purchase in my opinion with how well it has been holding up on my through hike thus far.  I have made this mistake two times prior on the trail.  If I mentioned water getting into my tent previously on my blog, this was the cause.  While it did rain tonight, I avoided getting wet by sleeping diagonally, which is not uncommon for me to do since I like to spread out some when I sleep.

Cheshire feels homey.

Took a zero soley to catch up on my blog. I have yet to upload it, but I certainly have caught up with my offline copy.  I had been working on my blog straight for twelve hours. I am very thorough so despite my long commitment, I still had some work left to be done by the end of the day.

I neglected to eat for a good chuck of the day and by the time I did get around to eating, I didn’t feel to good for a while for a while digesting that food.  Not 100% sure of the cause, but I am definitely not holding off eating again that long.

Had been able to converse with my close friend fortunately later at night, so late I needed to get out of my tent and walk towards the school behind the church so I wouldn’t disturb the other people tenting near me.  I tried not to pay too much attention to the strange circled driving in the parking lot between the school and the church, but I completely got distracted by the sillyness I was witnessing.  At first I was thinking it was drunk driving, but it was more likely just test driving in the middle of the night. We had not one but two conversations, not because of the lack of service as usual, but because of a favor she was asked by her sister.  She then asked me to call her back in 40ish minutes, since she easily gets distracted. I know red flag, but this sort of behavior is in her nature, at least from what had gathered over the years. After calling her a goldfish, for easily getting distracted and waiting 40ish minutes, I called her back.  I didn’t have too much to say. I simply wanted to hear her voice.  Conversation is sometimes hard as a hiker when you feel you have been experiencing the same old same old for the day to day for what feels like forever. I no longer feel I am sharing new and exciting things, especially to a person who is out of the loop with life on the trail. She may have felt the same way for me as well since I had been out of the loop on society, but then again I am usually the one talking anyway, soceity or not.  At times she makes me feel like I am the only one in the world, but just as easily the opposite will take place, almost as if she is uncertain of her emotions.  Just as in the beginning of my hike, time wise, I can tell she is flattered, but not at all if she is interested.  With all of the apparent red flags, I would be a fool to assume she is interested, but hopeful as I am, I continue to fall.  That vulnerable feeling when you realize how far you’ve already fallen.

 

Mr. Levardi made us all breakfast!

Levardi’s Cat

The plan was to watch Game of Thrones and talk to my close friend in Dalton, but with the lack of service, I was unable to do so.  Cheshire, MA being my next destination, I continued on to the next town, and decided to take a nero there.  Luckily and suprisingly for me though, I had service in Cheshire so I didn’t need to hang around a hotspot while in town.

Stayed in the lawn of the St. Mary of the Assumption Church.  They allow hikers to stay over night on the lawn and chill inside during the day.

A guy (Pheasant Melon) made a tinder soley to get a ride into town to get food.  I am more shocked that it worked. She picked up him along with three other guys, Dozer and Umbrella Face included. I sorta wished I tagged along, but I wanted to be sure not to miss conversation with my close friend.

It was supoosed to rain today, but the weather kept getting pushed further and further.  It did rain, but not until late that evening.

Dunkin Doughnuts walking distance!  I have a pretty good feeling I will no longer eat this type of food post trail, so mind as well enjoy it while the costs are minimum to my body in this state.

I don’t remember the reason, but my close friend never got around to calling me.  I do remember getting upset, especially since we arranged a time. If no time was arranged, I wouldn’t care.  I personally do not like people waiting on me so if I knew for some reason I would miss or be late to an arrangement, I would at least notify the other party before the arranged time.

Pancakes and coffee in the morning!  Ken and his family, the carecakers were phenomenal!  He made pancakes literally until everyone was satisfied. I had four myself!  It was baffling the amount of blueberries the south bounders had gathered for the pancakes. Those blueberries were so on point. Best blueberry pancakes ever consumed. Solid 7/7. 👌🏼

Feels exactly like a fall morning up here. It is starting to realy get chilly. I question my decision that Hanover, NH was the best place to pick up my winter gear.  The remainder of the day felt exactly like a fall day. It was one of the most beautiful bug free days I have hiked in a while.

Ran into the couple through hiking the trail with the infant. I read about them in a Backpack’s magazine before leaving for the trail in April.

Stayed the night at Levardi’s in Dalton, MA. A guy that lets through hikers tent in his back yard.

Finished “Outliers” in less than 24 hours (It is a 7 hour book). Very well written book. His point throughout the book is on point. Ha. Certainly undercovered a perspective I have never thought in before. I wouldn’t say this is a must read, but it is a very good one. It opens the mind a little more.  Moving on to next book!  Crushing miles and books is an overwhelmingly great feeling (even though I am simply only listening). I cannot remember a time I was this truely happy.

After reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book, “Outliers” is it wrong of me to no longer feel guilty of taking advantage (make use of) of my parent’s wealth? I thought before that taking advantage of my parent’s support was a something that would stunt my growth and to an extent I believe that is still true.  With too much support, one will be unable to support and grow themselves. I now better understand the importance of an opportunity.  I want to be completely independent, but that will be much harder if I do not take full advantage of the opportunities/resources that are available to me.

Don’t misinterpreted please. I am not going to ‘live it up’ on my parent’s support. I am going to take advantage of their advantages available to me to support myself. For example:

-Take advantage of the money available to futher my education.
– Legal help
– Temporary shelter
– Connections

I am also more aware of my other advantages in the world and I am going to take full advantage of those advantages as well.  What are those advantages?  To be blunt, being a white straight male.  One should certainly be aware of one’s opportunities, but not let another’s critism hold you back for taking advantage of your opportunities.  Let the others be jealous.  No need to hold yourself back for feeling guilty of those advantages.  One can’t control the world they were born in to. If another, less fortunate were in your shoes, they would be taking full advantage of the opportunities that may not normally be available for them. If you want to get ahead, yes work harder, but also take advantage of very opportunity that comes your way. Be greatful for those opportunities.

Side note:
While listening to an audio book I already feel as if I am hearing distant chatter just ahead, but when the chatter doesn’t get louder I am puzzled. I may be hearing things. There is also the possibility I am just behind a group of fast paced hikers all the time…but all the time?  Maybe the wind can speak.

 

 

In the ice gluch, ravine looking crevice, I saw a porcupine!  I apologize for blurriness, this is as close as I could get.

Finished Ben Sasse’s book, “The Vanishing American Adult.” While I very much support his solutions and the book overall, he closes in my opinion very poorly. He comes off as if he is selling himself. I appreciate his standing, but propaganda was not needed for the message to get across. I cridged a little listening to the end.  Would I recommend this book?  Yes, I would but with the warning that he closes the book with his own propaganda.

Started “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell. So far so good. Everything I’d expect from a book called, Outliers.

I get the feeling this tire has been here for a while. 

Made it to the Upper Goose Cabin later than planned but made it!  There were tons of people here. All 16 bunks were taken, which didn’t matter too much to me since it wasn’t not raining out.  The people running this place are super nice!

Fortunately, I had service here so I called the close friend I have been referring to this entire trip. For pretty much obvious reasons, I am going to keep her anonymous. Very much an enjoyable conversation. =)

Side Note: