- Hiked Today: 8.9 miles
- Appalachian Trail (1,747.8 – 1,756.7)
- Total Hiked: 3,689.5 miles
- Total Paddled: 99.5 miles
Weather: 65 – 82 °F, mix of sun and clouds, very humid
Elevation: 384 – 1,611 feet
Podunk Brook Site to Holiday Inn Express White River Junction
I had about 2 miles of foggy glasses uphill to get to the Happy Hill Shelter cutoff.
After that, things brightened up some. Even though the air remained breezeless, it felt less stuffy and more open with glimpses of sunlight sneaking below the canopy.
The last bits of trail leading down to Norwich, Vermont were quite pleasant in a quiet and peaceful way, the big pines leaving a pathway full of needles. The trail popped out to a quaint road and I was thankful it was all downhill.
Once in town, I took a left off the AT route to visit Dan and Whit’s General Store. And a general store it was, offering not only a good supply of groceries, but toys and board games and local crafts too. And it had a hardware section, which was my main purpose for visiting. I even found the item I wanted, which I was surprised about, but I’ll show that when/if it ever comes to use.
The store was a bit pricey, so I didn’t get my full resupply there, but instead picked out a few select items including a Vermont maple syrup infused coffee, breakfast sandwich, and a jelly-filled twisted sugar donut haha. I sat on the bench outside to feast, but after a nice little break continued my sidewalk mosey through town.
From Norwich it was downhill to the mighty Connecticut River. And crossing the bridge to the other side, Sumi and I said goodbye to Vermont and were welcomed into New Hampshire!
I have been hearing about how New Hampshire has the most difficult trail of the entire AT even before starting on this adventure. Well, it didn’t seem so bad starting out, nice sidewalk through the college town of Hanover.
All of a sudden I was walking through the campus of Dartmouth College. Well, sort of, maybe on the fringe of it, where it meets the town full of quirky restaurants and shops. Students milled about all fashionable and clean with backpacks of a different slightly smaller varit than my own. Or, maybe I just mistook them for students and they were all super ultra light hikers? This area, maybe just as much as when I hopped into New York City, felt so surreal to me. It was bizarre coming straight from the woods and all of a sudden being in the middle of fancy Hanover.
Maybe you’re like me and have heard of Dartmouth before, but never knew it was in Vermont or really why I knew of it. All I can think is that it’s an Ivy League school and has that reputation of being top notch, I’m guessing. As I crossed the bridge, the view of the river with a dock for crew really fit the image of the school’s high distinction in my mind haha. I could imagine a foggy morning, the squad rowing in perfect unison cutting through the smooth glass waters like a knife through soft butter.
The trail continued through Hanover where it would eventually go out and up and away from town. I stopped today’s jaunt by the Food Co-op store though, a little over a mile into New Hampshire. I went for another round of shopping, but here too thought prices were quite steep (like the mountainous trail ahead 😅). I wondered where the students shop. Piecing together some items, I left and headed to the bus stop.
There’s the Dartmouth campus.
Do Not Enter… Apparently they don’t want hikers to enter 😅
The rest of the day was dedicated to resting up and prepping for the next leg of the journey. I used my “free” hotel night I get once a year through my credit card and it was amazing. There was a little snafu with not getting checked in on time (I’d hopped for early check-in, but things were quite disheveled there when I arrived), but once showered and laundered, I cared not. Plus, I just hung out in the lobby in the air conditioning while waiting.
That night, I stayed busy cleaning and organizing and writing blogs and looking ahead on FarOut, but I also had a movie on and got a pizza delivered straight to my room. All was well in my little hotel room world! So good and necessary to stop and regroup.
