Hanover, NH – mile 1748 – 79.8 percent of the trail complete –

September 4th – Manchester, VT to Lost Pond Shelter
Total miles on AT – 14.8
Elevation gain – 2475ft
Elevation loss – 2123ft
Start time: 10:45am
Finish time: 6:40pm
Total time hiking: 6:30
Weather: sunny, mild

After a day off at the Palmer Hotel, I was ready to get back out there. We’ll sort of… it was hard to drag myself away. I got a quick ride back to the trail from a young guy who is about to move to Peru to install cell phone towers. I had virtually no anxiety in the car and I wonder weather the CBD I’ve been taking is helping.

I’d done the next 50 miles of trail before on a five day trip with Craig, Brian, and Jared in 1996. A few spots were familiar like the trailhead where we watched a 15 year-old from Washington DC head into the woods carrying all of his water for a week thinking that he could reach Mt. Washington 210 miles away in just seven days. His mother was hysterical wondering whether she was making the right decision to let her son walk into the woods for that long. I wonder what became of him.

I also remember Peru Peak Shelter where one of us in the group exposed his backside to the camera next to the privy sign. This was the first of many shots and why he got the trail name “Full Moon” on our 20 anniversary hike three weeks ago.

But on this day, Peru Peak Shelter was the scene of an unfortunate occurrence. A man died there earlier today. The story I got was that he fell ill three days ago and had been tenting at the shelter ever since. The caretaker had been checking up on him but he turned for the worst and died this morning of what had been an apparent heart attack.

When I arrived at the shelter there was no one there, just a barbell cap with a heart on it that said “life is good,” and a snake skin on the picnic table. Supposedly those in charge of the scene had left not long before.

The other place that was familiar was the fantastic view from the top of Baker Peak. The view was even more spectacular twenty years ago when the trees had not impeded the view and you could see all the way down to the highway.

I am camping yet again with Iron Butterfly and a few other Long Trail hikers. A few of them stayed at the hostel in town and supposedly there was free Ben and Jerrys and free Long Trail beer. I missed out on that one.

September 5th – Lost Pond Shelter to VT 103
Total miles on AT – 17.6
Elevation gain – 1961ft
Elevation loss – 3414ft
Start time: 7:50am
Finish time: 5:15pm
Total time hiking: 7:30
Weather: sunny, warm

A beautiful day, yet again, but we need rain. I wanted to do it, but couldn’t pull the trigger; that is, jump in for a swim in Little Rock Pond, but it would’ve been cold getting back out. A woman was there with her golden retriever. She got the dog after her husband passed away a few years ago. She attempted a thru-hike in the 1970s. She shared blueberry pound cake with Iron Butterfly and me.

I ate lunch at a place called White Rocks Cliff with three high school girls from Burlington, VT then raced it to VT 103 where I was picked up by family friends, the Doolittles. It was fantastic to get a shower, have a great meal, and chat away.

September 6th – VT 103 to Cooper Lodge Shelter
Total miles on AT – 11.4
Elevation gain – 3714ft
Elevation loss – 574ft
Start time: 10:55am
Finish time: 6:20pm
Total time hiking: 5:25
Weather: mostly cloudy, warm

It was a wonderful breakfast and a nice morning with Pete and Lory. They dropped me off at the trail before 11am and then it was a lot of up. I am camping near the top of Mt. Killington at the same place I stayed with Craig, Brian, and Jared 20 years ago on our final night of our five day 50-mile hike. We stayed in the shelter that night because it was late May and cold. Come to think of it, did we even bring tents on that trip? I don’t remember that we did. We froze a couple of nights in our summer bags.

Here tonight I am tenting with four other tents in the near vicinity. And there are more down the hill. A crowded spot. I don’t think it’s going to be that cold of a night. A number of us climbed up the ridiculously steep, White Mountain-esque short trail to the peak where we basically found ourselves in the clouds. But just a little below we caught the sun low in the sky before it set through the mist.

You know, I haven spent of lot of time on this blog explaining some of my deeper thoughts. I meant to start kind of like a “thought of the day” tab every day but keep forgetting. A couple of weeks ago, I was caught up one day on the power of anticipation. Einstein said that all a person really needs in life is something to look forward to. Well today we passed the sign that said 500 miles to Katahdin. And I had all sorts of thoughts. We’re 77 percent of the way, which of course means we are in the last quarter. Now sometimes in school I had to resist the temptation to coast in the fourth quarter. Of course in football or any sport for that matter a team must pride itself for playing with poise and not getting tired in that fourth quarter. Honestly I feel a little tired. It’s slow going up these hills. I don’t feel as strong and of course we have the White Mountains coming up.

I also kept thinking about the book Catch 22 today. The protagonist is well aware that the tide of the war had turned and that an American and Allied victory was inevitable. However, men still needed to fight and die for that to happen and he doesn’t want to be one of them if they are going to win the war anyways, but of course his honor is at stake. Well this is of course a terrible comparison, but well I’m 77 percent in. I’ve got this. It’s a done deal. Except it’s not. I’ve actually got to put my body through the turmoil of the rest of Vermont, of the Whites, of Western Maine. And my body is tired. There were moments today where I just didn’t want to hike. My body was telling me, “Enough!” “I can just coast from here.” Except I can’t. There’s still a lot left to do…Oh but there’s also so much beautiful stuff ahead! I’m ok. I’ve got this. Thank heavens I am in less pain at night.

September 7th – Cooper Lodge Shelter to Stony Brook Shelter
Total miles on AT – 16.3
Elevation gain – 1843ft
Elevation loss – 3962ft
Start time: 9:25am
Finish time: 7:00pm
Total time hiking: 7:00
Weather: sunny, warm

A warm night last night all things considered at 3900ft. But I had a hard time getting up in the morning. I woke up at 8:00 and only one other person had gotten up and that was Iron Butterfly who’d already left. A late start meant a shorter day.

I passed the 1700 mile mark with the same person I passed the 800 mile mark – a woman named Jessica from Tampa. We hiked all morning and into the early afternoon together. She stopped at the Inn at Long Trail and was waiting for her hiking buddy named Slim to catch up.

I stopped in the town of Killington and got an amazing sandwich at their deli before pushing on to this shelter. I witnessed a bear about a mile back. I heard something rustling in the trees about 40 yards away and about 40 feet up. It was going to town and huffed a few times. I spent a good five minutes trying to get a view of him without him seeing me but couldn’t. But unless it was Bigfoot forty feet up in a tree I am positive it was a bear.

I chatted with a sobo by the name of Brother Racoon at the shelter, the only other person here. He said he was glad I was here because he had gotten very lonely in the last 36 hours.

It’s warm again tonight and the sound of the crickets are back!

September 8th – Stony Brook Shelter to Thistle Hill Shelter
Total miles on AT – 21.5
Elevation gain – 3429ft (but actually a lot more)
Elevation loss – 3436ft (ditto)
Start time: 7:40am
Finish time: 7:10am
Total time hiking: 9:20
Weather: mostly cloudy, warm, humid

I believe this is the warmest night I’ve had in at least three weeks – since mid August if you can believe it. I am sweating in my tent and the flap is open. The crickets are singing and it feels like mid-summer. But I finished at 7:10 this evening and it was noticeably darker than last night. I was a mess trying to set up camp. I’ve had a broken tent poll for a while and trying to fool around with it in the dark was a pain.

It was a huge day. 21.5 miles and a ton of up and down. I had done some of this section before and I remember how frustrating the ups and downs were.

I only had two breaks – 7.2 miles in at a cabin with stairs to climb on the roof to a great view. And the other break was at a farm where I bought a pint of ice cream and a root beer. Pretty warm and humid all day. Feeling accomplished. Tomorrow New Hampshire!

September 9th – Thistle Hill Shelter to Hanover, NH
Total miles on AT – 15.4
Elevation gain – 1470ft
Elevation loss – 2580ft
Start time: 7:35am
Finish time: 6:45pm
Total time hiking: 6:25
Weather: partly cloudy, very warm, humid

A hot day, but a good one. There was trail magic at a house in West Hartford, VT across the White River just before I 89. A nice couple has been doing trail magic there for twenty years. They made eggs and toast, and the soda, fruit, and coffee were also free. I caught up to more north bounders, this time Spam and Sniper; the last time I saw them was the first day out of Erwin, TN.

I found a bag with a free beer in it just before Norwich, VT and another house offered free watermelon and cookies.

After a resupply at a market in Norwich, VT where they gave me two free breakfast sandwiches, I crossed under I 91 and over the Connecticut River into Hanover, New Hampshire. What a feeling! 80 percent of the trail complete and 12 out of 14 states down!

After seeing Dartmouth College and doing a few errands around town, I realized I had lost my phone.

Sota and I grabbed a couple of beers at an Irish Pub with a couple of southbounders and then set up camp next to the Dartmouth soccer fields.

I headed for the Hanover High School football game which was a romp for the home team Maurauders.

I am excited to see my brother Darge tomorrow who is driving up to join me on my day off in town. Two states, albeit the two toughest, remain!