The 13th State

I guess perhaps I thought it wouldn't ever happen - not really. New Hampshire was such a pipe dream - we would look ahead in the book at the mountains in the Whites and especially the Presidentials with awe and terror, deciding that no, we don't have to think about those quite yet. But suddenly we are in southern New Hampshire, two days away from Glencliff and the base of Mount Moosilauke, our first mountain over 4,000ft since Virginia and our longest climb to date. Holy crap.

After our majestic stay at the lookout we planned for two days into Hanover, NH. We awoke in the cabin the next morning bright eyed and bushy tailed, so grateful to have gotten a night out of the buggy open air. The first 6 miles of the day flew by as I desperately chased Red Knees down the mountain to the road below the Lookout. Unfortunately for both of us I didn't realize that he had waited for me at the shelter 2.6 miles into the day and that by hurrying to "keep up" with him I had made him quite literally run the trail to catch back up. Whoops, sorry buddy. The sight of him running down the side of a Vermont country road, backpack bouncing all over the place was one to remember. 

After that initial descent we went into a sort of mini roller coaster, steeply ascending and descending over relatively small mountains but the quick changes from super steep up to super steep down were challenging to say the least. Thankfully we had a prize at the end - the possibility of trail magic and a definite stop at Cloudland Market. And oh did we get both!

At the bottom of the last descent into Cloudland there was a bag with cold Gatorades (gift from the gods!) and a cooler graffitied with the names of other hikers filled with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (with strawberry, not grape, jam hallelujah!), cheeze-its, carrots, grapes and breath mints. We sat down mid trail with Sir Pantsalot and Daddy Longlegs who had arrived before us and feasted for a late lunch.

Thank goodness we did because for all it's beauty, Cloudland Market wasn't much of a market. Inside they had one whole refrigerator full of beef (apparently they slaughter some of their cows for some killer grass fed beef. It looked good but lord knows I wasn't about to pack out a raw rib-eye steak), and another with a few types of Vermont cheese, pints of ice cream and locally made cream soda. If I has been in the mood for dairy or liked cream soda we would've been in business. Nevertheless we all posted up on their beautiful wrap around porch and laid in the sun and charged up our electronics. I'll take it. 

We were back on the road by just after 3pm for what ended up being a really not that downhill death-sprint descent into West Hartford, VT. Of course I ran out of water with 3.5 miles to go and decided: oh screw it, lets just go. Needless to say when we got to the general store just over an hour later I promptly purchased a quart of Powerade and consumed it in under 5 minutes. Note: NEVER drink Powerade that fast. You will feel like you're about to die. 

I recovered quickly from my faux pas and Red Knees and I ordered sandwiches and picked up a few snacks for the road. We walked just a few houses down before turning into a house with an AT sign advertising water and camping. Turns out this was the house of a previous thru-hiker, Steve (his trail name had something to do with the fact that he has a mustache but it is evading me), who allows hikers to camp on his lawn, full up on water, charge electronics and bath in the snow runoff stream behind his house (not really but oooh baby was that some chilly water!). It was a dream. 

The next morning we awoke early to find all of our things soaked through with dew. We packed up our soggy belongings and hit the road by 7am to make a big push for New Hampshire, 10 miles away. After an easy 3 hours we popped out onto the road for some road walking which led us across the Connecticut River and into the town of Hanover, NH a chic Ivy League college town that caters remarkably well to hikers with most businesses offering some hiker special (free bagel, free pizza, cheap sandwich...). We dropped our packs at the Dartmouth Outdoor Center and headed for the post office. 

When I got there I was expecting to pick up one package from my brother. I was totally unprepared for the cards and care packages that I actually receives. I think at one point I was actually on the verge of tears I felt so much love and support from my friends at home. People are amazing sometimes. 

After a delicious lunch at a restaurant across the way from the post office I stopped by Barnes and Noble and picked up some cards so I could write letters home to thank everyone for their words of encouragement. l went a bit overboard and ended up writing a few novels but at least they were finished.

We left town around 4:30pm, not wanting to stay in the excessively expensive college town that was teaming with 18 year olds prepping for Freshman orientation. Instead we pushed on 6 more miles to Etna, NH where we were picked up to stay at Tiggers Tree House Hostel.

What a gem of a place! Red Knees and I were given our very own mobile home parked outside their house (that's one way to keep the hiker stink out!) and we're given access to the laundry, shower and a plethora of food and beverages they had in a fridge just for hikers. Plus we were able to crash in front of the TV to watch Ironman 2 and X-Men 2 while eating the Subway sandwiches that we had carried with us from Hanover and finish the letters that we (well, I) had started.

We were up late but accomplished so much that it was worth it. Today will be a big day with some decent climbs ahead of us but we have the prospect of sleeping in a fire tower atop a mountain tonight which I would never turn down. 

White Mountains, we're coming for ya!