Day 131: Granite State of Mind

Hiked 11.7 miles, staying in Tigger's Tree House.

It rained last night and the trail was a bit mucky this morning.  I only had 12 miles to walk today and with such a short day I had no urge to rush.  It was mostly a long downhill this morning and with pleasant temperatures and smooth trail the distance went by quickly.  I ran into Why Not just before entering Norwich, Vermont.  She was stopped by the side of the road next to a cooler.  A very nice lady had put out some Oreos and watermelon.  Her name was Betsy and she came out and chatted with us for a bit and even offered us a place to stay which we both politely declined given that it was only nine in the morning.

9 AM photo, passing through Norwich

So began the longest road walk on the entire AT.  At about four miles you pass through two towns, cross a river and a highway.  First though we had to take a side excursion to the supermarket in Norwich, about a block off the trail.  They give out day old sandwiches to hikers for free.  I have never had a roast beef sandwich for breakfast before but man did it taste good.  There is a piano outside the store and while we ate a young kid gave us some musical accompaniment.

You can see New Hampshire just in the distance!

Cool cloud formation

We left and passed through Norwich and then walked under I-91.  Then came the big moment, crossing over the Connecticut River into New Hampshire!  In the middle of the bridge is a huge stone plaque indicating the border.  I can't believe I'm walking back into New Hampshire after four months!  We stopped to exchange high fives and take pictures, then continued up the street into Hanover.  Walking through Hanover was cool because it is the first place on the entire trail that I have walked before.

The border!

I think my excitement level is appropriate

Why Not standing on the bridge

The Connecticut River

Exchanging necessary high fives

Hanover is a cool town for thru hikers.  There is a bagel shop that offers a free bagel to thru hikers.  There is also a pizza place that offers a free slice of pizza.  On top of that there is a list posted in the Dartmouth Outdoors Club of trail angels who will let you sleep in their homes.  Of course we hit all of the free stuff.  While at the pizza place I saw another thru hiker who looked familiar and it took me a little while to figure out who it was.  It was Carbon.  The last time I saw him was Tennessee, his beard is definitely fuller since then.

Walking through Dartmouth campus

Passing by the athletic fields as we left Hanover

While sitting in the pizza place all of a sudden the sky opened up and we got torrential downpour for about twenty minutes.  It was a good time to be indoors.  Why Not and I both got a reservation at Tigger's Tree House about six miles from town, so we headed back out on the trail.

Tigger's Tree House is a private home that has been hosting hikers for about six years now.  They are essentially a donation based hostel that can only fit 2-3 people.  Karen and Ralph are the nicest people.  They provide everything that a hiker would want out of lodging.  Their basement is set aside for the hikers and there is a camper out back with beds.  The accommodations were great.  They even ferried us back to Hanover for dinner.

It was a fairly steep climb out of Hanover

As I waited for Why Not I laid down and watched the clouds

The plan was to meet up with Carbon for dinner, but when we poked our heads into the restaurant, we found a ton of familiar faces there including CodeWalker, Violet, Fiffer, Techie, Shweasel, Lentil and Still Here.  Carbon joined us shortly.  We sat around a firepit on the patio (that didn't work) until it started to sprinkle, then moved under an awning.  While there we had our New Hampshire beer, thanks David! 

New Hampshire Beer!
Around the table left to right: Shweasel, Violet, CodeWalker,
Why Not, me, Fiffer, Carbon, Techie, Still Here

After two hours of waiting though they still hadn't even taken our food orders.  A bunch of starving thru hikers is a crotchety bunch, believe me. We eventually gave up and went across the street to a Thai place and got food right away and boy was it good.  Why Not and I followed this up with some gelato before calling Ralph for a ride back and quickly passed out.