Sprout Day 97 (Saturday, July 2nd, 2016) (NEED PICTURES)

We hiked into town today. We had to hike quick so we could get our food drop box. We had to get there before the post office closed.  It was a tough hike but we made great time! It was wet all day from the rain last night.

We also made it to New Hampshire today and it felt great to pass another state border! There are a lot of people in this town who will host hikers and we found a nice lady who was going to take us in for the night. We realized how many people were staying there and ended up getting a room at a local motel. We wanted to have a bed to sleep in and a place to dry off for the night. It felt good to have our own little spot for the night! We can't wait to get further down the trail in New Hampshire.  The Whites are going to be scary but we are looking forward to the challenge.

Day: 97
Miles hiked: 11.3
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 884.2
Bears: 0
Bluegill: 2
Butterflies: 8
Chipmunks: 3
Cows: 24
Crawfish: 1
Deer: 20
Donkeys: 2
Horses: 12
Hummingbird: 1
Inchworm: 1
Really Big Dog: 1
Mice: 2
Nest of bugs: 2
Newts: 2
Owl: 1
Rabbit: 1
Skunk: 1
Snail: 1
Snake: 2
Squirrels: 11
Toads: 3
Trout: 2
Turkeys: 4
Turtles: 107
Vultures: 6
Woodpecker: 1

Flying Dutchman Day 7 (Saturday, July 2nd, 2016)

Today I walked ahead of Bubbles, Sprout, and Whiskers to catch up to Smudgy Cheeks.

Boardwalk trail today

Bridge over White River

As I was walking the Hart family waved at me from a bridge and asked me if I wanted breakfast.  Smudgy Cheeks was there along with a hiker named, Backbone.  The family at the house have been giving free breakfast to AT hikers for the past few years.  Last year they gave breakfast to over 1,000 AT hikers!!

Thank you for the breakfast!

Sign at Trail Magic

Breakfast!!

Whiskers had breakfast too!

Journal to leave a note for the family

Trail magic was in Norwich, Vermont

After breakfast I walked with Smudgy Cheeks to downtown Hanover, New Hampshire!  Welcome to my first new state!!

Connecticut River

Sign walking into New Hampshire on the bridge!

The regular post office closes as noon but the passport part of the post office allows AT thru hikers to pick up their packages until 3:00 p.m.  The post master, Pete, was aware that some hikers would be coming to pick up packages today.

Welcome to Hanover.  We had to get here by Saturday at 3:00 p.m. or our boxes would have been held until after the July 4th holiday!

After we picked up the food drop and my boxes from REI (I got a new tent and a kitchen sink) I serenaded the hiker Marvel's mother with a few songs.  She had to quit the AT because of Lyme Disease but was helping her daughter to get through the Whites.  It felt good to busk a little bit again.

I went to a Circle K station to get a Poplar Pop soda and we had dinner at subway while our phones charged.  I realized while sitting in Subway that I forgot my trekking poles when I went into CVS today!  Luckily, when I went back two hours later they were still there!!!  When Subway closed at 7:00 we walked out of the city because you are not allowed to camp within city limits.  We stopped at the supermarket to fill up our water since the gas station did not have any.

Thank you Subway for your charging station!

Selfie at Subway

We decided to camp at the Velvet Rocks Shelter, which was less than two miles from Hanover.  The shelter had a very low roof and I hit my head multiple times on it!  The shelter looked like students must have used it to party.  That is too bad.

Thankfully and hiker at the Shelter knew how to put up my new tent.  His name was Ghost Walker.  The tent uses my two trekking poles to keep it up!

Day: 7
Miles hiked: 14.2
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 86.8

Smudgy Cheeks Day 97 (Saturday, July 2nd, 2016)

I hiked 10 miles into New Hampshire today!  We made it in time to pick up our food drop.  Flying Dutchman and I also stopped at a Subway to charge our phones and spare batteries.  We are excited to almost be at the Whites!

Over a river today

Someone put some chairs out

Vermont - New Hampshire

The Flying Dutchman's new tent!  Thanks Ghost Walker for showing him how to set it up!

Day: 97
Miles hiked: 11.3
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 816
Bear: 1
Chipmunk: 1
Deer: 1
Lizard: 1
Snakes: 4
Toads: 2
Vulture: 1
Zoo Animals: 2 foxes, 1 porcupine, 1 bobcat, 1 turtle, 2 bears

Sprout Day 96 (Friday, July 1st, 2016) (NEED PICTURES)

Today was an awesome day. It is my 30th birthday and I'm happy to spend it on the trail! It's great to be with my trail family! I miss my family back home but I know there will be plenty of time to celebrate and catch up on things when we get home.

We walked into town and got a breakfast sandwich earlier today, it was the best. The sandwich was called The Bad Example. It had two sausage patties, two fried eggs, cheese, onions, and peppers. We were sitting outside and a lady came over and bought us some beer and snacks!  She flip flopped the trail in ‘87 and was happy to help us out. She bought us a bunch of cookies and chips too. 

When we got on the trail that day we had to deal with some rain and storms. We all kind of had some confusion and got split up later in the day, it was dangerous but everything worked out.

Day: 96
Miles hiked: 11
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 872.9
Bears: 0
Bluegill: 2
Butterflies: 8
Chipmunks: 3
Cows: 24
Crawfish: 1
Deer: 20
Donkeys: 2
Horses: 12
Hummingbird: 1
Inchworm: 1
Really Big Dog: 1
Mice: 2
Nest of bugs: 2
Newts: 2
Owl: 1
Rabbit: 1
Skunk: 1
Snail: 1
Snake: 2
Squirrels: 11
Toads: 3
Trout: 2
Turkeys: 4
Turtles: 107
Vultures: 6
Woodpecker: 1

Bubbles Day 96 (Friday, July 1st, 2016)

Today is Sprout’s Dirty 30!  Celebrating Sprout’s birthday on the trail was pretty incredible.  We woke up and think we heard Moose off in the distance.  At first we thought it may be cows, but then we realized it couldn't be cows because cows don’t make a moo like the sound that we heard.  We hiked a few miles and got to a road that leads to a small country store. Sprout and I got a hitch into town and the guy who picked us up said he couldn't pass up my smile. I LOVE hitchhiking. It's such a thrill.

When we got to the tiny town we bought breakfast sandwiches and a few drinks and sat down at some picnic tables.  We hung out for a while and then a lady and her son came up and asked if we were thru hiking.  When we said yes they asked if we wanted any beer.  We told them we already had some birthday drinks and then they asked, "Do you want GOOD beer"?  We laughed and said sure. They came back with 2 six packs of IPA's, cookies, and snacks.  We officially met these kind folks and they told us they hiked the AT!  The mom thru hiked in 1985 and her son did last year (he Southbounded).  The really really cool thing was the mom’s trailname, which is The Walrus Yertle the Turtle.  She thru hiked with her sister, Jansan the Blaster, in 1985 and they Flipflop hiked!  I didn’t even know that people flip flopped back then.  It was interesting and exciting to meet someone else who flip flopped before I was even born!

Her son’s trail name is 2G (second generation). It was really cool to meet a mother and son who both hiked the trail. It was also interesting to talk to Walrus's mom, who was also with them. I asked her how she felt about her daughter's thru hiking in ‘85 and she said she was supportive and happy for them.

Also a mom and her two adorable daughters came over to chat with us.  The mom had thru hiked the long trail! I gave the little girls my bubbles to play with and enjoyed watching them blow bubbles together.  I ended up giving the bubbles to them so I am bubble-less again.

After all the great conversation and drinks we got back on trail.

Everyone walked back to the trailhead except for me. I hitched and got myself a ride. Sorry boys :) I have been lucky with the hitches lately. We hiked to the next shelter and continued celebrating Sprouts dirty 30 and tried to wait out a bad rainstorm.  Finally, we realized the rain wasn't going to stop and the shelter and campsites were full.  It was already dark. Smudgy Cheeks took off like usual and was supposed to meet us in a field .9 from the shelter.  We all left at separate times. First Smudgy Cheeks, then Sprout and me, then The Flying Dutchman with Whiskers bringing up the rear. As I was walking down the hill I heard Whiskers yelling for the Flying Dutchman.  He had what he thought were The Flying Dutchman’s poles and when I told him The Flying Dutchman didn't pass me, we both started to really worry.  We both turned around and Whiskers basically started to run back up the mountain yelling for The Flying Dutchman.  We finally found him.  He wasn't using a head lamp and it was dark and storming. I felt like slapping my forehead.  No head lamp in the pitch dark???  He went the wrong way on the trail and was walking up the mountain instead of down it and he had his poles so Whiskers then had to go back and return the poles he thought The Flying Dutchman had forgot.

The Flying Dutchman walked behind me because he couldn't get his headlamp as he wasn't sure where it was in his pack and it was raining pretty hard. We made it to the field and couldn't find Smudgy Cheeks.  We really started to worry then. Why wasn't Smudgy Cheeks there setting up camp?  We continued on yelling out for Smudgy Cheeks. Was he lost or did he go the wrong way too?  Finally we were able to reach him on the telephone and he was already halfway to town. Over five miles from the shelter!  We were not planning on walking five miles in a big storm in the dark.  I was not a happy camper to say the least but we had to continue on because The Flying Dutchman was sleeping in Smudgy Cheeks tent.

After hiking along some very dangerous cliffs with slick rocks and major erosion we came to the conclusion that we should stop hiking and set up camp quick.  Sprout slid down the side of the mountain and landed on some trees.  If those trees hadn't been there to catch his fall, Sprout may have been seriously injured or worse.  I don't even like thinking about it. The Flying Dutchman ended up sleeping in Whiskers ridiculously small tent. Thank God we are hiking with such a kind hearted person to let my stinky brother-in-law sleep in his tent, whom he had just met. The Flying Dutchman's BO smells very strongly of onions. I felt bad for both of them.

I was basically in tears and really upset with Smudgy Cheeks for leaving us. He told us he misunderstood where we were supposed to meet. It was a mistake, but a huge one that put all of us in danger.  I think it was a big learning experience for Smudgy Cheeks, specifically that he can't leave The Flying Dutchman. They have to stick together and be a team. I went to bed hungry and upset, but happy that no one got hurt.

Flowers on the trail

View from the trail

Group at breakfast

Breakfast sandwich

Back on the trail!

More flowers

Clouds are rolling in

The Flying Dutchman and Whiskers taking a break

More flowers!

Flying Dutchman Day 6 (Friday, July 1st, 2016)

Today we celebrated Sprout's 30th birthday.  We went to a general store and the breakfast sandwiches they sold were delicious.  We also met a family from New Jersey who was doing trail magic. The grandmother said she remembers when her daughter, in the 80's, was a flipflophiker.  To call home her daughter had to walk to a phone cabin and back because there were no cell phones.  I also met a second generation flipflop hiker from the same family that did the AT last year.  We also met another daughter who section hikes on the at each year and hopes one day her daughters will do the same thing. 

In the afternoon we were struck by rain and we stayed for a bit in the Thistle Hill Shelter.  I played a couple songs on the guitar.  After the rain stopped we decided to continue to walk. When it became dark I didn't put my headlamp on and got lost in the woods!  Then, Whiskers took by accident hiking poles that were exactly the same as the ones I used.  The only way we could tell the difference was because of the height adjustment.  He had to turn around and bring those hiking sticks back to the shelter. 

I finally found Bubbles.  Sprout, Bubbles, Whiskers, and I decided to set up our camp in a very ancient mud road.  Smudgy Cheeks was ahead of us and he set up his camp up West Hartford next to the library.  Thankfully Whiskers let me sleep in his tent with him!  I'm expecting to get my own tent in the mail tomorrow and I'll be happy for that!!

Trail magic for Sprout's 30th birthday!!
Whiskers, Trail magic daughter, Smudgy Cheeks, Trail magic son, Sprout, Trail magic grandma, and Bubbles

Waiting out the pouring rain at Thistle Hill Shelter.  Going to push on when it slows down so we can get to Hanover, VT by tomorrow.

How's my beard looking?

Day: 6

Miles hiked: 11
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 72.6

Smudgy Cheeks Day 96 (Friday, July 1st, 2016)

Today I hiked 13.9 miles.  It was Sprouts birthday so we started the day by celebrating.  I completed my 800 mile mark today too.  

We had to continue to push today to get to Hanover by tomorrow so that we are able to pick up our food drop.  If we do not pick it up tomorrow (Saturday) then we have to wait in Hanover until Tuesday because of the 4th of July holiday.  

After stopping at trail magic in the beginning of the day and waiting at a shelter when it was raining we had to hike at night.  I thought Bubbles told me to push ahead and find a spot for all three of our tents (Bubbles and Sprout's, Whisker's, and my tent) but she meant that we should all do that together.  It was confusing and I separated from the group.

I didn't know where I could camp.  There was a general store in town (West Hartford) but was closed after Hurricane Sandy.  It just opened again but of course, at 11:00 at night, was closed.  The lights were on above the general store so I knocked on the door and asked if they knew where I could camp.  They pointed me in the direction of the library and laughed because this was the first time a hiker knocked on their door for help!

Trees

Hiking in the dark!

Day: 96
Miles hiked: 13.9
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 804.7
Bear: 1
Chipmunk: 1
Deer: 1
Lizard: 1
Snakes: 4
Toads: 2
Vulture: 1
Zoo Animals: 2 foxes, 1 porcupine, 1 bobcat, 1 turtle, 2 bears