Email Journal

08-12-04. Hanover, NH

Dear friends and family,

This morning I walked across the Connecticut River into Hanover NH, home of Dartmouth College. I'm now 1732 miles from the start at Springer Mtn. GA, and 442 mi from Mt. Katahdin ME.

Back in mid-June I began thinking about where I was going to meet my two sons Dan and Ben for our hike together. The dates 8/13 - 8/18 were determined by their constraints of summer work and going back to school. I calculated that if I could do 100 miles per week I would arrive in Hanover NH on 8/12. This worked out well since the best connections and cheapest fares are to Manchester NH airport. I wasn't sure if this was possible, but it seemed "aggressive but achievable", as we used to say in software project management. Based on this estimate I bought airline tickets for the boys to fly into Manchester NH on 8/13.

I made a little table that showed the planned mileage point I needed to reach at the end of each week to stay on this schedule, with the hopes of getting ahead of schedule a bit in the mid-Atlantic states so I had a reserve to work with in New England. Each Saturday evening I noted the actual mileage point reached and the miles done that week. Here's the finished table:

It's a little amazing to me that one can plan to walk from VA to NH and arrive on the exact day planned, but that's what happened. I'm glad it wasn't any farther because that was about my limit.

A true purist has no schedule and just walks each day with no goal. The Zen approach. Sitting around the campfire recently several of us admitted we were following some kind of plan to reach Mt. Katahdin, otherwise we'd never get there! We talked about starting a Mile Counter Anonomous club. I would introduce myself at a meeting by saying "Hi, my name is Raven and I'm a mile counter". I'm hoping to reform and do the final leg of my journey on a more open schedule.

The evening of my last message from Manchester Center VT there was a major feed hosted by Bilbo, a 22 yr old thru-hiker. His parents have a "cabin" (most people would say large house) near the trail, and for 2 days it snowed food and rained drink, as hobbits say. Bilbo is about 5 ft tall and carries a replica of the One Ring with him, elvish writing and all. The night I was there there were 12 of us, most men with full beards, sitting together at a long table. Someone said it looked like the Last Supper. We had a splendid meal of London broil, chicken, green beans, corn on the cob, salad, bread and butter, wine, beer, and ice cream sundaes. Only 3 of the 12 left the next morning, including me (because of the schedule). Everyone else decided to stay another night.

Spent some time hiking with Siesta (F20s), husband Cervesu (M20s), son The Little Sultan (M1), and father Doo-Dad (M50s). An interesting and delightful family. Incredibly, Siesta had carried The Little Sultan from VA to VT in a backpack along with 20 lbs of other gear. I saw them first in NJ, later in CT, and again in VT. I spent quite a bit of time trying to make friends with The Little Sultan, so named because he was enclosed in silks (mosquito netting) and carried by servants (Mom). But he recognized a scoundrel when he saw one and wanted nothing to do with me.

The trail north to Rutland was progessively more mountainous. Killington Mtn. is nearly 4000' and offered excellent views in all directions. The day was cloudy with rain in some directions, sun in others, a complex and powerful sky. Vermont is truly a mountainous and beautiful state. I could see the Franconia Range in NH 60 miles away. There were many tourists on top who took the gondola up, and expressed the usual amazement at the idea of thru-hiking.

Got rained on that afternoon and arrived wet and weary at Inn at Long Trail, the first ski resort in VT. The wood paneling, fine dinner and cozy bar warmed me up. Another trail stop recommended for a pleasant weekend with your significant other.

The bar has an Irish theme and features live Irish music on weekends. Had a pint of Guiness at the "correct" (Irish) temperature of 48F, quite good. "A pint of Guiness is built, not poured" said a sign at the bar, and sitting in front of the taps I had ample opportunity to watch this process. On the first filling the glass is 2/3 beer and 1/3 foam. The bartender lets it settle for 5 minutes, then fills it again. After another few minutes of settling he tops it off, carving a shamrock in the foam with the stream of beer. Neat!

From the Inn to Hanover took another 3 1/2 days, a pretty section of trail with rolling hills and open fields filled with late summer wildflowers: Queen Anne's Lace, Wild Bergamot, Black Eyed Susans, milkweed with pods set. Met Alan (M50) and son Couger (M11), out for a 7-10 backpacking trip. Thunderstorms every afternoon or evening, back to that pattern, but got lucky several times and beat the rain to camp.

Also hiked and camped with Sweaty Pig (M56), a retired blue collar highway worker that progessively revealed intriguing hidden dimensions. He has studied the Chinese martial art Wei Chi Wu for 20 years and some Tai Chi. He has missing cartiledge in both knees, with bone on bone, and can only hike at all through intensely mindful use of his trekking poles to unweight his knees, particularly on downhills. A sort of earthy Taoist sage, trail philosopher.

Looking forward to picking up Dan and Ben tomorrow at the airport, hiking together for 4 days, then home for a week to take Ben up to college. Back on the trail 8/26, and on to Katahdin!

Best wishes,

Raven