AT Miles = 11.0 / 1747.5
Other Miles = 0.1 / 55.0
Total Miles = 11.1 / 1802.5
Miles to Katahdin = 430.8
Jodi and I had such a wonderful evening last night! I spent the afternoon doing zero day chores, mostly working out logistics for the upcoming sections. I never did find time to take a swim in the hotel pool. Then it was dinner time and I asked Jodi what she wanted to do for dinner, and she suggested we head over to Chester and find someplace to eat there. Chester is only a dozen or so miles over the pass from Springfield, and we had stayed at an inn there last year on Memorial Day weekend when we spent the weekend cycling and running.
We drove over to Chester and decided to have dinner at the Inn which is right on the town green. It was a gorgeous evening out, with cool, dry air and just enough puffy cumulous clouds in the sky to add a bit of depth. We got a table on the front porch of the inn, and soon after we sat down we noticed a concert about to start in the park across the road. It was a jazz ensemble, and they were very good. So we sat outside sipping our martinis and eating our dinner, listening to big band jazz and watching the locals enjoy the concert. A great way to end my latest zero day.
This morning Jodi dropped me off at the post office in Hanover, where I mailed my bounce box up the trail to Lincoln, NH, then I started walking. It is only 44 miles from Hanover to Glencliff, my next town stop. If I pushed a bit, as usual, I could make it there in 3 days, which would put me there on Sunbday. But I have a mail drop at the post office in Glencliff, so getting there on Sunday makes no sense at all. That leaves me free to take it very easy for the next 4 days, and get there on Monday.
I really enjoyed hiking without any time pressure today. I left Hanover after 10:00AM. Around 12:30 I was at a point where the trail crosses a road, and just up the road is an old cemetery with fresh-cut grass and nice sunshine, so I walked down there and sat in the sun while I ate my lunch. I left there around 1:00, and by 3:00 I was here at the shelter.
The weather is quite cool today. It feels like late summer in northern New England. It is breezy in a way I haven't felt for months. The forecast calls for the temp to fall into the 40s tonight. It should be great sleeping all snugged into my bag tonight.
This is Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) territory. The DOC has been blazing trails between Hanover and the Whites since long before the Appalachian Trail existed. Traditionally the DOC blazes trails in alternating orange and black stripes, which I assume are the school colors. The DOC maintains this section of the AT and they do use the standard white blazes, but they also mix in some of the old orange and black blazes, which are sometimes referred to as Halloween blazes. The signs the DOC puts up are also black on orange. Tradition counts for a lot in New England!
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"Home is where I hang my food bag"
Monkeywrench
Allen Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com
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