Kevin's AT Thru Hike

Day 129, Saturday, 7/23 – Last night, I laid out some of my items to dry. Well, I woke up this morning to a lot of condensation, so all the gear I laid out was wet.

I got out of my hammock without packing anything up, and went straight to the porch for some hot coffee. Randy had brewed up a few pots so I drank coffee on the porch for a while. As I was drinking coffee, Genie and Splitzy hiked up (they had camped 2 miles behind us). Eventually I got going, packed up my items, and was hiking by 8:30am.

We only had 10 miles to hike today. Genie had friends from his 2013 AT hike who invited us all to stay with them, and they were going to pick us up in Hanover New Hampshire. I can find it hard to get motivated to hike on the days where I know I’m going to be relaxing later. I started slow, but the hiking today came easier than I expected.

I hiked with Genie for most of the day. We chatted about various art project ideas and life after the trail. The last 2 miles of the hike was a road walk. Along the way, we passed a home and were given some cold drinks.

Towards the end of the road walk, we crossed the Connecticut River, and entered Hanover New Hampshire.

The AT goes right through Dartmouth’s campus, which was interesting. The campus was swamped with prospective students. We stuck out like sore thumbs compared to the Ivy League folks. But Dartmouth’s campus town was much more accommodating to thru hikers that I would have guessed.

We went to a bakery that gave out free muffins and donuts to thru hikers, and we ate outside the bakery. On two separate occasions, Birthday was mistaken for the hostess. Those were some funny interactions to observe. We then went to a pizza shop that gave out a free slice to thru hikers.

Genie coordinated a pickup spot with his friend Yard Sale, so we wandered back to campus. We found some green space, laid in the grass, and listened to music.

We had a 40 minute drive to their home. When we got there, we chatted for a while before taking showers and doing laundry. I set up my hammock in the backyard, and began drying all my items out again. His kiddos got a real kick out of the hammock.

We sat out on their porch for the rest of the evening. Yard Sale made us dinner which was burgers, coleslaw, sweet potatoes, salad, and corn on the cob. His wife, Laura, came home from work that evening. I went to bed shortly after because it was getting late and the mosquitoes were starting to get bad.

I hiked 10 miles total today and ended the day at mile 1752.