Rutland to Hanover

Heading to familiar trails

Day 127

Maine Junction

Just north of Rutland is the Maine Junction, where the Long Trail continues north and the Appalachian Trail goes east. The trail crossed a state park campground that served as a pleasant lunch stop with bathrooms and running water. Backpacking really makes you appreciate sanitation systems.

State park pond view

A few days ago I started to pass thru hikers heading in the opposite direction. Sometimes it's easy to spot another thru hiker at a glance because of the grunge and overall vibes (Even after a few days, weekend backpackers may still smell like laundry detergent.) Tonight I shared my first camp with SOBOs, and I got to talk to them in earnest. Basically, everything I hear about Maine and the trail ahead is that it's buggy, muddy, rocky, and steep. So a very positive picture! I've heard about flooding in Maine for a while, about the river crossings and the mud. Certainly, a lot can change by the time I get there, so this info will be several weeks out of date. We also exchanged general trail stories, favorite hostels and standout town food and animal encounters.

There was a cool waterfall, complete with wooden boardwalks to access.

Official report: Guinness mac and cheese is excellent, a little malty tasting and worth the $4.75.

Day 128

Wonder who wrote this

Yet again, I've quickly lost track of the other hikers from town. I mostly passed SOBOs today along with a section hiker who is dropping his bike off each morning and cycling back to his car at the end of the day. Overall, a quiet stretch.

When all else fails, a ladder

Lunch today was at a shelter called the Lookout. This is a unique site because it is technically private property that is open for hikers to use and is adjacent to trail. There have been a few sites like this before. It earned its name because of the crow's nest providing 360° views from the top of the cabin and above treeline.

Views from the roof

I had a camping plan that didn't quite come to fruition this evening. Evening rain was in the forecast, and I made it about a mile away from my intended site when the thunder turned into rain. I quickly set up my tent at a very random spot (yay 1 person small footprint) and dove inside as the downpour began. This ended up giving me extra downtime to finish my book, and I remained quite comfortable and dry.

Road/parking lot at the bridge suffered from the flooding, but the bridge itself was fine

Day 129

This section of Vermont doesn't have mountains per se, but these little pop up hills kicked my butt. While only a few hundred feet tall, they are steep and the very epitome of PUD. Whichever SOBO told me the mud would get better was definitely lying.

Maple tapping lines for syrup

I had to properly ford 2 streams, meaning you sigh to briefly mourn dry socks and walk straight through the stream. At least it rinsed the mud off for a few minutes until the next puddle. I was warned from a previous hiker that some of the meadows had stinging nettle that gave her a painful rash, so I was definitely on edge. After a rainstorm, walking through tall wet plants is no fun, but luckily I had no issues. There were even abundant wild raspberries near one overlook!

Clever bench

The trail crossed through the tiny town of West Hartford, Vermont, which from a hiker's view had one hostel and not much else. I continued on to a shelter where I again set up my tent inside to better hide from the bugs. A SOBO hiker camped there who had just graduated from Brown University, so we talked about Rhode Island things for a bit.

Raspberries galore

Day 130

It was a short hiking day into the town of Norwich, Vermont and then into Hanover, NH. Norwich has a very charming general store called Dan and Whit's, and I do mean general in that they kind of have everything. It's the kind of old store with wood floors that aren't quite level and a maze of back rooms that just keep going. This was one of the longer road walks by AT standards through these adjacent towns. Sadly for everyone's photos, the Connecticut River bridge was under construction, so you couldn't stand next to the VT NH border marker.

Two states to go

I had more of an emotional response than I expected as I walked across that bridge and up towards my alma mater Dartmouth College. Coming back to Hanover always feels a bit like returning home. Several restaurants offered free food to hikers, so I had a donut and milkshake for lunch and pizza for dinner. Ramunto's margherita pizza with a garlic knot crust remains one of my all-time favorites. Don't worry, I picked up carrots and hummus at the store to balance.

Always another library tower photo 

There was even trail magic! A group of friends was grilling and handing out snacks, and one guy is set to finish his multi year section hike of the AT later this summer.

After getting laundry and a shower at the town community center, I hiked to the Velvet Rocks shelter not far out of town. It was excessively full of mosquitoes again, but I had a good enough time hanging out and reading a book. Hanover is the last town before heading into the White Mountains, so like many people I geared up with my warmer sleeping bag again.

Hanover High School art club had some cool sidewalk art

Happy hiking!