Miles: 12.1
Hours: 9
Guess what! I'm in Hanover, NH, home of Dartmouth College. This is a beautiful place to accidentally find yourself.
Last night I was so tired that I didn't even set up my tent, I just slept on the ground in my sleeping bag. There were two tents nearby and one of the inhabitants had awoken last night to tell me all of their names- Glassman (a section hiker), Sprout (also a section hiker), and No Name (a Nobo). It was great, because as we introduced each other this morning they shared their breakfast with me and invited me to join them in town for coffee.
In my experience hikers eat only what they have packed and carried themselves, and are hesitant to share their food. Most hikers are on a limited budget and have carefully planned the number of days and quantity of food they need. Sharing food will make them run out too soon, eating someone else's food means you have to continue to carry your own, and that is too much weight. But No Name and Glassman shared lots of food, which meant I could too.
After coffee and a trip to the post office I decided to join Glassman and No Name going North for about 30 or 40 miles. This way I could hike some of the trail miles I accidentally skipped by hitch-hiking and I could have some trail buddies and I could double back to Hanover to meet mom on September 5.
I am excited to be on a different patch of trail. I kept telling the guys over and over that I felt like I was in culture shock. Here the trail is flat, and there are trees other than pine, and there are cute New England rock walls in the woods. I love it.
No Name, Sprout and Glassman
New England Rock Wall
The signs are different here, also. I feel like I've actually hiked somewhere now.
View from Moose Mountain.
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