Sept 1st     I’m finally in New Hampshire. The last few days have been good, getting back into the trail life after some days off with my friends Kelly, Patrick and my girlfriend Caitlin, and two of Kelly’s friends. (I hung out with them before I stayed at the barn but I don‘t know if I mentioned that. )
       My last two days in Vermont were probably the most beautiful on the trail yet; low 70’s, crisp, early autumn air, the terrain hasn’t been bad, and blue skies. I spent a lot of time in Hanover, killing the brunt of the day eating free food. Hanover was once dubbed, somewhere in the media, a non-hiker-friendly town, so they’ve overcompensated and now one place gives free bagels, another a free slice of pizza. The library is the nicest I’ve been to on the trail; they even have a wall dedicated to hikers and the A.T.. Also I got some water purification drops, Aqua Mira, at an outfitter. All in all, Hanover was a good visit.
    After hiking a few miles out of town it began to get dark so I set up a stealth camp across the road from a cemetery where there was a guy buried named Alpheus Melville Hurlbutt (great name), but I didn’t sleep well. This gremlin of an animal was circling and growling/wheezing at me all night. All I could see of it was his eyes; about three inches apart and about two feet off the ground. He moved quietly and fast and had this blood-curdling vocalization, like I said. It sounded like he had a jagged chicken bone stuck sideways in his throat and had also been a chain smoker for 60 years. It was by far the most sickly sounding noise coming from a man or beast I’ve personally ever heard. Whenever Silence would finally get a foothold on the night; when she’d lovingly caress me and the rocks and trees about me, and I’d drift off to sleep; this mutant fiend would start another bout of retching his guts out, 20 yards away from me. He probably smelled and wanted the open bag of Frito’s in my backpack. When dawn finally came he left and I was able to get some decent sleep for an hour or two.
       Yesterday afternoon we hung out on this older fella’s porch and shot the breeze; myself, Rainbow Dash and Firefox. The guy gives out ice cream bars to hikers and lets us use his bathroom and get water. It was a nice time but I still had 5 miles of climbing ahead of me. After walking in the dark awhile, I got to a very crowded shelter, actually an old cabin, on top of Smarts Mountain just before the rain began to fall. I was welcomed immediately when some hikers I never met saw my new little guitar thing I recently bought. It’s called a strum stick; three strings, diatonic fret scale, and it has a great little mountain twang to it. These guys had 2 guitars and one Ukulele; so we played a few songs and they even sang and harmonized ’I’ll Fly Away’ and it sounded angelic, in a folky sort of way, in that crowded little cabin. Everyone else was listening intently and seemed to be wholly enjoying themselves. I know I did; and I’m sure I’ll never forget that evening in the little hut on the mountain, where through the cracks between the boards the music seeped out and the mist seeped in.
     Then this morning around Seven I climbed the fire tower on the summit and saw such a perfect scene. It was like looking out onto an ocean of clouds, with black mountains  rising up out of them. It tied with #1 on my best views so far.
   …I’m by a stream now, four miles into my day, shooting for 20 miles in my last decent bit of terrain before I start the Whites, which will be tomorrow if I get 20 today.


Sept 2nd.
       I did that 20 miles and it felt rewarding to get a higher mileage day in before the White Mtns. Last night I stayed at the Hiker Friendly Hostel; 20 bucks for a bunk & shower and some rough, but very hiker-esque amenities. These include outdoor shower, toilet, sink and washer/dryer, all under a plastic awning. We had a great time. Being days behind the group I’d been hiking with, I’m now around a few familiar faces and many new ones. As we spent the night on the Southern threshold of the Whites, spirits were high and expectant, and the mood light. A good sized group of us sat around a fire until well past midnight and had a great time telling stories and recalling pop culture facets of our childhood and teen years. It’ll be one of my favorite memories of the trail I’m sure.
    As I write this, again, I’m sitting on top of a big rock. It’s called Mt. Moosilauke.
What. A. Climb. An elevation gain of 3,746 feet. It’s total elevation is 4,802 feet. I’m above treeline. I’ve never climbed this high on my own power. It’s Saturday and there are a lot of people up here. 1 o’clock. I’m still going to try and do 11 more miles to get to a shelter I think, we’ll see if my legs agree with that plan. It’s cool and breezy but I’m on the lee side and the sun just came out. Feels so nice.