.July 1, 2006
It's time for a small AT hiking vacation. With the 4th of July on a Tuesday, I decided to take Monday off. Whalla, I have a 4 day weekend. So Lynn, Snoopy, and I have headed off to Vermont. We are roughing it this time. Well, not really roughing it, but roughing it for us. While hiking the AT, we usually spend our nights at a motel, but this time we have rented a leanto at Gifford Woods State Park. With the trail running through the park, Lynn won't have to worry about picking me up for two of those days.
We left Maine at 5:30 am and arrived at the trail head for today's section a little after 9:00. We started at the bridge in West Hartford.
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Lynn would start with Snoopy and me as we headed up the road. The blazes were few and far between. A hiker who does not know to follow the road may have trouble here. We turned and went up Tigertown Road, passing some horses.
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We went under I-89. Just after this, the trail goes back into the woods. This is where Lynn headed back. Today she would visit her Uncle Bob and Aunt Jill in nearby East Thetford. They are better known as Uncle Frog and Ant Jill. The nickname Uncle Frog is because he likes frogs. He doesn't have any real ones that I know off, but has just about every stuffed, ceramic and plastic frog ever made. 'Ant Jill' is not a typo. Everyone calls her 'Ant Jill' rather than 'Aunt Jill.'
This section of trail was much smoother than what I have been accustomed to.
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I came to an open area without trees, but it was somewhat overgrown.
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I stopped at the Happy Hill Shelter which was a tenth of a mile off the trail. I read the trail register and looked for familiar names that I have read about. I recognized the names 'Santa' and 'Snowman.'
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There was a flier inside the shelter offering a free slice of pizza to thru hikers.
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You can't miss these bright orange signs from the Dartmouth Outing Club
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There were some really smooth sections today.
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I ran into a sobo named Larry from Tennessee. I ran into him a week earlier when I did the section up by North and South Kinsman. Because I am jumping all around the AT, it is not often I run into the same hiker twice.
Here's some trail magic left on the trail. Ice cold soda, ice tea, and a bag of candy. I passed, saving the food for overnight hikers.
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This chest full of goodies was a sure sign that civilization wasn't too far away. Within a couple of minutes I came out of the woods and followed the road toward Norwich. Here's an AT symbol I haven't seen before.
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I walked along Elm Street and into Norwich where I was supposed to meet Lynn. I got lucky with the time estimate and showed up right at 1:00 pm like we planned. I waited and waited but no Lynn. I decided I would walk over to the bridge on the VT/NH state line and then back, seeing I needed to do that section of trail anyway. As I neared I-91, I saw Lynn with Uncle Frog. She had trouble finding the pickup spot and went back for her uncle's help.
"I got lost," she said.
"Didn't you use the map I gave you?" referring to the map I printed off the Internet with the route to follow highlighted.
"Uh oh, I forgot."
"Why do I even bother?" I said sarcastically.
"I'd be ugly if she did that to me," said Uncle Frog.
"How can I be upset? I could never do this without her. She's a great crew."
I had about 5 more minutes of hiking, so they then drove across the bridge where they would met me. I walked under I-91
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I crossed the bridge over the Connecticut River.
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I walked to the east side of the bridge where Lynn and Uncle Frog were waiting.
We went back to Uncle Frog and Ant Jill's place where they had a wonderful barbeque for us. I wish all my hikes could end like this. I passed a big AT milestone today. I have completed over 500 miles of the Appalachian Trail.
Lynn and I then drove up to Gifford Woods State Park and set up camp.
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This is the Elm Leanto. Using the letters in the word 'elm', we have nicknamed it the 'Eric & Lynn Motel.'
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