Day 156
Start: Norwich, VT
End: Stealth Site
Miles Hiked: 16.0
Miles on AT: 1769.5
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Today, I entered another state! New Hampshire, here I am! I can’t believe I finally reached New Hampshire. Part of me was scared to face the Whites, but another part of me was excited to see what everyone was raving about. I still had a few more days until I reached the Whites, but I was still filled with anticipation.
After leaving the hotel this morning, I made my way to Dan & Whit’s General Store for a light resupply and some breakfast. I’d heard that they gave away old sandwiches to hikers for free, but they didn’t have any when I went in there. When I came out, I found a care package of cookies on my bag. So nice! Just as I had repacked my things, an older woman came up and said, “I didn’t know if you liked maple or ginger snap ” I told her I was happy with whatever she gave me and was excited to start my day with a treat.
After saying goodbye, I continued my walk across the Connecticut River and into New Hampshire. The good thing about Hanover, NH, was that there were a bunch of hiker-friendly places that offered free goodies to hikers. Plus, this was the home of Dartmouth, so there were a bunch of cute boutiques and cafes everywhere. My first stop was Lou’s Bakery, where I got a free donut. Yum! There was also a pizza place that gave hikers a free slice, but it was a bit too early for pizza.
I needed to stop by the post office to pick up a package, but after that was done, I kept moving on to my next stop, the grocery store. I needed a few more things for resupply that I hadn’t found at Dan’s. When I came out, I ran into a whole new group of hikers. Turns out they were SOBO flip-floppers. According to them, there was a huge group of both NOBOs and SOBOs camped in the woods on the edge of town. When I got closer, I ran into some familiar faces. Eggz & Bacon popped up; they were heading to get their free slice of pizza. SheRa and Tilly’s Mom were also around, but I didn’t see them before I went back on trail. I just kept running into them!
The trail in this section of NH was nice and easy, with a number of really gradual inclines and only one large climb. I ran into even more SOBOs and met another NOBO named Wiki. I definitely didn’t feel alone out here.
I wanted to get as many miles done today as I could, so I kept walking until almost sundown. It was a bit more difficult than I expected to find a stealth spot, especially in an area so flat, but eventually I did. I even passed some trail magic on the way: a cooler full of Cokes! I wouldn’t need the caffeine tonight, so I saved it for tomorrow.
After setting up my tent, I was forced to do one of the things I hate doing the most, especially when I’m alone: cooking and eating dinner. I didn’t want to cook near my tent tonight, so I sat on some big boards at the beginning of the boggy section I would have to cross in the morning. As I was cooking my food (and glancing around, paranoid, every so often) I heard a huge “SPLASH” not 5 feet behind me.
WTF was that?! Heart racing, I turned my headlamp in the direction of the water, but couldn’t see anything. It sounded like someone had dropped a large rock in the water and then nothing. I didn’t hear swimming or footsteps, just the large splash. Unable to identify the sound, I just tried to cook faster, hoping and praying I could get things edible before whatever creature that was came out to kill me.
A few minutes later, I heard it again. SPLASH! This time, I got up and walked over to the water, yelling in the hopes that I could scare whatever it was away, but I still couldn’t find any evidence of an animal. Maybe there were turtles falling off of a log and into the water. My heart was still racing, but I needed to eat, so I tried to finish my meal as quickly as possible. I continued to hear the splashes in the same spot every so often, even after I put my food away and crawled in my tent. I still don’t know what it was, but that night, I just had to put in my ear plugs and go to sleep.
And that’s day 156.
A version of this post originally appeared on TheTrek.co.