hanover, nh to trapper john shelter

i slept pretty well in the hostel. the mattresses were foam, so they were very comfortable. it was a little hot, but i just slept without a sheet. early in the morning i saw bugs get up and adjust the air conditioner, and that helped.

when magz got up, a little before 06:00 she got in bed with me for a few minutes until her alarm went off. even though we were jammed in a single bed, it was blissful.

the hostel had a self-serve pancake station set up. i made myself pancakes and magz made herself some eggs. we sat again at the table with the tramily and had breakfast.

eventually 08:00 rolled around and magz’ ride showed up. i walked her outside, kissed her goodbye and they headed out. i walked into the hostel and on the way to the bunk room i could have cried. i missed her already.

i had an hour to pack up and be ready for the shuttle. the rest of the tramily decided to take the noon shuttle, but i wanted to get on trail. i considered staying and doing some catching up on the blog, but i was feeling feelings and needed to hike. i said my goodbyes and left on the shuttle.

the shuttle dropped me off at the co-op where we had been picked up the night before. had i known i’d be back there after opening time, i would have grabbed some beer and snacks and done my resupply this morning.

i strapped on my pack and got hiking. the trail was still wet from the night’s rain. it was a good thing magz had switched her hostel reservation. it had poured pretty well.

the day started with a pretty steep climb. the wet rocks and pine needles made it challenging. so many pine needles had dropped it was sometimes hard to follow the trail.

after the climb, the trail levelled off for much of the day. i listened to some podcasts to distract myself after making the decision not to. i’m honestly not really sure how that happened.

i stopped at moose mountain shelter for lunch. there was a small bench positioned to see a narrow view. i had service, so i chatted with magz while i ate. she had made it home. the shuttle driver was apparently very talkative and she was relieved when she finally got to the relative peace of her car.

the afternoon didn’t have a whole lot i can write about. it was mostly just moving through the forest, though there were a couple marshes and a field. i finished up my audio book “how to change your mind” by michael pollan. it was due soon, and apparently someone was also waiting for it. the ideas presented in the book are intriguing. i am very interested in the dissolution of the ego that so many “psyconauts” experience.

a few miles from the shelter, i ran into some trail magic. it was an australian woman and her dog “toro”. her son had done the AT last year and she works from home and so sometimes just does it. another hiker, an older woman named “mermaid” was there. she was unfortunately someone who: wanted to hang dr. fauchi; calls face masks diapers; refuses to get vaccinated; and has an anecdote about someone in her life who is “dying from the vaccine, and his doctor agrees”.

i talked with her, and i listenend a lot. what she said was ultimately unfounded bullshit, but she was also a serial thru-hiker and had a lot of great information about the trails. she pushed me to hike the CDT. what was interesting was my feelings toward her. i found myself able to listen and not feel like i had to change her mind about fauchi, face masks, and vaccines. i disagreed and i said so, and that was it. it was an interesting shift for me.

i got to the shelter around 17:00 and set up my tent. i was the only one around. i took the time to work on journalling. everyone else arrived after i had already had dinner and was getting ready to head for my tent.

some images from today: