Legs and Borders

Hot, humid, stormy day. My goal was to place myself withing the short distance before the climb to Mount Moosilauke. AT in New Hampshire definitely prooved from the very begining that it means business. The first and second climb of the day:  Smarts Mountain and Mt Cube were steep and rocky, the path was muddy, overgrown and not very well marked, combined with the hot and humid weather I was moving at a snail's pace. Views were quite rewarding though and after the initial struggle trail got easier for the rest of the day. I've seen yet another two bear cubs, no mother in sight this time around which got me a bit spooked. Cubs climbed so high up the tree I could hardly see them from the trail, they were so incredibly agile! I've taken a blurry video of the couple as I thought it was fairly safe to do so, that's 10 black bears I've seen so far on Appalachian Trail.  At one point I took a break  by the road and tried to dry my feet a...

I've said farewell to Vermont and welcomed my new overlord New Hampshire arguably the toughest state to hike on the entire Appalachian Trail, especially 100 miles of White Mountains or as people liked to call them "Whites". I've woke up way too early and cooked myself a breakfast consisting of six eggs, four toasted tortillas (they are great toasted!) and a chocolate milk. Greg didn't came down until quarter to eight so I had time for a quick, unplanned nap as well. At 8 AM Greg gave me a ride to town, I took a picture with him outside of his house, he took another one of me and said that he will upload it onto his Facebook page which was fine with me. I've shared with him my plan to potentially come back here and finish the Long Trail and he was happy to help me, he would shuttle me to Killington and let me stay over for another night if needed. When I offered him money for his help he politely refused and said that "trail angels don't take it",...

"At least now I knew that my heart was wedded to the mountains - to the wild places. It was there, and there alone, that I was whole, contented, and blissful. No relationship, career, or wealth could ever take its place." Heather "Anish" Anderson Last 20 miles hiking in Vermont, in rain but spending the night at the trail angels. I've set up the alarm clock to be up and running at 5 PM, first and foremost I wanted to be in Hanover as early as possible and to avoid the bulk of rain which was going to intensify in the afternoon. It started to drizzle right after I set off, trail wasn't too steep or muddy so it was fairly smooth sailing overall. I was surprised that Snail did not catch up with me but I guess he had a later start, he wasn't stopping at Norwich for long anyway. I went past few maple trees tap pipes which were extracting the juices later boiled down to make maple syrup, it was quite interesting to see. ...

"I'm going to JoJo the AT and I will start with only ten items" Snail "The state's name "Vermont" was derived from the french "Ver'Mont", meaning "Green Mountain" Information Board Today was the day of my favourite human encounters and not one but two! In the morning I've pushed for five miles to Killington where I was planning to have a breakfast. Half way through the 100 miles of Appalachian Trail overlapping with Long Trail was over and they both went their separate ways. I'm strongly considering coming back here and finishing hiking Long Trail if time allows, it would be great to arrive at the Canadian border again and finish this trail which was an inspiration for the AT. Deli at the Killington was opened and after a fifteen minute walk from trail I've ordered "Killington's Best Breakfast Sandwich" (with steak, egg and cheese), coffee and an apple frit...

Good day with big climbs and yummy food. After a quiet and comfortable night on the pine needle forest floor, I've started the day refreshed and in good spirits. Trail was weaving itself up and down through Vermont, it was drier and the mud wasn't an issue anymore. Before midday I went to Stone's Throw Farmstead, it was half a mile off trail but I've read good things about it and decided to detour to see their offer myself. It was a simple farm shop set up in a shed with dairy products from local creameries, home made sourdough bread and fresh vegetables. I've bought a bottle of chocolate milk, cheese curds and a small loaf of bread, it costed 15$. Sourdough bread was exceptional and so was chocolate milk advertised as "best in Vermont" it definitely lived up to it, so much so that I've bought a second bottle! Cheese curds were ok, there was a lot of them and they only costed 5$ Half an hour later I was b...