#196 Thistle Hill Shelter to Hanover NH - Day 121: MM1736.2 - MM1750.9
"I'm pretty tired, I think I'll go home now." - Forrest Gump.....and Sprawlba Gump
May 17, 2024
4:00 a.m.
The pre-dawn alarm I set on my phone sounds off filling the shelter with its intended annoyance. I fumble around in my sleeping bag trying to grab it and turn it off but am so disoriented I can’t get it to turn off. I cover the small speaker with my thumb so it’s musical chiming doesn’t wake Blue Moon.
Too late. My failed attempt to be quick and quiet results in bumbling and banging around, waking her anyway. She forgives, as she was also hoping to get an early start on the fourteen-mile hike into Hanover. But I think this a bit earlier than she’d planned.
Neither of us have enough water to make breakfast due to yesterday’s dry stream beds. Maybe there will be some farther down the mountain.
I’ve dialed in my gear over the course of many hikes and have become very efficient over the past forty-seven days in loading and unloading my pack, but these thru hikers are hard to beat - they’ve dialed in their gear over many consecutive months on the trail. Blue Moon is packed quickly and hikes out into the darkness a few minutes before I do.
I come out into an open field as the morning sun rises over a neighboring mountain and kisses the landscape around me. I slide my headlamp from around my forehead to around my neck.
In the saddle between two mountains, I find a small stream from where I gather enough water to make breakfast and to hike into Hanover. There’s a nearby fallen tree with a flat branch that’s about waist high, a perfect spot to sit my camp stove and cups.
On top of a no-name mountain I stop to rest on one of two small wooden handmade benches with an amazing view. “Relax and Enjoy” is etched into the seat of one. “Welcome to VT” is etched into the other, obviously a message for south bound hikers. Both have sticks and small logs for the fire ring stored beneath them.
So, for a few moments, I relax and enjoy, looking out over the landscape, just as the bench commanded me to do.
I’m amazed that my iPod battery still has life in it as I put my earbuds in and head down the mountain towards West Hartford, Vermont.
The trail runs through the middle of this small village. Ironically and fittingly, after passing over The White River across the Quechee Bridge into town, John Prine's In a Town This Size begins playing on my iPod. I pass by old homes, the library, an old church, and other old buildings along the historic district with the song playing, before turning onto Tigertown road, passing below I-89, past Podunk Rd, and up the next mountain.
Near the summit I take a long break at Happy Hill Shelter. I’m feeling free and energized today. This day is beyond beautiful. I’m in no rush. The air is fresh and cool. My spirit is calm. The wilderness is silent. My head is quiet.
I reflect over the past forty-seven days on trail - of how my head was so jammed up with the static of the world and now it seems so clear.
I look at my map - nine miles down, five miles to go. The last five miles are easy, flat, then downward, and finally, through town.
The temperature drops dramatically a few minutes after leaving the shelter. Snow begins falling. A few large snow-filled clouds hang overhead, but none block the sun. I bounce along the well-maintained trail through the falling snow rolling through the Grateful Dead playlist.
I feel ten years younger than I did when I began this year’s hike. My body is light, and my head is clear.
I know I face a ton of work when I return home, but I have a renewed outlook on life and have compiled a list of personal goals that I will crush. (And I did)
Before entering the town of Norwich, where the wilderness ends and the concrete begins, I pause for a moment in thanksgiving for the safe passage through seven states over seven-hundred-twenty-five miles, for all the things I learned, for the people I met, and for the things I left behind.
I move on.
The sun shines brightly.
A man mows the lawn.
A Little Library sits in the yard of an old house.
School children play on the playground.
A lady with two dogs runs toward me on The Greenway, which doubles as the Appalachian Trail.
The air is sweet, the trees are purple and white and green.
I follow the white blazed telephone poles through town.
Several construction workers stop me to talk about the trail. They pull off their gloves and applaud me for finishing my section.
I walk on.
And there it is - the spot I’ve been hiking towards all Spring. Part way across the Connecticut River, on the Ledyard Free Bridge, along the pedestrian walkway, engraved into one of the pillars, lies the VT/NH state line sign.
I stop at the state line engravement. The weight of the journey falls off of me. The feeling of great achievement and finality fills me. What a beautiful pilgrimage.
I have to take the mandatory photo now to document the occasion.
If an event happens in the world, but isn’t posted to Facebook, did it really happen?
"I'm pretty tired, I think I'll go home now."
- Forrest Gump
-.....and Sprawlba Gump
*This adventure isn’t over yet. Next week’s post takes you into Hanover NH, back into VT to the hostel, for another glimpse into town and hostel life
The following post will take you into White River Junction to catch the train, the night spent in the Washington DC train station, and finally, home.
See ya next week…..
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