Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000
Subject: AT Update 8/4

Hello again,

I'm in the town of Hanover, New Hampshire - just accross the Connecticut river which marks the State Line with Vermont.  About 442 miles of the A.T. remain.  Hanover is the home of Dartmouth College.  It is finally a clear, sunny, summer's day and plenty of young girls are walking the sidewalks while I sit here in this library typing.  What is wrong with this picture?

I'm staying at one of the fraternity houses that allows hikers floorspace to sleep on and the use of its showers for free.  This is fortunate, because the low expense makes it an easy decision to spend an extra zero-day in town.  I've been feeling tired the last few days.  I now weigh 170 pounds (starting weight: 220) and I'm beginning to get concerned.  Hopefully a day or two of rest and scarfing mass quantities of food will set things right.

In a few days I'll begin hitting some of the bigger bumps in the White Mountains and the Presidential Range.  It will be exciting to get above treeline, so I hope the weather will be kind.  But in case it's not, Don has sent me back my warmer clothes and sleeping bag that I swapped out last Spring.  Of course, this only makes my pack heavier, so as always, "comfort has a cost".

I had hoped to do an email update from Manchester, Vermont, as it marked the completion of three quarters of the AT.  However, the only internet access available was from Mailboxes, Etc., at 50 cents per minute!  Needless to say:  no update.

I enjoyed Vermont, though it was muddy, overcast, or raining much of the time.  It was a pleasure to walk beneath Pines again, on a carpet of reddish-brown needles, which contrast with the bright green of the ferns.  For the first 100 miles North, the AT and the Long Trail share the same path until the AT veers East to head towards New Hampshire.

I enjoyed staying at the Goddard shelter, which has a view back towards Mt. Greylock in Mass.  Then, I stayed atop Stratton Mountain.  The ski area lets hikers stay in the buildings there, and lets them ride the gondola for free.  I needed to buy a little food down in the village, and believe me, I was happy to ride rather than walk back up that mountain.  On my way into Manchester, I saw in one of the shelter registers that a couple women there offered bunks and breakfast to hikers in their condo for $10.  After spending the night on Killington, I hiked the next morning in pouring rain to the Inn on the Long Trail.  A controversial relocation has moved the Trail away from the Inn, so I had to take a half-mile side trail to get there.  Because of their long tradition of friendliness to hikers, I felt they deserved my business.  The fact that I was soaked and they had Guinness on tap had nothing to do with my decision.

The Long Trail portion of the AT had seemed a bit crowded at times, what with the regular Northbounders and section-hikers, increasing numbers of Southbounders, and the people who were out hiking the Long Trail itself.  Even when the AT split off on its own again, I crossed paths with 14 Southbounders in one day.  They seem to be a predominantly young crowd, and I envy their survival of the tough section of trail that awaits me.  Looking at the elevation profiles on my maps, the ascents and descents become alarmingly long and steep.  But I know it can be done, so I will move forward and try to do it.  And since I am no longer predominantly young, I will move slow.  And eat everything I can along the way!