Out of the blue, Hannah and I are invited to a wedding in northern Vermont. Jumping at the chance, we book a B and B (Nye’s Green Valley Farm (http://www.nyesgreenvalleyfarm.com/) and look for some hiking on the AT, which crosses into NH at Hanover. Entirely Interstates, it’s an easy two hour ride, from the Maine Seacoast to this college town (Dartmouth). Exiting I-89, we take Route 120 for 3-4 miles towards town to the famous Coop Food Store, with its ample parking lot for day hikers. We find restrooms at The Coop Service station adjacent to the parking lot.
As we prepare to hike, I realize I’ve forgotten my hiking hat. This is a fashion faux pas of the highest order (i.e., for an AT wannabe!). It’s a gorgeous 75 degrees and I, again for about the 10,000th time think, I could live here. I’ve felt this way in Missoula, MT and Pocatello, ID and Flagstaff, AZ. A college community vibe with a focus on fitness. A funky, community-oriented coop food store. College sports and culture. Ah, to be retired and in love with the myth of living in a college town.
Beginning at the far side of the Dartmouth College soccer field, we immediately ascend into the forest of the nearby mountain. New Hampshire and as we’ll soon learn about Vermont, are all about the vertical. We climb more than hike. At the trailhead, there is a caution about tough going due to Hurricane Irene. With white blazes (identifying the main trail) marking the way, we step higher and higher on rocky, root-crossed trails. Seven tenths of a mile into our hike, in search of thru-hikers to chat up, we take a blue blaze trail (side trail) to the Velvet Rocks shelter. Wood framed, three-sided with a clear Plexiglas roof, 10’ x 12’, with sleeping for six, it’s clean and just five years old.
This part of the trail is cared for by the Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) (http://www.dartmouth.edu/~doc/). Alas there are no thru-hikers so we move on. Back at the main trail, we see a sign to Trescott Road three miles away, which will give us four hours of hiking there and back. Nigh perfect for us.
Among the pines and beeches, we climb. A thru-hiker roars by us. We don’t even get a trail name nor have a chance to offer him a granola bar. Then we find a knotted rope tied to a tree some 25 feet ahead, leading us up a steep, rocky climb. It’s very cool. We use the rope to pull ourselves up as if we are stud mountain climbers.
Bless the DOC. Near the top, we see 16-18 students, who it turns out, are part of Dartmouth College freshman five-day orientation backpacking experience (http://www.dartmouth.edu/~doc/firstyeartrips/). They are quiet, but their orientation leader has enough perkiness for them all. I like her. In hindsight, I wish I had had such an experience when Hannah and I were freshmen at the College of Wooster in Ohio to be connected right off the bat.
And then, voila, we meet thru-hikers from Canada – “Dacks” (female hiker whose trail name derives from her connections to the Adirondacks) and “Spoons” (male hiker who broke their two spoons on the first days on the trail at Mt. Katahdin). Since they started hiking in New Brunswick, Canada, they had done 300 miles before they even arrived at Mt. Katahdin to begin the 2179 miles of the AT. As southbounders, they hoped to be in Georgia by Christmas. Whoa. After we part, I wonder about hiking 8-12 hours a day. Just too much of a good thing for me. Today’s four hours of hiking seem fine, and then it’s a shower and a glass of vino with Hannah B once we arrive at the B and B. Later we’ll have the comforts of a king-size bed, not a sleeping bag on a one inch mattress. Makes me sound pretty soft? Guilty.
The last mile before Trescott Road is level, through a verdant forest with ferns and small oaks by our feet. The trail is tree covered the whole way, which makes the muggy 80 degrees tolerable. Puncheons (planks of wood) take us through a swamp of cat o’ nine tails. Our conversation gets to conflict and confrontation; dealing with either has not been a strength for me. I understand that there is conflict that needs to be addressed; but I think my approach to life has been that of finding the common ground with another. See the good in others. Pollyanna (1960) would love me (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054195/). I deserve no applause; I’m just trying to understand myself a little bit more.
“Singing Dave” approaches. He’s a section hiker, which means he does parts of the AT for a few days or weeks at a time. He’s been doing it for three years and hopes to do the entire AT over fifteen years. Sure seems like a sane way to hike the trail. This time he’s out for a week. Asked why he does it, he says that it lets his mind take off from his day job as a chemist. He seems like a happy guy.
Four hours after we start we are back at the Coop parking lot, getting into our sandals, and buying dinner of deli potato salad and bean salad to go on a bed of leafy greens. Muenster cheese and crackers will go with our evening wine at the B and B. Got to say, these kids do it right.
As always when hiking, know thyself, thy limits, and the conditions. Be prepared.
I went to Dartmouth Tennis Camp in Hanover for years, it really is the coolest college town. I would've loved to have gone there for school- one can dream.
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