The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day.
~Dr. Seuss
Hike from Hanover, NH, to Happy Hill Shelter, VT
AT miles: 5.8
Ascent: 1240’
Descent: 457’
Weather: Rain — steady and lots of it! Temps in the 60’s
Sighting: lots of raindrops
High point: Finding a nice dry shelter to stay in for the night.
I have spent the past two weeks vacationing in Brooklin, Maine, and I am now back on trail in Vermont.
After breakfast on the Maine coast, my husband drove me to Hanover, NH, where I met up with my hiking partner Dayglo, a friend from the Virginia backpacking community.
The AT goes right through the center of Hanover. We walked past the ivy-covered halls of Dartmouth College and down to the Connecticut River. In this area the Connecticut River forms the boundary between Vermont and New Hampshire, so in the middle of the bridge we walked by this granite sign.
We entered Vermont and walked under Interstate 91. The trail followed paved roads for several miles through Norwich, a charming old New England town with quaint rambling farmhouses and white clapboard churches. (It was raining, so no pictures.)
The trail finally left the main drag and turned onto a side road which ascended rapidly. The fields and farmhouses along it were classic New England.
This paved section of the AT is the longest one on the entire AT. Even though we jumped on the trail in the middle of downtown Hanover, we walked 2.5 miles on pavement before we entered the woods.
The trail was full of roots and mud, but it was beautiful in a dark rainy kind of way.
We even saw some Indian pipe, a little fungus that looks like a pipe.
We got to our shelter around 2:30 but decided to stop hiking for the day because it was pouring rain and the next shelter was 8.8 miles further. This shelter has stone sides and a metal roof and looks like a wonderful place to spend a rainy afternoon. We ended up being the only people staying at that shelter.
I particularly like the sign at the top of the picture!
Today is a great day for a long walk in the woods!