Day 78: The Day with the Trail Magic

Summary
NOBO mile# 1738.1

Tolmann’s daily mileage 13.2

Tolmann’s total mileage 714.4

It started raining during the night, so I was glad for a roof (such as it was; there were a number of places where the sky was visible, but we stayed dry). The loft had the kind of double doors you could imagine hay being thrown out of, so the mosquitoes had ready access to us, but it was no worse than a lean-to shelter. 

I woke up thinking about the coming 13 mile hike to West Hartford, and wondering if I had it in me. But I felt better after the 6 mile hike and afternoon rest of the day before, so I think I was starting in a better place than the previous morning. 

Before leaving, the SOBOer who stayed in the barn last night (I think his name was Halloween; I didn’t ask for the origin story) asked if he could interview me for a video he’s making. I was delighted! They were just the common questions: why are you doing it? What have you learned? He said he would reach out to me if he does something with the footage. 

One thing I have been trying to do is to break the day’s mileage into sections, especially counting out the major ascents. That way, I can say, “well, I’ve only got 2 more of the 4 ascents I had to do today…” It helps a lot to know when you’ve completed the hardest section, or that you’ve expended the majority of the energy expected for the day. It doesn’t always turn out to be accurate (often there is a serious climb at the end of the day that I miss in my research), but it can make an afternoon more bearable. 

So I knew today was a 4 ascent day (minus the last ascent of which I was unaware), and that the first ascent would be significant. And being mentally prepared, I was more comfortable with the climb than usual. 

I met another NOBOer, named Falls, at the beginning of the day, and at first kept in front. The trail reached a meadow (which was a theme for the day), and I sat down to rest. Falls caught up to me then and we fell into that easy conversation place, until he moved on. 

I stayed fairly close behind him, and we leapfrogged a couple of times. I caught up to him again at the first decent water source and he introduced me to Swagger, a young woman hiking around his pace. Apparently the two of them had stayed at The Lookout the night before, and they were both heading towards West Hartford, so they were planning on some serious miles today. 

Just at Pomfret Road there is a tricky stream crossing requiring some rock hoping chops, and there we found… Trail Magic in the form of cold cans of soda! It was perfect timing because the next section was another serious, sustained ascent. 

Falls had got out ahead, and Swagger asked that I pass her since she planned on moving slowly. I thought I’d move slowly, too, but then just motored up. Nearing the top, I was dripping with sweat and sounded like a steam locomotive, but was rewarded with another meadow view. 

At the top of one of the meadow views was a clearing in the tall grass and a couple of logs set out as seats. I took of the pack, and pulled out my wooden ocarina (which I started carrying again). It was pretty cool.

The trails are getting busier; lots of SOBO and NOBO hikers around. Today I hiked within sight of someone else for short stretches today. 

My lunchtime milestone for today was Cloudland Road. There is a farm market a little up the road where I hoped to snag lunch enhancements. I still had hummus from yesterday and a sesame bagel, along with a block of cheddar cheese. So I grabbed an organic root beer, but passed on the pint of organic ice cream at $5.50.

Just before the road I passed Falls as he sat eating under a tree. 

The afternoon had more trail magic, in the form of a cooler with more soda, and trailside raspberries. In some ways, today turned out to be one of my favorite days on the trail so far. Not simply because of the trail magic, but the weather was awesome, there was reward for the climbs, and the trail was kind.

I did tire as the afternoon wore on, and, as luck would have it, hit a final ascent unaccounted for in the guide, leading to a last lookout, where I met a SOBO couple sitting and taking in the view. 

Finally, it was a drop down to West Hartford, crossing the White River,and Randy and Linda’s home where they provide trail magic in the form of a loft with a few beds, soda, coffee, watermelon slices, and for those overnighting, burgers, sautéed summer squash and zucchini with onions, steak and pick chops, and homemade cup cakes!

We had a fairly full house; Swagger had come in, as well as Bullseye, Two Times, Jetpack Jedi, and a few other latecomers. We had some lively conversation and some talk about guitars and ukuleles.  

Sorry about the stream of conscious entry. Tomorrow, the plan is to get to NH. I made arrangements to stay at the Episcopal Church in Norwich.