Summary
July 29th
NOBO mile# 1747.9
Tolmann’s daily mileage 9
Tolmann’s total mileage 723.4
Not the best sleep last night. At least one other hiker was pretty restless, and I was sleeping in a short bed, which kept me sleeping really lightly until I figured out to lay diagonally. You’d think I’d reach that conclusion more quickly, eh? <sigh>
I was uncomfortable enough with the thought of my belt tearing out that I spent some time getting a safety pin in to stabilize it. Yesterday I received an email message from the Deuter warranty department saying they would send me a replacement pack; I just have to send back the original. I’ve asked them to send it home, because Debbie is planning on coming up for a couple of days, during which I will probably get a slack-pack in.
I was the last one out. I went over to Randy and Linda’s porch to sign their hiker log and to put some cash in their donation jar. They had put out bananas, and the coffee seemed fresh, so I sat for a few minutes.
Then it was a .7 mile road walk to the trail, and then up, up, up.
The day’s hike was only 9 miles to the NH border. The elevation profile shows a single long ascent, with a meandering downhill following. 3.8 miles in (and on the downhill side) is the Thistle Hill Shelter, where I was aiming to have a mid-morning snack and get the pack off.
It turned out that I was still feeling pretty strong, so I made good time for the ascent. I got to the shelter a few minutes early, so I pulled out the ukulele. There was no one else there, so I reacquainted myself with some of the songs I’ve been working up.
As I was leaving, Falls came tooling in. He’d stayed at the shelter before Randy and Linda’s place with some folks he’d been waiting to catch up to him. But now he was motoring to town for “real food”. He got out ahead of me as we got closer to the road, but I managed to stay with him. It was about 11:30 when we came out on Elm Street. There he met up with his friend Houdini and we stood together at a roadside cooler with Cokes. The cooler was outside the house if the woman who had put it out there for hikers, and she actually drove up as we were leaving, so I had a chance to thank her to here face.
The road walk to the Connecticut River and the NH border is another 3+ miles, and the pavement is rough on the feet. It crossed a bridge going over a brook with a cool waterfall.
It goes through the town of Norwich, VT, where I had made arrangements to stay the night at the Episcopal church; then it went down to the river. The border sign is midway across the bridge. I took Falls and Houdini’s picture, then Falls took mine.
I had a half hour walk back to town, but I really wanted to soak my feet in the river. There was no access to the water anywhere, but I went to Foley Park, which is on the Vermont side and had some picnic tables and Adirondack chairs, to sit and take in the the feeling of completing another state. I’m not sure I actually believed I’d get this far. It’s still not entirely real to me yet.
When I got to the parish house for St Barnabas Episcopal Church, I met Pastor Jennie, who showed me around. She is a incredibly friendly and outgoing woman, and quick to assess people for ways they can help around the church. First she asked if I would work in the Memorial Garden, planting some donated plants, then she asked if I could change light bulbs in the church. Of course, I was happy to help.
Then it was time to shower and do laundry, then grab a sandwich from the local convenience store, Dan and Whit’s. The hikers here are a smorgasbord of folks I’ve met all over: Alfalfa, Patch, and Mary Poppins from Yellow Deli; TBD from Mountain Meadows Lodge, Jetpack Jedi from Randy and Linda’s, plus a smattering of SOBOs. This seems to be one of the places people get sucked into staying multiple days.
So I’m sleeping on the couch in the common room, which may be problematic, but has the benefit of being long enough for me…
Tom Maynard 
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