Oh what a night. Late December back in ‘63…I was only 2 1/2 months old and my dad would pace the house checking on everyone every couple of minutes whenever there was a thunderstorm. He was scared of storms (not to the degree that Bunny is) and couldn’t sit still during a storm. As a result, my sister, brother, and I all grew to feel very secure in storms knowing that my dad was walking around keeping an eye on us all through the storm. I still love storms and sleep the deepest sleeps during a thunderstorm. That is, if I drug Bunny.
It stormed last night. We had lightening, thunder, and heavy rain. Bunny kept ducking every time there was a lightening flash. Once we got in the room, I cranked the AC so we couldn’t hear anything outside and got her to take a Benadryl so I could enjoy the storm and she could get some sleep. The forecast called for rain all morning, so we weren’t in a hurry to get up.
Bear (raarr) woke up at 5:30 as usual (as relayed to us by Sassy). They were already done eating breakfast by the time we headed down there at 8:30. Compass and Tiger were taking a zero at the motel yesterday but we hadn’t seen them until breakfast. Initially, I thought Compass hated us but today he was friendly and talkative. This is his second thru-hike. His first was 15 years ago.
After breakfast, Bear (raarr) talked the owner of the motel into driving us into town since the bus doesn’t run on weekends. This is a new owner that has only had the place for four months and he is in the process of renovating the place. He just put a new roof on last week and is now working on the insides. They are a nice Indian family living on site. I’d highly recommend this motel, and not just to hikers.
We got dropped off in downtown Hanover. It was only a little after 10 so none of the lunch spots were open. We found a place called “Lou’s” and went to check it out. There was a long line and we were going to move on, but a local man told us the story of Lou. He fought in WWII and landed at Normandy. He swore if he made it home alive, he would never leave town again. He did survive and came back to start a restaurant which he worked at 7 days a week for 35 years until the residents of town made him take his wife on a vacation. Lou’s is listed in the top 39 college eating experiences (Dartmouth is here in Hanover). It’s been featured in several national newspapers. After hearing this story, we had to stay. We’re all glad we did.
It was noon before we were done eating. I wanted to stop and get our free slice of pizza, but everyone was whining about how much they had eaten and how they were never going to eat again. The usual lies after a big meal. I could have handled a slice of pizza since I ate sensible (just a half order of biscuits and gravy, some home fries, a couple of sausage patties, 3 slices of Bear’s (raarr) toast, a few bites of Bunny’s blueberry/peach pie, and a half dozen cups of coffee). I don’t know why my stomach started hurting after I had a snack this afternoon.
Eating a large meal and then hiking uphill seems to have a universally similar effect on all of us. We Brown blazed it to Velvet Rocks Shelter just a little over a mile out of town. While we were waiting for everyone to have a chance to defile the privy, a National Forrest Ranger, John, stopped in to check on things. He asked how our hike was going. Bear (raarr) asked him if he had hiked the AT. John said he grew up in NH and had hiked the Whites multiple times and had no desire to see any more of the AT as it would surely be a letdown. His dream is to hike the PCT.
There was only one significant climb today and that was immediately after we left the shelter. We climbed up to Velvet Rocks which is a popular day hike from Hanover, but saw only another nobo hiker. Newt started a little more than a month after we did so we don’t feel too bad about our location on the trail. The DOC (Dartmouth Outdoor Club) maintains this section of trail. They have put in a rope on a steep section for day hikers to pull themselves up with. We are not sissy day hikers that need a rope, we are thru-hikers that can handle anything the trail throws at us. I made sure to shame everyone into not touching the rope (mostly because I was straddling it as I was climbing up and if they had used it, I would be talking soprano for a while).
We stopped for a snack around 3. Bear (raarr) has to have a pop tart every day or…(actually, I don’t know what the “or” consists of because he always gets his pop tart). I had a protein bar. That was the final straw for my stomach. It had already been gurgling quite a bit (I’m pretty sure it was the coffee) but now it started off gassing in climate changing dimensions. I dropped to the back of the group to not get yelled at by Bunny (according to her, my farts are always gross while her farts are always cute and amusing—I’ve been in a tent with her for 6 months straight, they are not cute and border on life threatening). My stomach was cramping so bad, it caused me to walk funny which, in turn, got my right Achilles irritated.
I spent the final two miles doubled over, hobbling to keep pressure off my right foot, and farting every other step (even I will admit they were not cute, harmless ones). These were the little suckers that grab on to the inseam of your pants and won’t let go. They stayed with me for about 50 yards after initial release. On a pleasant side note, I was not bothered by any flying insects today.
For the third time in the last 7 days, I was the weak link and last one to camp. At this point on the trail, Bunny is carrying me (I just wish she’d carry some of the food instead). We still got camp set up and were eating before 7 which is our normal arrival time. We had some Indian food for supper which helped to calm my stomach. The only hitch tonight was my pitiful bear bag. I hung it right next to Sassy and Bear’s (raarr) tent in the hopes that they would scare away any intruders. Bear (raarr) should be able to handle letting his friends know that the food is already earmarked for another one of their kind.
EFG