It all started as we headed out of Winturri Shelter on July 12th. Having an early morning breakfast of instant oatmeal in a packet we were planning on completing either a 12 mile or 18 mile day depending on weather and ambition. Three miles in we came to a road crossing with a farmer's market .2 of a mile down the road. We hiked down the road, betting there at 8:30 only to find that it did not open until 10:00 am. Knowing that this was an important ice cream opportunity it took us about 5 seconds to debate and conclude that it was critical for us to hang around until 10:00 am. Easy decision.
At about 9:15 a nice lady pulls up in her car, said she noticed our presence as she was driving by and cut her trip to the bank short to open up early for us. One pint of ice cream, a soda, and the purchase of lunch items (a fresh tomato, fresh smoked chicken breast and home made bread) got us on our way back to the trail.
Six miles into the day we came on top of hill loaded with ripe raspberries. After stuffing our face with these sweet little things we decided it would be cool to pick some for later munching. Placing about one-half pint in a nalgeen bottle we reluctantly moved forward.
At about 9 miles into the day we came upon a dirt road. Rocket Rick was waiting for us since he completely missed the raspberry opportunity. While he was waiting for us a kid on a motorcycle pulled up and told him to stop by at the Cloudland Farm .2 mile up the road. We were disappointed when we walked up the hill only to find that the farm store was closed; but thanks to Rick's conversation with the kid on the bike, they knew we were coming and they opened it up for us. The store was in a bring new country-style building with a huge wrap around porch sprinkled with rocking chairs. We unload our packs, purchase a few home brewed sodas and made up our sandwiches with the fresh bread, tomatos and chicken we purchased a few hours before. Yum!
We topped it off with a pint of homemade vanilla ice cream and our fresh picked raspberrites. Double YUM! As we were sitting on the porch contemplating the weather and life in general while devouring another pint of ice cream, the owner of the place drifted by and started chatting. He must have taken a liking to us for some reason because before we knew it we were pitching our tents under two large pine trees next to the barn (on the other side of the pigs and next to the chickens) and preparing our dinner on their picnic table, which ended up including 1lb of fresh roast beef from the farm - given to us to enjoy. What a life!The next morning we ate a few organic pop tarts we scarfed up from the hiker box and the Inn on the Long Trail and headed out early for a long day into Hanover, NH. At 7:00 am we came across a cooler full of Corona beer, with limes. Took us about two seconds to conclude we couldn't pass up this trail magic even at this hour. Three miles later we walked through West Hartford and came across a general store serving up breakfast...had to take advantage of this great experience as well...but passed on the ice cream.
Making our way across the bridge crossing the Connecticutt River into Hanover we noticed a roped off area along the shore that looked very much like a great place to take a quick swim. Hiking down the road we discover that it's only for Dartmouth students and faculty; undeterred, we hiked further down the river to the Dartmouth Rowing Club...another blue-blooded snub. One more trek down the river to the Dartmouth Canoe Club (the meatballs of Dartmouth) they said no swimming allowed with a "wink" which meant we stripped down, ran down the dock and dove into the river for a fresh swim.
What a great way to leave Vermont and come into New Hampshire!
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