451 miles

Norwich, VT has been such a friendly-to-hikers town. At the trailhead, we saw a "Welcome Hikers!" sign from their public library and decided to stop in. If you walk down the main street from here, you'll enter Hanover, NH. We'll probably spend the rest of the day in town (I need a haircut badly), camp on their soccer fields, and move on in the morning.

Vermont. When I was here three years ago, I was kind of, well, I enjoyed myself, but I wasn't feeling my best either. I was feeling the pressure of having graduated and not having a "real job" or a solid idea about a career (I still don't, but I've outgrown the pressure). I was low on confidence. I was also missing my best friend. I don't think any of this showed, but it did color how I remembered Vermont, seeping into even the most vivid fall apple-picking images.

This time, though, Vermont was so intensely beautiful. I did visit Smokey House Center again in Danby. Right before the road crossing leading into Danby, you climb Baker's peak. Poles were no help, and I was hauling myself up the rocks, when it occurred to me to look back, and I did, and it was like the world started singing. I got to the top, took my pack off, and as I snacked on some gorp, I was jumping around on those rocks, craning my neck, trying to find Danby and Danby Corners and the Smokey House Center and the fields and forests and mountains that I had worked and played in. And when I actually got down into the valley, and took Theresa's bike out on their dirt roads, it was more beautiful than even my first morning there. I was also soaking in the positive, progressive energy that was around the place. To the Smokey House folks, thanks for welcoming me back!

The AT through Vermont has two distinct parts. At first, you follow the LT (Long Trail) along the spine of the Green Mountains, and the trail is muddy and far from the towns and passes through a string of federally designated Wilderness areas. It rained a lot as I was going through there, and at first, I just saw the rain as a hinderance, trapping me at the shelters when I was itching to hike. And I think I would always view the rain that way if it only rained occasionally. But when it rains on and off all day and day in and day out, eventually you acclimate, and I started to see the beauty of the woods despite the rain. You smell more when it rains -- smell of the trees and the dirt. I think the earth feels healthier when it rains. And the Green Mountains would not nearly be this green without them.

After Killington, the AT and LT split, and the AT starts east across the state, and the trail passes closer to and through towns and pastures and hayfields. The elevation drops as you walk through the Vermont countryside, and I've been doing a lot of raspberry and black raspberry picking along the way. I especially like walking through the red pine plantations with their soft bed of needles, and they're the best spots to pitch a tent. I slept pretty soundly last night on those needles and with the warmer weather.