NH! 440 miles/2 States to go!

Yea! We crossed over the Connecticut River and are now in NH, which means we are onto our final 2 states! Today we took our last "zero" day until the end, or that is the plan at least. So much has happened since NY...we have a new hiking buddy, Evergreen, who we met about 2 weeks ago, and who miraculously lives in Hanover, so we have been resting on nice cozy couches, eating great meals for the past day and a half. We leave again tomorrow morning (surely we can't stay in the same place for too long) and will head into the Whites, supposedly the most challenging but most rewarding section of the trail. We are excited to see some great views, and a bit nervous about the unpredictable storms, but we have mastered the crouching down technique so we will be fine. Some highlights over the past few weeks: - Awesome views from the summits of Mt Greylock, Bromley Mountain (Funny to be on the top of a ski mountain without any snow and to read the ski maps from the top), Stratton Mountain, Killington Mountain -A record high of 7 trail magics in a day! Started with (1) pancakes for breakfast in a cabin (a beautiful, cozy cabin run by ATC volunteers, close to a pond where we swam, fireplace inside to warm up after a chilly, rainy day), followed by a (2) cooler of sodas, (3) a box of granola bars/ Moonpies etc, (4) a trip to the "Cookie Lady's" house, you can only guess what that meant, (5) 2 more coolers and huge barrels filled of goodies, (6) a box of sodas, and (7) a night stay at Tom Levardi's house, a super kind generous man in Dalton, MA who opens his home to hikers...hot showers, laundry, bed to sleep on...what a day! -Staying right next to Big Branch River---so nice to cool off after a long day -Clever chipmunks or squirrels...not sure who to blame for eating my cookies and bagels from my stuff sacks that were bear-bagged....guess it was only good enough to deter the bears! But watch out for the sneaky rodents. -Hiking with family! One of my aunts came out to hike for awhile in CT. It ended up being a long road walk, a trail detour, which cracked us up a bit. We did see a nice waterfall too though, and were spoiled to lunch at a cafe. -Another aunt and cousin also came out for a few days...it happened to be raining when we met up with them the first night, which meant postponing their "wilderness experience" for a little while and getting a cabin for the night. We indulged in yummy food and loved sleeping in a dry place. Hiked from Gifford Woods State Park into Hanover, where we hung out and roamed around the Dartmouth campus -Lot of soft cushiony pine needle trails, which I love! - Seeing lots of cute orange newts, which I kindly escort off the trail, so they won't get squished. I am quite appreciative to be indoors right now, as it pours outside. Hoping it will rain all night, and the SUN will be shining bright again tomorrow. We are off on to the final stretch....