Happy Hill Shelter

Tonight at 8:15 pm. the hikers are at the Happy Hill Shelter...a "double decker" type near Norwich, Vt. they hiked 17 miles today...not bad weather...the cellphone reception was terrible! So I couldn't hear more than that! The hikers have hiked about 449 miles with about 1726 to go to Georgia! Yikes!

STICKMANS' JOURNAL...7/23/07...Monday... We got off to a fairly decent start today, getting on the trail at 6:30AM. We left Moose Mtn. Shelter, in New Hampshire, and arrived at Happy Hill Shelter, in Vermont, at 6:10PM. We hiked 16.8 miles in 11 Hours, 40 minutes... from one State to another State in half a day... WAY COOL! ... We stopped at Etna, where I walked o.3 miles (each way), to the little General Store. Faithful opted not to go, resting on the side of the roadway until I returned. I treated myself to some breakfast, then left my card with the nice young couple that own the store. I also found that she makes some pretty serious cookies, so I stocked up on them for the trail. Stomach satisfied, I returned to where Faithful waited, and we jumped back on trail. I only saw a couple of hikers all day, but gave out cards and spoke to everyone we met. I left a card with the man at the Deli, where we ate in Hanover, and also gave one to the postal worker that handled my mail. When we finally left Hanover, New Hampshire, to cross the Connecticut River into Norwich, Vermont, it was raining nicely. It was still almost 6 miles to get to Happy Hill Shelter. It did stop raining eventually, and would alternate between sun, cloud, and rain the rest of the way. We came upon some nice “trail magic” before we left the back road, to enter the trail. It was a nice cooler full of watermelon, banana bread, trail bars, and lot’s of other stuff. The givers of this wonderful gift are “Brain”, and his family. “Brain” is actually out on the trail at this time, so thanks to him and his family, and I pray he has a terrific hike. We also met two ladies on the road as we approached the trail. We had a great conversation, talking for more than a half hour. One of them lived in a beautiful old home, just a little further up the road. It was a very impressive place! It is the second oldest home in Norwich. When she and her husband, who was a Doctor, came to town, she said that someday she would like to live there... As of today, she has lived in the home for fifty years! Amazing! She extended a very generous welcome to us to stay with her for the night, getting us out of the rain, and warmed up. She said that she had never offered before, so we felt pretty special, and quite blessed. We thanked her for her kindness, but declined to take her up on her offer, as we wanted to do extra miles, to the shelter. Kind of wished we had stayed, I suspect we would have had a wonderful evening. But, on we went, and as we entered the woods, we came across a homeless man and his teenaged daughter. We offered some food, but he thanked me, and said they were ok. I slipped the man a few dollars, feeling badly that I couldn’t do more. They were very pleased, and the daughter said that she would look us up online when they could get to the library. We got to Happy Hill Shelter, and it was unique. It is laid up with mortared stone, with the upper portion constructed of logs. It’s name is on the front on a large sign done with mosaic tile. It also has the D.O.C., or Dartmouth Outing Club symbol. There are, at the moment, seven of us here, three of us... oops!, just had a very large, hairy caterpillar fall from the rafters, onto my head... he is now living outside!... let’s see... three of us are up in the loft. It is a little cramped, but cozy. There are four hikers on the main deck, which, I assume, would be cramped, and VERY cozy! Five of us are, or were, from Maine! Everyone but Faithful and I are NOBO’s. I got a chance to tell them what we were up to out here, and received mostly positive responses. They were all nice folks, and as we sat around a super fire, we heard and shared lot’s of good stories. Well, the fire has dried me out nicely, and it is time to sleep. God Bless!

Stickman

STICKMANS' JOURNAL...7/24/07...Tuesday... Ah! The best laid plans!... Thought we could get a 20 mile hike under our boots today. NOT! The hiking was a series of ups and downs. Nothing too severe, just up and down,... repeatedly. Wears you out. Then, of course, we had very high temps and humidity. To sum it all up, the net result of a hike that started at 7:30 AM, and ended at about 9:15 PM, was a journey of about 13.3 miles. WHEW! Putting that all in a better light, let's look at it this way. We had all kinds of good stops, getting to talk with others about our ministry. When all is said and done, we had a great day! One of the highlights of our day was a stop at a little General Store in West Hartford, Vermont, where we had a breakfast that can only be described as terrific! They just opened up the store last Wednesday, and it is the talk of the trail! Their food is top-notch, and the folks are great too. It is a family business, Mom and Pop, daughter, and son-in-law, Josh. I got to talk with Josh a bit, nice young man. They are a Christian family, and were excited to hear about our missions trip. I gave them our card, and they said that they would mention it to their Church, maybe their youth group would like to be involved. That would be great! We spoke at length with several hikers today. With the heat, no one was in a hurry to hike. One hiker really tickled me. Wayne, "the leader of the pack". When I asked where the pack was, he said "on my back". Quite a character! He sometimes wears his wolf hat. Yes, we got his picture! We also had a break with two young couples, at a shelter. One of the guys had attended school at the University of Maine, Orono, and they had lived in Newport. We passed out cards to everyone we saw, and just had a nice day. ...

It was a wonderful day, and we hiked as far as we could... When we had gone as far as we could, we threw our pads down at the edge of a field. Sheltered from the dew, beneath some low-hanging trees, we crawled into our sleeping bags to get comfortable. That, of course, is where I am now, and my tired body is letting me know that it is surely time to sleep.... almost 11:00 PM... May God richly Bless you and I, both, even as we sleep. Have a wonderful night!

Stickman