Day 4 - "Trail Magic"

Updated: Jun 18, 2022

People are amazing out here. So happy and gracious, I haven’t met a mean one yet! It’s really refreshing and really helps to “restore faith in humanity”.

Today we hiked 6 miles into Hanover, my first town stop. Hanover also marks the end of the Vermont portion of the trail and the beginning of New Hampshire. New Hampshire is reported to be the toughest state on the entirety of the trail. Steep climbs and mountains exposed to the elements await us here.

As we walked out of Vermont, we discovered two “trail magic” boxes that someone had left along the side of the road for the Appalachian Trail hikers. Free snacks!! “Trail Magic” is a somewhat frequent occurrence that can take on many different forms. The people who set up the trail magic are referred to as “Trail Angels”. The people who leave trail magic are truly the most amazing and wonderful people to have ever lived in this world! So, to all the wonderful Trail Angels out there: Thank You. Your generosity is well appreciated by us hungry hikers.

We spent some time in Hanover resupplying our food and eating lunch with Uncle Gary who drove over to meet us. Uncle Gary and his wife, my Aunt Sarah, live in New Hampshire and seem excited to have us hiking in their backyard! They plan to come out and meet us whenever possible! We ate at this restaurant called Molly’s where I got a hamburger! I’m not sure if it was my insatiable hunger or not, but I am pretty sure that it was the best hamburger I have ever eaten. So cheesy and fatty and gooey and delicious. I wish I had 2 more! Throughout the entire town of Hanover, I only saw one pretty girl. I don’t know if there aren’t many pretty girls in Hanover, or if my sweaty nastiness drove them away! Most likely the latter.

Now I am sitting in my hammock surrounded by dead trees that could fall at any moment. Our campsite was chosen partially out of necessity, but we (especially dad) are quite worried about a tree falling on us in the night. I certainly hope that they don’t, that would be a poor end to my newly commenced journey.