Our friend Stephanie not only dropped us off early at the Co-op parking lot in Hanover, she said she would meet us with a picnic dinner and all our heavy gear after we came down from the Holts Ledges near Lyne Center, New Hampshire. We arrived at the road right at 4:00 p.m., just as Stephanie was pulling up, and instead of the freeze-dried dinner we should have otherwise expected, we feasted on meat pies and fresh vegetables from her garden: cucumbers, carrots, and string beans. Not to mention cold drinks and chips!

Thanks to Stephanie’s assistance, we made great time today, and are none the worse for wear. We had one short, steep up and down early, but the trail was generally kind to us today all the way to the Etna road. There a young woman had placed a cooler of Cokes out yesterday, which was still half full this morning, our first trail magic in the Granite State.

After the road, we passed about a dozen Dartmouth student-athletes running the trail south, and then made the climb to the twin peaks of Moose Mountain. When we stopped on north peak to talk to SOBO’er Green Bean, a number of NOBO’s caught up with us: Kleenex, Castaway (now joined by his brother Deadeye for a few days), Poppawolf and Rampage. Sounded like most folks had taken a zero in Hanover before starting out again this morning. (In the case of Poppawolf and Rampage, there was a stomach bug involved that kept their spouses Crocodilly and Mango off the trail today.)

We’re staying tonight in the yard of Bill Ackerly, 50 yards from the AT. 84-year-old Bill gives hikers ice cream when he’s home, but had left a note on a cooler of drinks on his porch saying he was off on vacation; and to take a soda, sign his guest book, and generally make ourselves at home. We decided to take him up on his invitation to camp and were joined by five or six others. Just before dark, Bill arrived home from Colorado. He took everything in stride with all these strangers all over his yard, and we were glad to meet such an AT institution (he’s been hosting hikers for nine years to pay forward the kindness folks showed his kids when they were hiking the trail). Thanks to Stephanie and Bill, our hiking in New Hampshire is off to a great start!

And finally, in the day’s not quite wildlife sighting report: Talloaf arrived in camp with a picture he had taken of two sheep on the trail on the way up to Holts Ledges. Tagged, but obviously very lost. Our host Bill said at one time way back when, this whole area had been denuded of trees to support the grazing of sheep. Bill set about calling a friend to see if the ‘farmer network’ could get the poor sheep back home…