Here We Go Again...

 Nano and Friends are back on the Trail!

   After a year away, I am very happy to announce (or exclaim from the New Hampshire mountaintops) that I am back on the Appalachian Trail for a few days.  It has been far too long, but now that I have some rare time off from medical school, I am so excited to be spending it on the AT.  It is particularly exciting, because not only do I have Amicus and Trail Angel, but our dear friend Hooter along for this leg of the journey.  After spending months between concrete walls and under fluorescent lights, sunshine and fresh air is a welcome reprieve.  

    As many followers of Nano may recall, when last you left your valiant Trail Warriors, we had just crossed the Vermont-New Hampshire border.  Today we picked up right where we left off...the Dartmouth Bookstore.  Which, believe it or not, is directly on the AT, along with the only Appalachian Trail Starbucks you will find along the entire 2,200 miles.  We didn't go very far today - about 8.5 miles - but we've all been in the "real world" longer than we'd care to admit, and we are trying to get our Trail Legs back.  No matter the distance covered, we couldn't have asked for a better day to hike.  Low 70s, sunny, light breeze.  Perfect.

 A good day to return.

  Here in New Hampshire (as in much of the Eastern US), they have been blessed with lots of recent rain.  That meant that a rather squishy trail was there to greet us upon our return.  But as Hooter would say, you have to test out the waterproofing on your boots sometime.  A little mud was a small price to pay for the gorgeous day.  Once we hiked out of town, the trail was mostly woods, with a few bogs and fields thrown in for variety.  We only saw a handful of people on the Trail today.  We're significantly farther north than most of the 2013 Northbound thru-hikers, and most of the Southbounders are just beginning this month in Maine.  We did meet one young Northbounder who told us he had two weeks to get to Katahdin and was averaging 30 miles per day.  A mighty and ambitious young hiker for sure.  Wherever you are tonight, sir (which is about 22 miles ahead of us), we wish you well.  We also got lapped by a giant dog and his jogging owner, who ran past us twice (once in each direction) during our lunch break.  But on our first day back this year, we were in it for the sights and sounds and smells, not the speed. 

   

The (now familiar) Green Tunnel

New Hampshire is one of the most famously beautiful, but also most infamously difficult sections of the AT.  I have no idea how far we will get during the time we have out here this year, but as always, this is about the journey.  Not the destination.  Stay tuned, Followers of Nano.  More Grand Adventures are sure to follow. 

The Trail Awaits!