Mile 297.9 - Gorham, New Hampshire!

Trail magic is a common phrase used with the A.T. community to describe random acts of kindness that occur on the trail. It may be a piece of fresh fruit from a stranger at a trailhead or someone welcoming you into their home for a warm meal. In this past weeks, we have learned firsthand how exciting and uplifting trail magic can be!

Mama Chomp (David's mom) shuttled the dogs out to us on Monday. As if the dogs and her presence weren't exciting enough, she treated us to a delicious breakfast and endless supply of our favorite candy bars. Just two days later, Emily's friend Bluebearee (who thru-hiked herself in 2002) surprised us on the trail near Old Blue Mountain with treats to satisfy all of our cravings (fresh carrots from her garden, homemade cookies, and peanut butter cups). Having a familiar face on the trail was a treat as well! On Thursday Mama Chomp returned to pick up the dogs, again treating us to a hot meal and needed calories. A family friend, Steve Walker, came along and we appreciated his interest and support in our adventure.

At this point, you may be thinking, "When do you guys actually hike?" Amidst the eating, this week brought some of our most challenging miles as we went through the Mahoosuc Mountains of western Maine and into New Hampshire. We have crossed our first state line! To compensate for the challenging miles, friends Nick and Alana hiked in to meet us on Saturday night and brought enough goodies to thoroughly stuff our bellies. David was witnesses licking out his whoopie pie wrapper while Emily ate her Whoopie pie with a spoon and a glass of wine. Their company on the trail was great!

As we get cleaned up and resupply in Gorham, NH we are anticipating the exciting climb into the White Mountains this evening. The weather is in the 90s and we will surely be sweating up some of the biggest climbs of the whole trail (so much for that shower, huh?!). As much as we have enjoyed all the eating this week, the real purpose of it all is to power our hiking, the reason we're here to begin with. A reminder of this is one of the highlights of this week, which was bivying (sleeping out under the stars) on the top of the North Peak of Goose Eye Mountain. We found a rock slab just as the sun was setting and fell asleep with the peak to ourselves, Mt. Washington profiled in the distance, and shooting stars overhead. We really are living a dream.