Appalachian Trail - Day 112 - Podunk Brook to Mink Brook

Day: 112

Date: Monday, 14 August 2023

Start:  Podunk Brook (AT Mile 1747.8)

Finish:  Mink Brook (AT Mile 1764.7)

Daily Kilometres:  27.5

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  2899.8

Weather:  Warm and mostly sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Egg & bacon rolls, omelettes & hash browns, toast & jam

  Lunch:  Roast beef & cheese subs, ice-creams

  Dinner:  Turkey & cheese subs

Aches:  Dave - a few niggles; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  Meeting up with Stef and Mike in Hanover for brunch.  They are friends from Sydney who flew out to hike the AT at almost exactly the same hour as we did from Sydney airport, though they started their hike about three weeks before we did.  They reached Vermont just when the record rain and floods hit and decided to flip-flop, leaving the AT at Manchester Center and driving up to the northern end of the AT then hiking southwards back to Manchester Center to complete the trail.  Stef writes a blog which we have been following and using to mentally prepare ourselves for what lies ahead ever since we started our hike.  Our brunch in Hanover was a happy reunion and lots of stories were told and compared before we each returned to the AT to continue hiking.  We look forward to a much longer debrief with them when we get back to Australia.

Lowlight:  For Dave, leaving Hanover after our enjoyable brunch with Stef and Mike (see above), with heavy packs, having resupplied for the next three days, knowing that we still have about five weeks to go before we finish and greatly envying them, knowing they only have about five days before they will be finished.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Having arranged to meet Stef and Mike at 10:00am in Hanover, eight miles away, for brunch (see above), we were hiking by 6:00am on a mild sunny morning through very peaceful forest.  The trail was good and we comfortably reached the village of Norwich around 9:00am and took a break for a quick breakfast in a lovely sunny park there, knowing we only had 1.5 miles to Hanover.

To get to Hanover we had to cross the Connecticut River into New Hampshire, leaving Vermont, or Vermud as it is known to thru-hikers, behind.  Only New Hampshire and Maine to go now!  Hanover is a very attractive little town, home to the renowned Dartmouth College and the trail goes right down its main street.

We met Stef and Mike at 10:00am and adjourned to a bakery for brunch and a catch-up which was very enjoyable.  Hanover is a proud trail town and we each received a free donut from the bakery.  Apparently there are other places in town where thru-hikers get freebies but we didn't stay long enough to get them, though we did see quite a few thru-hikers in town, some of whom we knew from the trail, taking advantage of the town's hospitality.

After brunch we walked to the town supermarket and bought supplies for the next three days as well as lunch and sat outside at a table while we ate.  It would have been easy to stay there all afternoon, but the trail beckoned (demanded?) that we continue hiking, so we set off around 1:00pm with full packs and full bellies for the eight miles to our chosen target campsite for the day, beside Mink Brook.  The trail was quite boggy in places and the mosquitoes were back, making the afternoon even more tough, mentally.

Fortunately, eight miles wasn't too much to ask for the afternoon and we reached our pretty campsite soon after 5:30pm, an early stop for us, and set up camp.  We've got some serious mountains to climb on the next three days, so are mentally preparing ourselves.