Northfield, VT

Recovery and hiker shuttle day. We’re staying with our AT buddies Brad and Emily...also where our car is. They’re our pickup crew when we finish in Portland, so Jon towed our old Corolla up here in March so we’d have a way to get home. B&E are finishing their 3-day 55 mile run/hike on the Long Trail and we volunteered to go pick up their car at the Massachusetts border to save them some time. It was about a 2 hour drive and we were both amazed at how loooong that seemed to take. Somehow 2 hours of biking goes by so much faster than 2 hours in a car! Once we found their car, I took off in one direction to see if I could find a fun dress for my nephew’s wedding. Jon went back to Northfield, with an obligatory stop  for lunch at the Inn at Long Trail outside of Rutland. One of few places that can actually provide a “properly poured” Guinness and awesome Irish stew. I drove through Manchester Center and remember stopping here back in 2001 when we were hiking the Appalachian Trail. Lots of services for hikers, but it’s 5 miles from the trail crossing. So I took the alternate route through town and, sure enough, there was a hiker with his thumb out looking for a ride back to the trail. It’s easy to spot an AT hiker from your random hitch hiker. So I pulled over, he loaded his pack into the back of the Corolla and I took him back up to the trail. He’s from Germany and started in Georgia in March and hopes to finish at the end of August before his travel visa runs out. Totally doable. I wished him luck and went on my way. 

We all converged back at the house at just about the same time. We spent the evening relaxing and catching up while Jon made a fabulous pasta salad. So great to hang out with friends.