We were only a couple of miles away from the next shelter. We got up early while the sun was still low and the forest was still quiet. Warthog and I hiked in silence, taking in the peacefulness of it all.
Earlier in the week, Warthog had asked me to remind him that there was a wasp/hornet nest a tenth of a mile north of this next shelter. Just south of it, we came across a handwritten note warning us of “Wasps! In the tree ahead!” We could hear the low buzzing. I started to take photos and to my left heard crashing through the underbrush. We both turned expecting to see some sort of wild animal barreling towards us. Turns out it was just a dog off-leash that belongs to a person trail running. His owner was yelling at him from on top of the hill behind us. As I realized this I suddenly heard Warthog scrambling, practically laying on the ground. I said, “What’s going on?” “They are attacking me!” As he’s yelling this, on the word “me” I feel a sting myself. “Ah! Me too!” We desperately try to flee. The runner sees us and calls her dog. She turns and goes back down the trail. We got about twenty feet away and the stinging stops. I was only hit once. I have no clue how many times Warthog was hit. It was a lot though. Two separate spots on the back of one knee – I think many times in both of those spots. He also got hit near his ankle, shin, and arm. It was a lot. He was shaking from the whole thing and breathing like he does after he gets done vomiting. I just had to hug him. My single sting is throbbing. I can’t imagine what he’s going through. Later, I would give him credit for battling them, protecting me. I know it’s not really why he was attacked, but I hope the scenario I painted in his head helps some. I blame the dog. I think he made the hornets angry.
Wonder Woman and Snow Monkey crossed paths with the trail runner. She tried to get them to follow her a different way to the shelter. When I heard that, I was livid with her. She watched us get attacked. Literally ran away and didn’t bother to guide us around the angry nest. Thanks lady. We waited for our friends to show up to warn them. In that time we suited up with our rain gear. Pants were tucked into our socks, jacket tucked into our pants, face pulled tights. Wonder Woman and Snow Monkey have face bug nets, they put those on too. When we were all ready, we slowly walked through the danger zone. Warthog grabbed the trekking poles we had abandoned in the process of running. I wanted to laugh that four grown adults were afraid of these tiny creatures, but I couldn’t. My wrists throbbed too much from my sting. We stopped at the shelter to clean the sting sites and apply Afterbite. It was a rough morning.
Several miles after the shelter we came into Norwich, VT. We were told to resupply there and not in the nearby town of Hanover. So we did. The resupply was limited and expensive.
However, with a little bit of creativity, we got what we needed. The trail followed the sidewalk from one town to the next. Which, coincidentally, also took us from one state to the other.
The Vermont/New Hampshire border was on a bridge over a river. We stopped to take photos and reflect on our progress. Two states left. Only two states! Warthog reminded us that we only have one more border crossing. It seems too incredible to be real. But it is.
New Hampshire welcomed us with a streaker. He came running up the bridge and away from us with a friend right behind him videotaping the whole thing. About midway he turned and jumped over the railing. We saw all of this from probably 100 feet away. Surprise turned into realization, which then turned into amusement. I imagine he lost a bet. That or it’s some sort of initiation thing. We are going into Hanover, NH – where Dartmouth College is.
We had lunch in Hanover at an all-you-can-eat Indian buffet. I’ve been craving Indian for a couple of months now. I was full quickly and didn’t quite eat $11- worth of food. I felt like a bit of a thru-hiker failure. We sat on the outside patio so we could keep our packs with us and so we wouldn’t stink out the other patrons. Tucked in the top of the umbrella was a very small hive. I pointed it out to Warthog. “Don’t freak out”, I said. We didn’t see anything using the hive, so we stayed. He was still pretty traumatized.
It was hard to get out of town. We were all so tired. The food sat heavy on our bellies, which is difficult to hike on. We wrapped behind the Dartmouth practice soccer fields to where the trail goes back into the woods. There were several kids and their parents out for a day hike. Some were complete in Dartmouth apparel – it made me smile.
We pushed up and out of the city. It was a difficult afternoon. Mostly because we were so heavy and miserable. Finally, we reached the stream where we planned to camp. There were sites on this little island, the stream ran around it. It was complete with a fire ring. Warthog was excited when we saw it. Building a fire was one of the first things he did when he got to camp. He probably needed the therapy after the horrible morning. A small toad lived in the fire pit. He would hop out when you were preparing it and would go to a small hole at the base of a tree. Then, when things had died down, he would crawl back into the soot. He was the darkest toad you’ve ever seen. It was adorable.
After we arrived at the campsite, we heard this loud chattering or trilling. We looked up in time to watch a falcon chasing a small woodpecker through the canopy of leaves. Finally the falcon gave up and the woodpecker was safe. I may have cheered a bit in my head over the woodpeckers’ evasion.
The night went well. We all ate dinner around the fire. Another nobo joined us that we hadn’t met yet. His name is “Pio”. He is a brewer, went to college for it and everything. He is currently working on opening a brewery I get in Madison, WI. It’s not too far from home for us. I hope to visit it someday! I don’t know the name, but I know he’s hoping to open it fall of 2018. Grand Rapids is Beer City USA, so we had fun connecting with him. I was proud to be representing my town to someone in the industry.
By the time we were going to bed Warthog’s sting spots behind his knees were starting to blister up. I cleaned and bandaged them while he took Benadryl. I want to shut down the reaction before it gets bad. Now he just needs to rest, which won’t be a problem with Benadryl in his system.
-ansel