Appalachian Trail Happiness: New Hampshire

Wilderness is not a luxury, but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread ~ Edward Abbey

So if you’ve been following along you know my hopes for a complete thru-hike have buckled like my bad knees.  However my plan includes at least doing one hike in each state on the trail and the two states I had left in the north were Maine and New Hampshire.  I recently did day hikes in each and this post is about my days in New Hampshire.  I’ll hit the trail next week an finish my hike by hiking Harper’s Ferry to Connecticut. When wrapped up I’ll have over 1200 miles and will have hiked in every state and done the highest peak in 11 out of 14 states including the highest peak on the trail.  Not bad for an old, fat man 🙂

First, the drive in turned out to be a bit more exciting than I had hoped because of a random stop in Bethlehem, NH. A cute little town I hit as I entered the state.

What made the stop so special was a lunch stop at the Cold Mountain Cafe, where I had a really fabulous lunch, the soup, thai noodle salad and pasta dish were amazing.  For the first time in my life I took a picture of my food, the thai salad was absolutely amazing and beautiful.

I stayed outside of Hanover, NH and did a hike from Hanover up through Etna.  It wasn’t a big hike, nor was there much climbing at all.  Basically, just a really pleasant walk in the woods with some great sights and views.  Also passed another cemetery adjacent to the trail, it’s been fascinating how many cemeteries are located along the trail.  Felt great to be back on the trail and to be hiking again, all in all a really wonderful day.  Walking always makes it a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane