The 5th of July.

So Jeff at the Green Mountain House will give a ride to either town or to the trailhead. Gear went to the trail, but I needed resupply so I opted for town. But first, I had a great breakfast. I had a bowl of Frosted Flakes, then finished off my pint of Ben and Jerry's, and then ate the spinakopita from last night's dinner, and then went to town. Ice cream for breakfast. I really hope I can keep this tradition when I get back to reality. 

Really liked Manchester Center, though I think a lot of my appreciation came from the beautiful weather. I resupplied on food, then checked out the outfitters. It was an EMS. I was wanting some new rain gear, if I could find something cheap or relatively so. No luck though. So I bought some Seamgrip to try and fix my poncho. As I was leaving there, I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize. "Is this Midnight Sparkle?" "Yeah.." "It's Backpack! I heard you were in Manchester! So am I." So that was awesome. He was going by Coconut now, but he and Spice Kit (formerly Boots) were zeroing in town. 

Unfortunately Spice Kit was under the weather, which was why they were staying in town, so Coconut came out to meet me for lunch alone. He looked great. Like, lost 80 pounds great, which he had. I didn't think he'd had that much excess on him, but he was definitely skinny now. We talked for quite a while, swapping stories and exchanging info about people we knew. I was very tempted to stay in town another night to hang out with them. But I figured I needed to move on. 

As I was leaving, I heard some extremely loud music, which piqued my interest. There was apparently a new building with stores trying to draw attention. It worked on me. They had a mime! I had to get a picture. And then I figured I'd check out the store. Bought an inexpensive rain jacket. So that was exciting. 

Then on my way out of town, I came across a Ben and Jerry's. An actual Ben and Jerry's ice cream stand. Never seen one before, so I had to stop. I mean, I would have stopped no matter what type of ice cream it was. Of course I got a milkshake. So wonderful. Someone (I think it was Gear) said the other day, "When people ask me what I gained from the trail, I'll tell them 'diabetes.'"

Then I hitch hiked out. Got a pretty quick ride from a lady who told me I was the first thru-hiker she'd seen this year. She knew where the trailhead was, which was good because I didn't have a clue. 

The hike today was very lovely. Went up to a ski lift. Several people I know had slept on the gondola benches, swinging in the breeze. I thought that sounded great, but I needed to cover more miles. So I pushed on. Eventually I hit the top of Baker's Peak, right as it was starting to get dark. So I cowboy camped on the peak, in a little wooded section out of the wind. Pretty great day. 

Coconut! Been trying to catch this guy for months. 

The mime! Who sees a mime while hiking the trail? This guy. 

Windy up by the ski lift. 

Bakers Peak at dusk.