Happy Hill Shelter
September 2, 2006 - Etna road camp to Happy Hill Cabin
I was motivated to get into Hanover to get a shower and groceries! I left the camp before it was even light to get a
good head start. It was farther down the trail than I thought last night. I made it to hanover by 9:30 a.m. and went
first to the post office to get my mail drop. I tried to get money with my debit card at the post office but they said they
did not have enough. I was able to get a large quantity of food at the hiker box at the post office though. I walked
over to the Episcopal Church and found out they stopped taking hikers in on September 1st, yesterday! Well no
shower. No money. I hiked over to the D.O.C.headquarters and did some emails and I left town without spending a
dime! Hanover is a big town and they need a permanent hiker hostel here somewhere. Motels are way over 100
dollars and for most hikers that is not an option. I had to move on so I hiked a long way and got to happy Hill Cabin
late in the day. I knew the rain was coming and didn’t want to camp out in it. It will rain all day tomorrow and I will stay
here two nights. The water at this shelter is fine but you have to hunt for it. On the way hunting for it you may see if
you look for it a memorial for a thru-hiking dog on a rock fence near the water source. Many miss these little things. I
look for them! This cabin has everything but a door. It is well built and pretty with a tile shelter sign. D.O.C. does a
fine job with the trail and the shelters in their area. Thank you D.O.C.! I spent the night with one other hiker headed
south which I met in town on the way out. We had a nice fire here on a cool wet evening. There was another couple
which pitched a tent nearby. They gave me a deck of cards which I carried to Dalton Mass.
September 3, 2006 - Happy Hill Cabin
I slept late with the rain coming down. The wind blew hard and I just sat inside and laughed at it. I had dried eggs
and coffee for breakfast. I repacked my food and got rid of unwanted paper and extra old baggies that I have been
carrying. The gorp I picked up at the post office equaled one gallon. I must have had 7 pounds of the stuff. It was
good quality stuff too. I will hunker down here today and rest and stay dry. We are getting some tropical leftovers
here today and it would be stupid to be out in the wind and the rain. I played many games of solitaire today to pass
the time. I am glad I stayed. One hiker stopped by here and talked to me for a while. He did cartoons and wanted to
do one on me when I told him I am all about the smiles and not about the miles. He liked that saying! I walked around
a bit when the rain let up from time to time and now the rain is back. I have looked at the map profile to Sherburne
pass and the elevations aren’t bad but I hear the little ups and downs are deceiving on the hiker through here. I will
cross Podunk road tomorrow. I have 172 more miles to go. I am a 2000 miler here for the second time as of tonight.
I was motivated to get into Hanover to get a shower and groceries! I left the camp before it was even light to get a
good head start. It was farther down the trail than I thought last night. I made it to hanover by 9:30 a.m. and went
first to the post office to get my mail drop. I tried to get money with my debit card at the post office but they said they
did not have enough. I was able to get a large quantity of food at the hiker box at the post office though. I walked
over to the Episcopal Church and found out they stopped taking hikers in on September 1st, yesterday! Well no
shower. No money. I hiked over to the D.O.C.headquarters and did some emails and I left town without spending a
dime! Hanover is a big town and they need a permanent hiker hostel here somewhere. Motels are way over 100
dollars and for most hikers that is not an option. I had to move on so I hiked a long way and got to happy Hill Cabin
late in the day. I knew the rain was coming and didn’t want to camp out in it. It will rain all day tomorrow and I will stay
here two nights. The water at this shelter is fine but you have to hunt for it. On the way hunting for it you may see if
you look for it a memorial for a thru-hiking dog on a rock fence near the water source. Many miss these little things. I
look for them! This cabin has everything but a door. It is well built and pretty with a tile shelter sign. D.O.C. does a
fine job with the trail and the shelters in their area. Thank you D.O.C.! I spent the night with one other hiker headed
south which I met in town on the way out. We had a nice fire here on a cool wet evening. There was another couple
which pitched a tent nearby. They gave me a deck of cards which I carried to Dalton Mass.
September 3, 2006 - Happy Hill Cabin
I slept late with the rain coming down. The wind blew hard and I just sat inside and laughed at it. I had dried eggs
and coffee for breakfast. I repacked my food and got rid of unwanted paper and extra old baggies that I have been
carrying. The gorp I picked up at the post office equaled one gallon. I must have had 7 pounds of the stuff. It was
good quality stuff too. I will hunker down here today and rest and stay dry. We are getting some tropical leftovers
here today and it would be stupid to be out in the wind and the rain. I played many games of solitaire today to pass
the time. I am glad I stayed. One hiker stopped by here and talked to me for a while. He did cartoons and wanted to
do one on me when I told him I am all about the smiles and not about the miles. He liked that saying! I walked around
a bit when the rain let up from time to time and now the rain is back. I have looked at the map profile to Sherburne
pass and the elevations aren’t bad but I hear the little ups and downs are deceiving on the hiker through here. I will
cross Podunk road tomorrow. I have 172 more miles to go. I am a 2000 miler here for the second time as of tonight.
I love trail Magic
September 4, 2006 - Happy Hill Cabin to Thistle Hill Shelter
It rained all night and stopped at daybreak. I left the cabin at 7:00 a.m. I stopped after one hour and washed out a
shirt and put it back on wet! It soon warmed up. The trail today was up and down but not too steep. It was a pretty
woods walk with lots of open fields and many blackberries and a few raspberries, also some apple trees. I ate a lot of
all of them. I got to the shelter at 2:30 p.m. and not too tired. There were some people here having a picnic and they
apologized to me for taking over the shelter. I told them they were very welcome here and take their time with their
picnic. I went and got water and they gave me a hot dog when I came back. I thanked them more than once for it!
They had a fire going which was great because I am running low on fuel. They had gathered up a lot of wood too.
Four more other men came in and stayed at the shelter this night. They weren’t too experienced in trail etiquette
either. I had a noodle dish and some coffee for dinner. It is cool here tonight but the bugs are around too in low
numbers. I will smoke my pipe and run them off. Several thru-hikers came in late and took the place over! I did not
sleep well with all in the shelter.
September 5, 2006 - Thistle hill Shelter to Wintturi Mauri Shelter
I was up at 6 a.m. Many others got up soon there after. I was gone by 6:45 a.m. and headed down to the Gap after
crossing through a newly cut hay field which made me sneeze! When I got to a locked gate at the road I saw a note
to someone. That someone was me! The people from last night had left me an oatmeal cake. It must have weighed
3 pounds and I ate the whole thing by noon! At noon I discovered I had left one of my food bags at the shelter. I
could get by without the food but my diabetic meds were in the bag! I figured I could get by without it so I did not go
back. I was bummed when I realized I did not have my candy bars! It always seems to happen when you get a lot of
people in a shelter you tend to leave things! I had eggs and hamburger for dinner and a chicken soup too. I tried to
hitch at road V.T.12 but could not get a ride. I went on after no cars were coming by. I am at Wintturi Shelter tonight.
I did almost 12 miles today and am very tired. There were lots of puds today. I pushed to here because there was no
water on the trail till I got here. Ten minutes after I got here it started to rain.The Lipton chicken soup isn’t bad. It
would be good with ramin noodles to but I can’t spare one tonight. The eggs were fine with chicken soup and coffee.
I can munch on gorp if I get hungry later. I still have 3 pounds of the stuff. The bugs are bad here tonight. I may
have to hang my hammock if they persist.
September 6, 2006 - Wintturi Shelter to Stony Brook Shelter
I slept well last night and was here alone. I left the shelter before 7 a.m. and headed to the next shelter 10 miles
away. I hiked all day up and down in a yo yo fashion. It was not as bad as yesterday though. I got to Stony Brook
Shelter at 3:30 p.m. I soaked my feet in the creek here and they feel much better now. There were two hikers taking
a break when I got here. I believe I have met one of them but he did not think so. I found some whisky and olive oil
left here by others. I got a nice fire going here tonight on a cool evening. The bugs are still bad though. I drank the
booze and it gave me a good buzz! I had broccoli soup with hamburger for dinner and it was very good. I read the
register here and found many names I recognize form this year and last year. Some of the names were A-Train,
Gunner, Bubble Toes, Chainsaw, Super Feet, Kite, and Spider. That is so neat to see someone you camped or
hiked with. I met Sam I Am recently and he was here last September!
It rained all night and stopped at daybreak. I left the cabin at 7:00 a.m. I stopped after one hour and washed out a
shirt and put it back on wet! It soon warmed up. The trail today was up and down but not too steep. It was a pretty
woods walk with lots of open fields and many blackberries and a few raspberries, also some apple trees. I ate a lot of
all of them. I got to the shelter at 2:30 p.m. and not too tired. There were some people here having a picnic and they
apologized to me for taking over the shelter. I told them they were very welcome here and take their time with their
picnic. I went and got water and they gave me a hot dog when I came back. I thanked them more than once for it!
They had a fire going which was great because I am running low on fuel. They had gathered up a lot of wood too.
Four more other men came in and stayed at the shelter this night. They weren’t too experienced in trail etiquette
either. I had a noodle dish and some coffee for dinner. It is cool here tonight but the bugs are around too in low
numbers. I will smoke my pipe and run them off. Several thru-hikers came in late and took the place over! I did not
sleep well with all in the shelter.
September 5, 2006 - Thistle hill Shelter to Wintturi Mauri Shelter
I was up at 6 a.m. Many others got up soon there after. I was gone by 6:45 a.m. and headed down to the Gap after
crossing through a newly cut hay field which made me sneeze! When I got to a locked gate at the road I saw a note
to someone. That someone was me! The people from last night had left me an oatmeal cake. It must have weighed
3 pounds and I ate the whole thing by noon! At noon I discovered I had left one of my food bags at the shelter. I
could get by without the food but my diabetic meds were in the bag! I figured I could get by without it so I did not go
back. I was bummed when I realized I did not have my candy bars! It always seems to happen when you get a lot of
people in a shelter you tend to leave things! I had eggs and hamburger for dinner and a chicken soup too. I tried to
hitch at road V.T.12 but could not get a ride. I went on after no cars were coming by. I am at Wintturi Shelter tonight.
I did almost 12 miles today and am very tired. There were lots of puds today. I pushed to here because there was no
water on the trail till I got here. Ten minutes after I got here it started to rain.The Lipton chicken soup isn’t bad. It
would be good with ramin noodles to but I can’t spare one tonight. The eggs were fine with chicken soup and coffee.
I can munch on gorp if I get hungry later. I still have 3 pounds of the stuff. The bugs are bad here tonight. I may
have to hang my hammock if they persist.
September 6, 2006 - Wintturi Shelter to Stony Brook Shelter
I slept well last night and was here alone. I left the shelter before 7 a.m. and headed to the next shelter 10 miles
away. I hiked all day up and down in a yo yo fashion. It was not as bad as yesterday though. I got to Stony Brook
Shelter at 3:30 p.m. I soaked my feet in the creek here and they feel much better now. There were two hikers taking
a break when I got here. I believe I have met one of them but he did not think so. I found some whisky and olive oil
left here by others. I got a nice fire going here tonight on a cool evening. The bugs are still bad though. I drank the
booze and it gave me a good buzz! I had broccoli soup with hamburger for dinner and it was very good. I read the
register here and found many names I recognize form this year and last year. Some of the names were A-Train,
Gunner, Bubble Toes, Chainsaw, Super Feet, Kite, and Spider. That is so neat to see someone you camped or
hiked with. I met Sam I Am recently and he was here last September!
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