We have no doubt that God puts people in our path of life just when we need them.  Trail Angels on the Appalachian Trail throughout New Hampshire have been plentiful and greatly appreciated.

As I write this post, Chief and I are spending the evening at the lovely home of Karen and Jon in Hanover, New Hampshire.  These Trail Angels kindly open their home each year for many hikers by offering food, showers, laundry, a bedroom, and use of the pool.  We called, and with no questions asked Karen came to pick us up on the trail. Taking no money, she only asks that we pay it forward and help someone else in the future.

Yesterday, two Trail Angels that we called the Hot Dog Folks, provided grilled hot dogs, chips, and sodas to thru-hikers where the A.T. crossed Goose Pond Road in southern New Hampshire.  What a treat that was to us, not only for the food, but also a pleasant conversation to hear about their hikes over 47 of the 48 mountains at 4,000′ elevation. The Hot Dog Folks inspired us!

One Trail Angel is a bit of a legend on the A.T.  Bill opens his porch to hikers for conversation and free ice cream. We enjoyed an orangesicle and ate lunch at Bill’s house. We heard that Bill’s son once hiked the A.T. and encouraged his father to take care of the hikers.

A Trail Angel we met on a day hike gave to us Oreo cookies one afternoon.  Her trail name is GoMo (Go Mom) and she thru-hiked the A.T. a couple of years ago.  She told us that her grandchildren now call her by her trail name.

Our other Trail Angel was a young man named Brett who came to the rescue when we were at a grocery store and needed a ride to a hostel about four miles up the road. A local taxi service charged $20 for the trip, so we saw Brett coming out of the grocery and asked if he could give us a ride.  He kindly obliged and went out of his way to help.

Chief and I found the trail in New Hampshire to be quite challenging; however, the residents have been incredibly gracious and kind!

To update you on NOBO (northbound) hikers we knew from the south– In the past few days, we have passed T.M.I., Dancer, Buckle, Rick & Monica (aka Pace & Mack) from Hawaii, Shaggy, Sterling from Georgia, Zen from Brooklyn, Max from Germany (his buddy Kurt went back to Germany after reaching Harpers Ferry), and T-Storm.  All are on schedule to reach the northern terminus of Mt. Katahdin by mid-October. Hikers that flipped up to Katahdin and are SOBO — Walkie Talkie from Virginia is also in Hanover (we see each other every few days) and Young Jeff from Connecticut is in the White Mountains a few days behind us.

A side note — we saw two moose AND a bear yesterday!  Very cool!

Tomorrow marks Day 148 of our adventure and we plan to hike into Vermont. Chief has fallen a few more times and is a bit battered and bruised. Let’s hope he keeps his face and knees off the ground as we hike. We have now completed 1,639 miles on the Appalachian Trail and have 550 miles to get back to Pennsylvania.  Hopefully,  there will continue to be Trail Angels when we need them.  We are…

Truly Blessed, Chief and Toad