The first sentence in THREE HUNDRED ZEROES reads,
“Have you ever dreamt about doing something totally foolish, something so absurd that perhaps you were afraid to tell anyone except possibly those closest to you?”
Taking that giant step and going off and doing that dream can lead to so many new possibilities Having hiked the entire Appalachian Trail I realized that it was time to pay it forward. All along the trail I had so many strangers help me out. They’re called “Trail Angels,” and they help with rides, food, drink and shelter. Yesterday I spent the entire day parked at the Kinsman Notch road crossing waiting for hikers to pass by.

Sadly, the weather didn’t cooperate and was miserable. It rained most of the day, quite heavily at times, and there was a constant fog, or cloud cover and it was cold. That particular road crossing is located at the foot of Mt. Mooselauke, in New Hampshire and to get there the northbound hikers have to cross the summit of Mt. Mooselauke.

I arrived very early in the day and around 9 am a shuttle driver from Manchester Center, VT, showed up with a northbound hiker. The hiker left immediately and the driver, Mark Shaw , (trail name: “Bad Influence”) stuck around a while to chat. He had also brought along some goods to create some “trail magic” and when he realized I was completely set up for the day, he left his items with me to distribute; things such as alcohol for stoves, chocolate chip cookies, toilet paper and batteries for headlights. If you know of hikers looking for a shuttle in the VT/NH area, get in touch with him, he is a class act: trailhead10@gmail.com  (802-477-2048)

Even though I had plenty of goods to make a hearty breakfast, my first hikers didn’t show up until about 3:30 in the afternoon. As I peered out of a rain blurred windshield in the van I made out two blurred forms coming in my direction. It was “Slow Ride,” and “White Chocolate.” They had decided to brave the weather and cross over the mountain top. It was a serious challenge and “Slow Ride” had a bad fall on the way down the mountain and was in some pain, but seemed to be managing it. I made them hamburgers and hot dogs with all the fixin’s and they devoured them.

They stayed for some time eating and warming up. Eventually they packed up and went over to the road to hitch a ride into Lincoln. It was then I realized that I hadn’t offered them  the cookies, so I walked over to the roadside with them and was handing out the cookies when a car stopped and guy jumped out to offer them a ride into town. He too then dove into the cookies. We must have made quite a site on the roadside, me divvying out cookies and everyone munching. Such is the AT.

A few minutes later, after they left, “Littlefoot” came up to my van. He was soaked, cold and elated that he made it over the mountain in such conditions. Again, I made hamburgers, and hot dogs and offered him some corned beef hash and eggs. He ate it all. He had never had corned beef before and really liked it.

While “Littlefoot” was eating, “Ghetto Sheep” arrived. I had seen her come into the parking lot earlier that morning and get out of a car and hit the trail. She is doing a thru-hike, but had been shuttled there by family. She had done a section of the trail and was now back at the trail head to await her shuttle. She too had something to eat. “Littlefoot” was shivering and it was then I recalled I also had hot cocoa, so I brewed up a big pot of hot water and got that into him, along with offering him an old blanket. He warmed up in no time.

This is a common malady on the trail. While hiking the body stays very warm, even with little clothing, but when one stops, the steamy wet body cools quickly and the cold sets in.

“Ghetto Sheep’s” shuttle arrived and she was off. We waited around a while longer, and when it was almost dark, we decided to head down to Lincoln. “Littlefoot” was looking to stay at “Chet’s Hostel” in Lincoln, so I gave him a ride there and met Chet and rode off into the sunset.

In all, it was an absolutely wonderful experience, I’m only disappointed that the weather kept so many from coming over the mountain. I had enough supplies for about 40 hikers. I won’t have time to get back up there and do it again since I have book events pretty much scheduled from now until Labor Day.

Thanks to all the Trail Angels out there, I can really, really appreciate all that you did for me when I was at the mercy of the trail.

Dennis “K1” Blanchard
AT 07/08