The True Captain of the Appalachian Trail
While hiking the Appalachian trail a lot of hikers say their "faith in humanity has been restored" I am a hiker who has most certainly said just that. I have met some of the kindest, most tender hearted, generous, and loving people out there.
Flashback to July 3 (Day 98 on the trail)
Toni and Warren Thayer are perfect examples. They live just over the way of Hanover, NH in Vermont. They are on a list of "Trail Angels" who host hikers in their homes. Warren picked us up and drove us to his home. I got to cuddle with their adorable pup, Nellie, while we were in the car (you might see a trend in this post). I was elated to give a dog some love.
Warren and Toni put out a spread of delicious cheeses and crackers and we engaged in a lovely conversation while watching the sunset. It was a rather romantic view. A rainbow colored hot air balloon floated past while the sun was setting. The skies were rich colors of reds, pinks, and blues and everything was perfect. The porch was something out of a fairytale.
Toni is a nurse so I instantly vibed with her and had the utmost respect for her. She works in hospice and is a special woman. She got home from an exhausting rock climbing trip in the White Mountains. Yes, I said ROCK climbing trip! She didn't bat an eye with 4 hikers in her lovely home. She popped a bottle of champagne to celebrate our recently passed wedding anniversary. Their neighbor came out and played guitar. He played some James Taylor which is an artist I hold very near and dear to my heart.
Moments like this are incredible and unforgettable. People, opening up their hearts and homes to strangers, feeding us and nurturing us. Giving us words of wisdom and encouragement and giving us praise for embarking on this journey of a lifetime. I wanted to talk about Toni and Warren because I had a similar experience at the Captain’s house.
We split up from Whiskers at the beginning of Maine and it was hard. We wanted to stay with him because he is like our brother, but he had a schedule to keep to meet his girlfriend Stacey and his parents. I didn't think I could do 15 mile days through Maine, and I was right. This was especially true for the first 100 miles of Maine. We have talked to Whiskers a lot since splitting and hope to meet up south on our flip flop. We call each other to check up and it's nice to hear his wholesome southern accent. My husband and I both miss him everyday, he is our family.
Anyway, Whiskers called us and told us about Tom. He told us to call him when we got to a certain road crossing and Tom could potentially pick us up and host us in his home. Whiskers praised him and said he was a one of a kindest men in the world. We took Whiskers up on his advice and I am forever grateful to Whiskers for the connection to Tom.
August 12-August 14 (Day 138-140)
Tom strolled up in his luxury Lincoln and let us soaking wet hikers sit on his car seats without changing. I was going to try to wipe myself down with a small microfiber towel and change into dry clothes in the woods, but Tom told us not to worry about it! We loaded up the car and were about to take off when Tom reversed and gave a fellow thru hiker named Junco a Powerade before we zoomed off to the home of the Captain.
I keep calling Tom the Captain because he was a captain in the Coastguard. I believe, He worked for the CoastGuard for over 30 years. He is a true gentleman. I felt honored to be in the presence of a true hero and a little nervous to be honest. This man has saved lives. He was responsible for whole crews. He was in charge of big drug raids. It sounds like he had a high stress job. The nervousness quickly fell away before we even got a mile down the road. I cuddled in the front seat with Max, Tom's best friend. A lovable puppy, age about 7, 8, or 9. Tom isn't sure because he rescued him.
Tom laid the rules down quickly for us. The rules made all of us chuckle.
- Can’t stay more than 30 days
- Not allowed to drink his scotch.
He asked that we please get showers when we got to his home and wash our clothes. I think every hiker wants to hear that . Can you please take a hot shower, wash the filth off yourself, and wash your stinky clothes? Ummm, YESSSS PLEASE PLEASE!
When we had all washed behind our ears, he served us cheeseburgers and potato salad. It was good. Really good. We sat around and I annoyed Tom for a few hours. I couldn't help myself. I can be really annoying sometimes and I know it. I pretty much followed him around his house asking questions and getting to know him. I was wearing a pair of toms PJs, one of his undershirts and one of his sweaters. I know they were all his personal clothes because none of the hiker clothes fit me! I've lost close to 65 pounds and I am still too chunky for hiker clothes boxes :) this is how generous this man is. We are sitting in his house, wearing his clothes with full bellies from the meal he just fed us.
I felt like Goldilocks when I woke up from a nap in one of Tom's beds a little later. I was surprised I fell asleep. I was reading an old National Geographic and relaxing next to Tom's cat, Baby. When she started purring it put me right to sleep. I'm not a cat person, but she reminded me of our family cat, Kitty Witty Head, who recently had to be put down so it was comforting.
We had an incredible dinner of steak, corn on the cob, a pasta with pesto sauce, broccoli with a homemade cheese sauce, and a salad of fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil. Tom let me help him in the kitchen and I was eager and excited to help. I kept joking that the salad was one of the best things on the table because I made it. Haha.
After dinner we rubbed our full bellies and got ready for bed. I went to bed with my heart happy and a smile literally on my face. How did we get so lucky to meet such a sweet man?
We got up very early the next morning because Tom was slack packing us over the Bigelows Range. Tom was already up making us breakfast. We had homemade French toast, eggs, sausage, homestyle potatoes, muffins, and yogurt (and I'm probably forgetting something!) I was nervous about hiking the Bigelows. Tom said he would be on the other side of the range at 5pm to pick us up. I was super nervous I wouldn't get there in time and told Tom. He said, “Don't hurry. Don't hurt yourself, I'll be there at five, waiting". He told us to call when we got on Avery Peak and we did. He told us we were making good time. We had around four hours to do eight miles. I was asking Robby every 20 minutes, "What time is it?" I didn't want Tom to have to wait for us. I fell once coming down the mountain. I couldn't have been walking any slower either. The rock face was slippery and I hit my arm and fell hard coming down. Smudgy Cheeks asked if I was ok and we all proceeded down the mountain slipping and sliding. It rained on and off all day on the mountains and it was cold. Very cold. At one point I thought I might need to take a side trail down off the mountain because I was scared I might get hypothermic. Robby said to walk faster and that seemed to work.
We met Tom at his car, right after five (yayyyy!) He had warm fleeces, sandwiches, watermelon and Gatorades. I was so happy to see him and Max (puppy) I could have cried. I wanted to hug them and I think I refrained, but I'm not sure. Junco happened to be at the road crossing when I got there and we convinced him to come back to Tom's for dinner and a warm dry bed. It wasn't too hard. I snuggled Max the whole 40 minute ride home and was happier than a dog with 2 peters.
Dinner after our slack packing event was an experience and memory I will never forget. Tom fed us lobster. Maine lobster. Fresh and delicious. What was better than eating it was learning how to eat it! Tom was our teacher and walked us through each step. It was so neat. A few times he actually had to take my lobster and show me what to do. We also had baked chicken, asparagus, baked potatoes smothered with butter and sour cream, and corn on the cob. It was so nice sitting around the table with Tom, Junco and my family. We had great conversation, laughed a lot and smiled a whole lot.
The next day Juncos friends were coming to visit. It was lovely. We had another incredible breakfast and Juncos friends came for lunch. They were coming to Maine from Vermont to visit their son who is a white water rafting instructor. We had burgers and hotdogs and it was sooo good.
We enjoyed the rest of the day taking a zero and watched the Olympics while enjoying each others company. Tom and I went for a short walk down the road with Max and he showed me Katahdin. I almost cried, seeing the last mountain we will climb in Maine. It symbolizes the end of a journey for so many hikers. I feel blessed to be here in Maine and enjoying it rather than thinking about how our journey is almost over. I've met so many hikers who are just ready for their hike to be over. I’m not saying they aren't enjoying themselves, I just hope when I get to Springer Mountain I am still enjoying it and don't want it to end. To me, that means we did our hike right. I always joke and say "We aren't serious thru-hikers". What I truly mean is we take our time. The miles aren't the most important thing. The experiences are the most important part of this journey. Really living outside and relishing those moments, but also enjoying our time off trail, in new towns with people we wouldn't meet any other way.
After that Tom hopped on his ATV and cruised down the road to visit friends. When he got back he asked us if we wanted to cruise around on some of the ATV trails around and went to get pizza. Sprout and Smudgy Cheeks went out first and then I jumped on the back with Sprout and giggled like a schoolgirl for most of the ride. When we got back I was surprised to see the neighbors over for dinner. I was super excited to meet Sally and Neil and their pup Abby. Tom spoke highly of them and it was a joy to sit and chat with them.
Side note about the pizza. Tom asked us to pick any pizza we wanted for dinner. I said let's get Taco pizza! But then I realized there was olives on it. I said, "Can we get half with no olives" Tom rolled his eyes at me so I said, "Ok, how about a quarter with no olives" only joking. Tom ordered the pizza with a quarter no olives! Robby said "you made that man order a pizza with a quarter no olives" I laughed and said I was joking. But tom is just that sort of host. So gracious and wonderful.
Sally and Neil had brought icecream so we had dessert after dinner. We watched more Olympics after dinner and I realized Tom went down to the basement to watch what he wanted on TV, on a smaller TV. He is just such a nice person and gem. I didn't want to go to sleep because I knew we had to leave in the morning. If I could have, I would have used my 30 days all in one shot!
In the morning I was sad, but trying not to show it. I stalled as long as we could but Tom had an appointment so we had to get back on trail. I hugged Max the whole way back to the trail. I hugged Tom and made him take a photo with me. As I walked into the woods, I started to cry. I am an emotional person and I felt so blessed to have just spent time with this incredible man. I stopped the tears and then at the next road crossing Tom was there! Just to say bye again! I was so happy. I hugged him again and hoped he would just leave his car and come hike the trail with us.
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