The Mary Badass

On Sunday June 5, 2022 Dot and I set out on day 2 of my river adventure. After a chilly night I fired up my small camp stove. I cooked eggs and sausage and served Dot breakfast in “bed.” We then packed up our wet tents and headed out for Second Connecticut Lake. This 1102…

I drove up to the NH/Canadian border with my friend Dot. From there we hiked the 3/4 mile hike up (yes, up) to the source of the Connecticut River. This mighty river, the longest in New England, begins as a puddle and then a small stream. Beavers have built a masterwork of engineering at one…

It started out as a vague idea. As I was finishing up my cross country ski of the entire Catamount Trail (https://catamounttrail.org/) which runs the length of Vermont and is the longest cross country ski trail in the country, I was wondering what I could do next. For a number of reasons I have to…

I am writing this to let people who followed me on my CDT hike and on my ebike ride around Vermont know that I am working on getting up and running on my own site. To those who don’t know me I want to introduce myself. I am a soon to be 65 year old…

The one final town of Royalton, then back home to Bethel. 12 miles Total miles on the trip 1651 All 251 cities and towns in Vermont I was able to take some time on the morning of Day 32 to stretch my aching body and visit with my Barnard hosts. I had never met Peter…

Sharon, Pomfret, Woodstock, Bridgewater, Plymouth, and Barnard. 53 Miles Total to Date: 1639 miles and 250 of 251 cities and towns in Vermont. I had a nice evening visiting longtime friends. One is 97 years old and still shovels the snow out of her driveway and mows her lawn. The other is in her eighties…

Ludlow, Cavendish, Weathersfield, Reading, West Windsor, Windsor, Hartland, Hartford, and Norwich Miles: 55 Total to Date: 244 cities and towns and 1,586 miles. Last night I stayed with Brooke (“B”) Decker, who is the state’s bee inspector. We shared a lovely evening talking about hiking, biking, and bees. She had seen me weeks ago when…

Windham, Athens, Grafton, Rockingham, Westminster, Springfield, Baltimore, Chester and Andover Miles: 67. I lost track of the dirt/paved ration. Fifty percent up and 50 percent down! Total to Date: 235 towns and 1,531 miles. It seems that more happened today than I can fully write about in this blog. Some will have to wait for…

Dummerston, Putney, Brookline, Newfane, Dover, Stratton, Wardsboro, Jamaica and Townshend Miles: 57, at least half on dirt Total to Date: 226 towns and 1,464 miles. I was lucky to have my friends Chim and Madeline once again offer to carry my gear for me. They were enroute from Mass to Maine and made a winding…

Marlboro, Whitingham, Halifax, Guilford, Vernon, and Brattleboro 38 miles, all but about 9 on dirt Total to Date: 217 towns and 1,407 miles. After my wet, cold day I spent a warm night in a quaint inn that my good friend Karen Deets arranged for me. What a relief not to be camping in that…