Day 119 Happy Hill shelter to Norwich

Today's miles 4.4.  AT miles 1741.7

We decided to take another Nero day today in Norwich.  We had a lazy start.  It rained quite a bit during the night which we weren't expecting.  We weren't in a hurry so gave the tent chance to dry off a bit.  It was 9:45 by the time we hit the trail.  We walked just over three miles, mainly downhill through the woods and then a mile by road.  Once we hit the road we were rewarded with two lots of trail magic outside peoples houses.  The first there was no name but we took a can of coke to share between us and a granola bar.  The second just a few doors down was outside the home of a couple of section hikers, Short n Sweet and Grey Beard.  We signed their trail register and took a couple of pieces of homemade cake. What a great start to the day.

On arriving in Norwich we called in at the Post Office.  We'd sorted out a few more bits that we didn't need or could do without for the next month, plus Nigel's uncomfortable new New Balance trail shoes and posted them on in a bounce box.  The trail is only going to get tougher over the next couple of weeks so any excess weight we can get rid of will help.  We then checked in at The Norwich Inn, a lovely hotel right in the centre of this pretty small town and very reasonably priced with a hiker discount. We could have stayed in Hanover a much bigger trail town just a mile and a half away which we will walk through tomorrow anyway, but the only affordable accommodation there was out of town meaning a bus journey.  We like everything close by in walking distance, makes life easier.  After showering and laundry (I had to hand wash there was no laundry facilities - it was only basically what we were wearing) we had a lovely lunch in the hotels bar, Jasper Murdocks Alehouse.  Right next door to the hotel was Dan and Whit's General Store.  A fantastic Aladdin's cave of a grocery/hardware shop, their motto, 'if they don't have it, you don't need it'!  We got everything we needed.

Back at the hotel it was afternoon snooze time again. We were both tired it had been a tough long couple of days since our last Nero.  We're going to cut down our daily mileage for the next couple of weeks, the terrain is getting tougher.  We hit the White Mountains in three days time where we know we won't be able to cover so many miles a day.  Many people say our pace will slow down to half of what we'd normally do.  Another reason we've decided not to push too hard is we want to enjoy the White Mountains, and the remainder of the trail, rather than it feel like a slog.  We are now four fifths of the way, we only have one month left to go until we finish. It doesn't get any easier.   The youngsters on the trail seem to get fitter and faster, they're in their prime fitness years I suppose.  We are fitter but don't get any faster - must be an age thing!