After getting back to the hotel at 4:15 am, I "slept in" until 8:30, at which point, I was remarkably awake. I'm sure the nap I took in the car while Rainbow drove part of the way back helped.
I had told Clo Bear yesterday I'd pick her up from the Yellow Deli around 9 am, but with the late night of driving, this wound up being closer to 9:15. So while Papa Monkey and Rainbow woke up and gathered themselves, I drove the few minutes down the street to pick up the newest addition to our slackpacking crew.
After some discussion to go over our plan for the Whites with Clo Bear, we set out for our trailheads; Rainbow to Trescott Rd. in the north, Papa Monkey, Clo Bear, and me to VT 14 in the south.
Clo Bear indicated that (if our plan executed as expected) this would be the longest time she'd ever stayed with one group while on the trail.
On the way to the trailhead, we passed by a Long Trail Brewing brewpub, and made an impromptu detour for lunch and beer. Afterwards, we made a several mile wrong turn that, while delaying us a bit, did give us some very nice scenic views of Vermont’s mountainsides. This led to us getting a very late start on the trail (we got to the trailhead after 2 pm!), and at Papa Monkey's suggestion, we skipped the 1.5 miles between VT 14 and Podunk Rd. so Rainbow wouldn't have to wait quite as long for us. (Planning on staying at the Hart Family's place tonight, located at VT 14, will make it easy to pick up that section pretty quickly tomorrow morning.)
About seven miles into the day (and very conveniently, shortly after I slipped on a rock crossing a stream and really wanting to stop and take a break just for that), the trail emerged from the woods and began down a road (starting a nice three mile long section of road walk). One of the houses had a cooler of trail magic by the street, all but empty now, but we stopped there anyway to sit down and have a snack. On the cooler was a request for "strong" hikers to help move a couch; Clo Bear called the number provided, only to find that help was no longer necessary. (And also that the house's residents were actually on vacation!)
While we were waiting there, the person who put the trail magic there came to pick it up, and we briefly chatted with them, and another local resident who passed by on a jog up the street, before continuing on.
At 5:30, we passed the Vermont - New Hampshire border, on a bridge crossing the Connecticut River. This makes New Hampshire now the second state border I've crossed without completing the entirety of the earlier state.
Just inside the New Hampshire border is Hanover, also the home of Dartmouth College. Clo Bear and I stopped and chatted for a while with a local while we were trying to figure out exactly where the trail went, and where Rumonto's (a pizza place that offers hikers a free slice of pizza when they pass through) was. We lingered at Rumonto's perhaps a bit longer than we should have, given we still had four more miles to hike today. (Sometime during our delay chatting with the local or at the pizza place, Papa Monkey passed us.)
Clo Bear and I reached to the trailhead at 8:10 (shortly after sunset), where Papa Monkey was waiting, and it was almost 9 pm before we got back to the Hart Family's place. Because of the lateness of the day, I wound up skipping dinner, instead having pop tarts, and a brownie that Linda Hart made. (The pizza slice in Hanover probably helped, too.)
Papa Monkey and Rainbow slept in the bunkhouse. Clo Bear and I slept on the porch since it was way too crowded in the bunkhouse; she took the couch, I took a spot on the floor.