Day: 107
Date: Wednesday, 09 August 2023
Start: Bromley Shelter (AT Mile 1661.0)
Finish: Little Rock Pond (AT Mile 1679.3)
Daily Kilometres: 30.0 (Ascent 3031', Descent 3816')
GPX Track: Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos
Total Kilometres: 2763.0
Weather: Foggy and overcast early, then mild, mostly sunny and breezy.
Accommodation: Tent
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Pop tarts
Lunch: Trail mix
Dinner: Rehydrated meals
Aches: Dave - the usual niggles; Julie - nothing reported.
Highlight: We thought the highlight of the day might be walking the last couple of miles on good mudless trail as we followed a well-used trail up from a forest parking area to the popular Little Rock Pond where we planned to camp. Alas, after one mile the trail reverted to the standard rocky, bouldery and boggy trail.
Lowlight: None really.
Pictures: Click here
Map and Position: Click here for Google Map
Journal:
It rained a lot overnight and was still raining when we got up at 5:30am, but had stopped by the time we left at about 6:45am to resume our ascent of Bromley Mountain (3263'). After climbing through the dripping wet mossy conifer forest for half an hour, we emerged onto a grassy ski run for the last few hundred metres of the ascent.
The summit was fogged in so there were no views, just the ghostly outline of the chairlift top station and some other snow-related equipment. We stopped in at the ski patrol cabin, which is left open for hikers to use and, as we suspected when we decided not to come here last night, it was full of hikers. They had a drier going which warmed the cabin and there were multiple power outlets, a place to discard trash, and an outside toilet - meeting almost all of the average thru-hiker needs. We said hello, dumped our trash, and continued hiking.
The trail was rocky and boggy as we have come to expect in Vermont, and progress was slow, though the fog did gradually clear and the sun emerged.
Our route for the day also took us over Styles Peak and Baker Peak, both of which offered some views, through several defined wilderness areas, past beautiful Griffith Lake, and next to many roaring streams.
The going was arduous in many places and the mud and water on the trail never-ending. It was one of those days where Dave wished he was home with the creature comforts instead of facing another six weeks of this.
Eventually, we reached picturesque Little Rock Pond around 6:30pm and found a campsite on our own with a picnic table. It seemed ideal until, just as we were going to bed, two young hikers turned up and asked to put their tent right next to ours. We told them about another site a hundred metres away, but they could not find it in the dark. Hope they like early risers!
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