Date: 2002-10-16
From: Big Branch Shelter, VT

To: Bromley Mountain, VT
Miles today: 13.5

For the last few days the weatherman on my portable radio has been saying the great weather would be forced out by an early season ¢Northeaster¢. A northeaster is usually a winter storm that brings blizzard conditions and lots of snow and wind. If it comes early in the season or when temperatures are above freezing it brings wind and rain. This storm was big enough the weatherman had been tracking it very closely and had rather exact prediction about when it would reach Vermont. Vermont Public Radio was a big help in understanding just what this storm was doing and when. Otter and I knew the storm was expected to reach us about mid morning so we were up very early and hiking just as it was getting light out. It wasn¢t raining but there was an eerie calm to the air. I stopped at the site of the soon to be rebuilt Lost Pond Shelter. The original wood frame structure burned last November and according to my last GMC bulletin the GMC will rebuild in just a few days. A foundation of concrete pillars and a beam frame has been built so far. The rain started as I reached Baker Peak and it steadily got wetter and windier as I hiked. At the Peru Peak Shelter Otter and I both stopped for lunch and found the vintage 30¢s log shelter a fine place to get out of the weather. Otter decided he would call it a day and wait out the storm here. I get a funny rush out of bad weather and figured as long as the sky wasn¢t throwing lightning at me I would enjoy myself and hike the rest of the day. It was only 11am. The hike over Peru Peak and Styles Peak went by fine. The rain was steady and the wind was only gusting occasionally. My single concern was water. I wanted to spend the night on the summit of Bromley Mountain in the ski area warming hut but there is no water source up there. I knew that with all this rain I might find plenty of water in puddles and even off the roof but even with this much rain I won¢t risk going to a ¢dry¢ summit without water. The pump at Mad Tom Notch has always worked for me but I¢d heard it wasn¢t this year. That rumor was true; it wouldn¢t give up as much as a teaspoon. So I investigated the roadside and found plenty of water only 200 feet downhill from the notch flowing through normally dry culverts. So I had water now but I had to hump it 2.5 miles uphill to Bromley. Not too far but when you have about 12 pounds of water to carry by hand it seems like a big deal. I set out in the wind and rain for the summit carrying a 6-liter water bag, alternating hands every five to ten minutes. The weather was now getting harsher. By the time I entered the clearing at the top of Bromely it was quite a rush. I was very glad to have a four-sided building with windows and doors to sleep in tonight. It has ended up not being all that cozy. It is very cold, I¢ve stayed in my sleeping bag most of the afternoon and dark has come early to this cloudy summit, making it gloomy. The wind has put on a great show. Behind the building in the woods there are unused pieces of metal roofing and when the wind bashes them about it gets your attention. Trips to the privy have been my only adventures and I¢m bored. I¢ve read the register and I don¢t have a book. I will be glad when morning comes. Oh yes, plenty of water here today, but I¢m glad I didn¢t have to sit outside to gather it in this weather.