Date: 2018-07-10
From: Bromley Mountain

To: Big Branch River Campsite
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: clear sky

I slept pretty well on my shelf in the pantry. I could see the stars outside the window I was sleeping next to, and caught a glimpse of the sunrise in the morning. The wind blew strong all night, but was much calmer in the morning. Puddles didn¢t sleep well, as she was not feeling well when she went to bed. She felt better this morning, hopefully it holds out.I was eating breakfast as Grumpy was getting ready to leave. He was planning on going 17 miles. He invited Thumper to hike with him. She was thinking about doing higher mileage, but wasn¢t sure about doing 17. She left before Grumpy did. Puddles closed the windows to the hut and left. I was about 10 minutes behind her and ran into Joe, who was hiking the Long Trail. The Long Trail is a 272 mile trail established in 1910 that runs from the Massachusetts-Vermont state line to Canada, crossing Vermont¢s highest peaks. It is the oldest long distance hiking trail in the US, and the inspiration for the Appalachian Trail. The two trails run congruently for 100 miles in the southern third of the state. Joe and I chatted for a few minutes and I left. It was a beautiful morning as I descended from Bromley Mountain. The trail wasn¢t as muddy as it has been. Along the way, a bird flew out in front of me, coming from what appeared to be a hole in the ground. Upon closer inspection, I saw a nest with eggs, on the ground, partially hidden by a moss covered rock, overhanging the trail. The bird flew into a nearby tree and starting scolding me for being to close to its nest. It appeared to be a black-eyed Junco. I took a few pictures and moved on. I haven¢t been seeing many gray squirrels in Vermont. In the states prior, there have been hundreds of them. I¢ve become accustomed to hearing them dashing through them leaves. There are many more evergreens in this area, so I suspect there isn¢t a food source as readily available, such as acorns. I¢ve really enjoyed the strong balsam fragrance from the evergreens.I passed over Styles Peak and took a couple of quick photos and headed for Griffith Lake, where I could hear Puddles scream through the trees as she jumped in the lake. I made my way through the woods and also jumped in, enjoying the cool refreshing feeling, after hiking in the warmth of the day. After cooling off, I headed for Baker¢s Peak which had beautiful, angled slabs of rock to walk up. I actually enjoyed walking up the rock formations, and had to keep stopping to look back at the views. I spent some time at the top, enjoying the views before moving on. Puddles was ahead of me on the trail, and as I hiked, I heard thunder in the distance. I had a signal on my phone and saw there were severe storm warnings with possible pea size hail. I sent a text to Puddles about the warning, and picked up my pace significantly, getting into Lost Pond shelter before the storm hit. When I got there, I expected Puddles to already be there, but she wasn¢t. The next shelter was 1.7 miles from there, so I was hoping she wouldn¢t get caught in between. Several people came into the shuttle, including Next Step, Sterling, Guppy, and others. Most of us made dinner while we waited out the storm, and a small bottle of Jim Beam got passed around to those who wanted some. The storm had almost broke and Next Step left. I gave him a message for Puddles that I wasn¢t sure if I was leaving or not, it would depend on the weather. I ate dinner and the storm broke. More hikers were coming in, and not wanting to be crowded in the shelter, I took off. Puddles and I had already talked about a nice tenting site along Big Branch River. It was only 1.6 miles, so I headed out.The sun came out, and with the beads of rain, and mist in the air, beams of light peeked through the trees. It was a stunning hike to Big Branch River. I crossed the bridge and turned right, where the tent sites were and saw Puddles tent, and Puddles sitting and talking to someone. I shouted ¢honey I¢m home!¢, and set up camp. Faith, who had just started a hike on the Long Trail, was in invited by Puddles to camp with us. We had great conversation. She had done her homework about backpacking and was very knowledgeable, she just needed to get over some of her nervousness about being out in the wilderness. It will come with being out for a few days. Pegasus showed up at camp and pitched his tent on a nice spot I had located earlier. We hung our food bags, and went to bed.