Date: 2018-07-24
From: Manchester Center Vermont (Green Mountain Hostel)

To: Danby Langrove Road
Miles today: 17.6

We did this section as a SOBO slackpack.Up early as our shuttle left at 6:00 so they can be back to do the normal shuttle back to the trailhead. Had a quick breakfast provided by the hostel of cereal & bananas as well as a cup of tea. Plodalong & Grandma Shortie joined us on the shuttle, they did the section we will do today yesterday. Today they are heading north. Got to chat some more with Plodalong as we rode to the trail, we swapped some firefighter "war stories".The first shelter we passed had several hikers, most still sound asleep. When we arrived at the second shelter we decided to make a quick stop there for a privy break. Once again who did we see, Sourpatch and Knotty Boy. They just shook their heads when they saw us. After a short chat with them, ending with a "we are sure this will be the last time we see you", Knotty Boy replied "See you later..." and off we went.The trail had really nice footing early on in the day. There were quite a few bog bridges around the Griffith Lake area. We enjoyed a view on Baker Peak and walked along some ledgey trail. Because we were going Southbound we met several Northbound hikers that we have previously hiked with. We came across Smiles & Honeybadger and they gave us some updates on other hikers we know. We also saw Elaine & Ed, and when we stopped for lunch at Styles Peak TNT & Biscuit were there drying out their gear and having lunch. It was a great spot for lunch with a view of Magic Mountain Ski Area.We dropped down into a notch before making our final climb up to Bromley Mountain. Still good views up here, though when I passed through here last time in 2011 there was an observation tower which provided 360 degree views. The tower was apparently condemned and torn down, but signage indicates they are doing a fund raising campaign to build a new tower. Made a quick stop at the warming hut, checked out the log book, and then started our descent. Made it back down to the road crossing to hitch into town again. Took quite a while to get a hitch today even though it wasn't raining this time. Finally a woman who passed by turned around and came back to offer us a ride. She said we really looked like we could use a ride. We chatted as she drove us to Manchester Center, and she told us her brother owns a ski & sport shop in Vermont and she was going to pick up some signs for a ski sale they are having. She needed to stop and grab the signs, and offered to take us to the pizza place she was going to. We decided we should eat closer to town so we would be ready for our shuttle. Went to Cilantro's for dinner where we met another thru-hiker who was also going back to the hostel. After dinner I started to call the hostel to let them know we were ready for a pickup when my phone rang and Jeff asked if we were ready as the other hiker had called from the outfitters. We got back early enough that there was still sunshine to hang our tent, fly and other gear out so it will be dry and ready for tomorrow. We also washed our hiking pole handles. And, the biggest accomplishment was finding the hole in my Neo-Air. It has only been over a month of inflating my mattress two or three times a night. We had stopped at Rite-Aid and bought a small spray bottle which I filled with water and some Dawn dish soap. I simply sprayed the whole pad and soon found a small hole which I was able to easily patch once the pad was dry.Mary & I split a Pint of Ben & Jerry's, enjoyed chatting with other hikers including Crazy Brit and D2 and then headed to the "Dawg House", which is a partially converted horse barn for bed. Every once in a while we could hear a horse banging the wall, hopefully they won't keep us up tonight as we need to be up early once again for our shuttle.