Date: 2017-08-06
From: VT 11/30

To: Danby-Landgrove Rd., USFS 10
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Today's hike was full of pleasant surprises, too cold weather, and an alarming number of small scrapes and falls.  The first mountain of the day was Bromley.  The morning temperature was in the low 50s, and there were blustery winds.  By the time we reached the top I was quite chilled - from wearing a too heavy fleece over my shirt.  I sweated a lot and then got cold.  Surprise number one: there was a warming hut for the ski patrol at the top of Bromley, and hikers were invited to use it.  Arlene, Terri, and I went inside to get warmed up.  I took off my heavy fleece, and my shirt dried out.  I was then able to put on a lighter fleece when we resumed hiking.  Some hiker had folded a paper into an origami fortune teller.  It had fortunes like you will sleep well tonight, you will fall on rocks, you will marry hiker trash, you will fall into a privy.  Very cute. Surprise number two: the building that contains the chair lift equipment for the Bromley ski resort looks like it just landed from outer space (see photo).  Really cool 1950s or 1960s space-age design.On our way up to the next peak Terri and I met yoyo hiker Norm.  He started at Springer on March 15, has already finished at Katahdin, and is now headed back to Springer.  He averaged 23 miles a day northbound but is now hiking about 18 miles a day southbound.  While we were talking Arlene caught up with us (see photo).  When she learned about his yoyo hike she exclaimed, "I'm done!"   Norm didn't look emaciated or seem crazy, but doing a round trip hike on the AT is, by definition, fairly crazy .  At Styles Peak there was a large rock facing the sun, and we sat down to have lunch.  The rock provided shelter from the wind, and the rock itself was warm.  Here we met Happy Hour, a hiker in his 20s.  He has already thru hiked the Pacific Crest Trail and was comparing that to the AT.  According to him, the PCT has easier terrain but is harder to plan logistically.  This is because there are fewer services that cater to the needs of hikers, so way more planning is needed for resupply.  He recommends Craig's PCT Planner, Yogi's Guidebook, and Guthook's app.It was windy when we continued after lunch.  For the first time in many weeks we heard trees creaking and making sounds suggesting they might fall.  We saw some moose poop beside the trail, and we started walking as quietly as possible in hopes of seeing a moose.  We came to  Griffith Lake and sat down to watch for moose.  We were soon too cold to sit and started hiking again.  The third big surprise of the day was Baker Peak.  There were huge rocks to scramble over to get to the top (see photo above). The view from there was stunning (see photo).  We could see 180 degrees down a valley with farms, a town, mountains, and a large white area that we couldn't figure out.From there it was both literally and figuratively downhill.  For much of the remaining hike I stumbled and kept losing my balance.  I fell three times, each time getting a new scrape on my right knee.  I also managed to scrape both legs.  This worries me.  I think this is all because I'm tired, but there are no rest days scheduled. Tomorrow we have a shorter day (14.6 miles), but the following two days are 20-mile days.  I hope I'm ready for the Whites when we get there.