Date: 2007-08-12
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: Black Branch
Miles today: 17.8

Mom and Dad dropped me at the trailhead about 8.30 AM and I headed north for Bromley Mountain. There were still some traces of fog hanging in the valleys but it was clear at the elevation of the trail. It was like looking down on a valley filled with marshmallow fluff. I stopped briefly at the new Bromley Shelter to sign the register then continued up the mtn. The view from the top of Bromley Mtn was excellent and is supposed to include peaks in 5 states. There is a very nice observation deck about 50' high next to the warming hut for the ski area chair lift. From the tower I could see Stratton Mtn and the route I hiked the previous few days, as well as Stiles, Peru and Baker Peaks which I would be climbing soon. There were 4 other thru-hikers there as well as about a dozen day hikers. It was easy to tell it was a weekend by the relatively large number of people on the trail. I caught up to one of the thru-hikers nearly down at Mad Tom Notch and we recognized each other from meeting somewhere in central VA but couldn't figure our exactly where we had met. His trail name is Pete. He started 2 days after I did and yet we had met only once previously on the trail. In his other life he is a staff surgeon at Rochester Hospital in NY.The hike over Styles and Peru Peaks was very nice and not too difficult. This was the first extended stretch of subalpine spruce-fir forest the trail had been through in New England and the strong smell of the Balsam Fir was everywhere. It was wonderful! I just wished I could have captured this smell and uploaded it to my website to share with everyone. This great smell is truly the essence of the VT high peaks. The stands of Fraser Fir I passed thru in the Smokies and on Roan High Knob, TN smelled good but did not seem to be quite as pungent or as fragrant as the Balsam Fir here in the New England mts. The smell alone reminded me of my days caretaking on the Long Trail on Camels Hump and Mt Mansfield where Balsam Fir dominated the high peaks I worked on.The new Peru Peak Shelter was very nice but I didn't stay long. I wanted to have lunch at nearby Griffith Lake. Unfortunately there was little lake access and there were other hikers everywere so I ate a quick lunch then kept going.The last quarter mile of the climb up to Baker Peak was over steeply sloping open rock slabs and I was glad I didn't have to hike this stretch in the rain. The views from the open rock ledges of nearby Green Mtn and the Peru Valley in between were excellent and made the stiff climb worthwhile.I had intended to stay at the Lost Pond Shelter but it burned last year, for the second time since 2001. Not even the picnic table remained, so I kept going to Big Branch Shelter. This shelter was an old one that was nearly full with other thru-hikers when I arrived. There were no tent sites near the shelter and there was barely enough room inside for one more person so I decided to keep going. About a mile further on I arrived at the Little Rock Pond trailhead and decided to camp nearby up along the trail. It was getting late and I wanted time to get my new tent set up while it was still daylight. The tent went up just fine and I hung a bear line for my food bags before cooking dinner. After dinner I went to hang my food bags and the rope immediately came off the branch I had selected because it was too small to hold my bags. There were no other branch options nearby and it was dark. After a few tries I managed to raise my bags to about 6' off the ground, making them mouse proof but not much trouble for a bear to get into. Oh well, too late to change now. We'll see what the morning brings.