NH,VT & MASS- Part 4

Dates ........ Sunday Sept 24, 2000
Miles ........ 15.5 miles
From ........ VT- Peru Peak Shelter
To ............. William B Douglass Shelter
Weather ... WET, cold, foggy, rain AM, 40's all day. Cloudy, overcast PM

Spruce Peak (2060'), Prospect Rock (2079')

Miserable, wet and sloppy sums it up nicely. And the trail is very poorly marked, especially on summits where many trails come together. So much for GMC's $5.00 fee supporting trail improvement. These are the worst trails I have been on in nearly 1,000 miles of the AT. I follow the most worn, the muddiest - the one with the deepest puddles. The climb over Peru and Styles Peaks was not bad except for the sloppy mud and water everywhere. No sense even trying to keep dry - trailside brush is just waiting to paint you with water. No views, heavy fog at elevations. Keep plugging along with thoughts of a warm, dry home at the end of this hike, now one week or less away. And I hope I still have some nice weather and enjoyable scenery ahead of me. I hike on hope.

At Mad Tom Notch (2446') I fill my water bottle from the pump. It is foggy and misting. I move on, beginning my ascent of Bromley Mountain, only about 750 feet higher than the notch. With these sloppy trail conditions, it is a much more difficult and miserable climb than it would normally be. The higher I get, the colder and foggier it gets.

Finally I reach the summit of Bromley and there, looming in the fog is the outline of a building. It is open; I go in. It has a register, table, sink - no plumbing, no electric (all turned off and lights removed), a gas hookup to nothing (there once was a stove and or heater) and a telephone on the wall. Not exactly as billed, but with trail conditions as they were, I'm glad I did not push on to here last night. I'm glad for the roof and four dry walls and I'm out of the cold, wet blowing mist. The phone works! I call home on a credit card - no answer. I leave a message and move on.

Inside the Bromley Warming hut.

Outside again, the visibility is 30 feet or so. I find the trail and head down one of the ski slopes and into the woods. There, at least the wind diminishes and it feels much warmer. Honestly - right about now, I'd rather be home. Warm, dry and home. But I am in the middle of Vermont and I must make the most of it.

I descend Bromley and head to Spruce Peak. The trail levels out with only minor elevation changes but plenty of mud puddles. I'm still seeing lots of moose track and sign - but no moose. After Spruce Peak I come to Prospect Rock where the trail turns and follows a woods road east. The view over Downer Glen into Manchester and Manchester Depot is gorgeous, albeit hazy. AT least it is starting to dry out a bit.

View from Prospect Rock - over Downer Glen into Manchester and Manchester Depot. Note clearing in far hillside just left of photo center.

At the shelter I get water - its dribbling in from a piped spring - and gather firewood. I use birch bark, pine twigs and Boy Scout ingenuity to start a fire with the wet wood. Having left my sneakers at the Glencliff hostel (dumb!), I have to hop around on the cold stones barefoot while I dry my boots and make tea over the fire. I have to be very careful - if I destroy my hiking boots while trying to dry them out, that will be the end of my hike. I have the shelter to myself - and the mice. I set the mousetrap near my pack, cook supper and snuggle into my warm, dry sleeping bag. It's the best I've felt all day. Tomorrow I mark my 1000th AT mile.

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