An awesome lake where we stopped for dinner and an evening swim.
In the morning, Derek and Jeremiah (the two brothers from Florida) and I decided to leave for the trail at 7:00am. The guy who owned the hostel drove us right to the trail head so we could hiking right away. It was another beautiful sunny day. Immediately after getting back into the woods we faced good climb up to the top of Bromley Mountain at 3,260 feet. As soon as I hit the trail I felt strong and ready to hike big miles. Only about ten minutes into my day, my stomach started gurgling. Stuffing my face with junk food the previous day had caught up with me and my body was trying to reject the poison. At first I thought about looking for a nice spot to “dig a hole.” However, my body decided it could not wait,and the situation became critical. I dropped my pack and dashed behind a tree. With sweat dripping down my face I dug a quick hole and did my business. After exorcising the demons, I felt back to my old self.
At the top of the mountain I reconvened with Derek and Jeremiah. Bromley mountain was apparently a ski mountain in the winter. The three of us took a hydration break as we inspected the area. Aside from the chair lift and other mechanical equipment, there was a strange warming house filled with abandoned ski equipment. I guess we could have taken something, but we were thru-hikers and extra weight was always the enemy. It was all a bunch of old junk anyway. We finished our break and continued along the ridge. For the next few miles we kept encountering eager south bounders asking about the “alpine slide.” We had no idea what they were talking about. In one instance when someone asked me about it, I just stared at them blankly and walked into the woods.
The three of us hiked at a similar speed, so for the rest of the afternoon we were not far apart. Coming off the ridge we happened upon a flooded section of trail with random floating bog boards. At first I tried to just stroll across the moldy old boards, but it quickly turned into a backwoods “Legends of the Hidden Temple” situation. At first it seemed to be alright, but every third or forth board would sink into the muddy water. We had to be creative to get around the swampy muck. The sun was still high in the sky when we came to the shelter where we had planned to camp. After a quick conversation, we all decided to press on another 8 miles to the next shelter. We were motivated and the weather was gorgeous, so the decision to move on was not a hard one. Around dinner time we came to a small side trail that led to a huge lake. The area was gorgeous, but there was a fee for camping. All of us decided that paying to camp was silly, so we just ate dinner and went for a swim. With our stomachs full of Rice Sides and Snickers bars we found the next white blaze and pushed forward as the sun started to set.
Jeremiah (left) and Derek (right) investigating the piles of white rocks at the top of Bear Mountain.
After about 30 minutes of hiking we encountered a guy going South and asked him how far it was to the shelter. He thought for a second and answered, “Its about a mile.” That was great news, because none of us wanted to hike in the dark. We continued through the darkening forest to the top of Bear Mountain. The top of the mountain was covered with tall white pines. Seeing the orange of the sunset through the massive trees was an excellent sight. After the top of the mountain was an area where hundreds of white rocks were arranged in piles and sculptures. The whole area would have been interesting during the day, but in the fading light the whole forest felt very eerie. As we marched down the mountain a small shelter appeared through the pine trees. The guy who told us it was “about a mile” to the shelter was off by about 300%. It was at least three miles, but we were just happy to be there. The shelter was full, so I just walked around in the dark and felt for a flat spot to set up my tent. Its as the end of a long day I just wanted to rest, refill my water and hit the sack. The water source for the shelter was interesting. It was just a trickle coming down the rocks. To find the trickle you had to walk back up the side trail and listen very carefully for the sound of water. After following the sound, you had to find where someone had put a leaf to help direct the tiny, dribbling, stream. During the day it would have been a challenge, but at night it was twice as hard. I found it, filled my water for the next day, treated it and hit the hay. I was out like a light.
Smooth's Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike 