Day 69: Back to Bromley

Summary

July 19th

NOBO mile #1656.2

Tolmann’s daily mileage 2.5

Tolmann’s total mileage 632.5

Man, that’s a long drive from Medfield to Manchester!! We tend to think that driving to one of the other NE states is a breeze, but t’ain’t so!

Up early, got Ernie out for his “business trip”, made up some coffee to drink on the road, and was packed up and on the road around 8:30. Somewhere on 495, Deb started reading the novel The Wall aloud, so the early part of the trip passed fairly easily. Once we hit NH, though, we had some issues with a slow moving horse trailer. The drive shifted into low gear, and just seemed to go on and on. 

We got to the Bromley Market around 12:30, where we shared a pulled pork sandwich for lunch, which was excellent. Debbie is talking about getting a smoker for home. 

Finally we were at the trailhead, and I started preparing for the trail. Two SOBOers came up to see if they could get a ride to the Manchester Post Office, and Debbie was happy to oblige. 

So last time I was here, I was moving pretty well, even with the resupply adding extra weight to my pack. I probably was doing about 2 miles per hour. Today, with only 2 liters of water and my raincoat in my daypack, it only took me an hour to do the 3 miles to the summit of Bromley. I passed two NOBO thru-hikers at one point close to the top. Still, those last grades on the ski slopes were tough!  

And again, the view was astounding from the summit. I was able to completely focus on it this time, with no back anxieties to distract me. 

There is a Ski Patrol building at the top, that appears to be open for hikers to overnight there. The NOBOers I had passed showed up and expressed their intent to stay the night. I was slightly envious of them since they would have exceptional views of sunset and sunrise!

But I spent most of my time at the summit looking north; through the summer haze I beloved I could make out the distant silhouette of Mt Killington.

I called Debbie from the summit to let her know I was actually ahead of schedule, and that I should reach Mad Tom Notch Road within an hour. Then I started down the north side, each step finally counting towards my daily and total mileages.

So, a couple of odd things have happened in relation to my rereading Bill Bryson’s book A Walk In the Woods (which i started doing during my hiatus). Debbie and I watched “Inherit the Wind” the other night, which is a factionalized account of the Scopes Monkey Trial, starring Spencer Tracy, Frederick March and Gene Kelly. We enjoyed it; lots of familiar faces and some great acting. I spent a couple of minutes doing some internet research about the real trial afterwards. 

Well, that night as I was reading the book prior to going to bed, I came to a passage where Bryson is in Gatlinbirg, TN, and he picks up a local paper. He reads that the Tennessee legislature is trying to pass a bill to force teachers to present creationism as a theory beside evolution. He then talks about how this isn’t the first time this has been done, and then dives into a description of the Scopes Monkey Trial. 

You could have knocked me over with a feather. This is a book ostensibly about hiking the AT, why would I expect to read about something like that?

I read the passage to Debbie; she couldn’t believe it, either.

So, I’m thinking this is very strange.

Today, I was coming down off Bromley, when the underbrush exploded with grouses launching themselves into the air. This is the first time this has happened to me in all the time I’ve been on the trail. Well, would you believe I read a passage JUST LAST NIGHT, in Bryson’s book, describing his encounters with grouses exploding from the bushes in the Shenendoahs?

I’m afraid to pick the book up again tonight.

But, back to the trail: I practically flew myself down to the road, finishing at around 3:15, and maybe 10 minutes before Debbie showed up to pick me up. It felt more than a little as if I were cheating. It also felt super to be back at it!

Then it was a short drive back to the motel, with a quick stop at the Taylor Farm for local Vermont Gouda cheese, a pair NJ peaches, and two scoops of coffee ice cream. 

Tomorrow is a 12.5 mile day slack-packing to NFS Road 10, then another motel night.