November 3, 2024 3 min to read

AT Blog: Day 107 and 108

Ottoman Table, Loosing my Tent and A New Sleeping Pad

Day 107:

Start at Bromley, hike up the mountain. Bromley mountain is a ski resort, with a gondola, but none of it is open here in the summer.

I take a break at Peru Peak shelter, where there are 2 other throughhikers, one of them hailing from Italy.

Eventually I keep going and after a few more hours I take lunch at Lost Pond shelter. The terrain is relatively flat after descending Peru peak, but the bugs are killer today, constantly swarming. It doesn’t help they can bite through my shirt and they get in my hair to burrow. These are biting flies, not native to anywhere I have hiked before.

And they are killer. Besides the white mountains I will be dealing with these monsters every day for the rest of the hike.

I end at Greenwall Shelter, where there are quite a few other hikers there. None of them are hiking the whole AT but it is neat to hear all their viewpoints and talk about the entirety of the trail.

It’s one of the weird things being out here looking back. I mean it’s hard to comprehend that the trail bend a hundred yards behind you leads all the way back to Georgia, home.

Reflections aside the shelter had a neat treat, an ottoman style table. Basically it was the old picnic table that had it’s legs decay and the tabletop left behind. There’s a plank of wood on the ground for seating you just have to sit on the ground or on your knees.

Lastly I had a slight incident that night. I woke up in the middle of the night really having to go pee. I didn’t bring my headlamp nor phone for some reason as I really had to go. I get up walk a bit and go pee, and turn around to realize… it’s pitch black.

I have no idea where my tent is.

So using the tree as a point of reference I slowly crawl and rediscover my tent after bumping into too many things (including the ottoman table). That was the last time I forgot my headlamp on the trail. It’s a story of how many hikers have gone missing and died. Where they wonder off to use the restroom and never found their camp/trail again.

Day 108:

I start at Greenwall Shelter today. There’s some cascades a mile north of the shelter I pass by, then to the road.

I was thinking about using the road to head to a local market for some snacks, but it turns out there is trail magic there! Two people from Albany, New York set up some goodies, with blueberry pancakes, watermelon and drinks. I chat with them a while, and slowly some of the hikers from the shelter start to filter in as well. I also charge my devices while there.

Eventually I get going, but unfortunately I forgot my power brick at the trail magic. Fortunately one of them noticed and she started hiking after me so I only had to waste like 15 minutes walking back and forth.

I keep moving with some halfway decent climbs, but eventually I stop at Clarendon shelter for a snack. There’s some shuttle numbers there that I write down.

After hiking 14 miles I stop at a road crossing and get a ride from the shuttle into Rutland. Despite the trail magic I still need to resupply and get washed up. I end up staying at a Days Inn, and get Taco Bell for dinner. It’s nice to be able to rest up and wash up especially.

The best part of town is that there is a Dicks Sporting Goods where I finally replace my sleeping pad, for one that can actually hold air. Also sleeping on a bed instead of the ground with a slight layer of plastic on it is much better.