We could see the path that we would follow down to Speck Pond, the Speck Pond Shelter and Mahoosuc Notch, which we could just see from Old Speck (second photo below, just right off the tip of my trekking poles).
We reached Speck Pond and Speck Pond Shelter at about 5:30 to collect water and take a break. The beginning of Mahoosuc Notch was only a half-mile ahead of us. As we sat there, Forest just gave me one of his looks that says, "Seriously!? Can we just go now? You're stalling."
Although it covers only 1 mile of the Trail through the Mahoosuc Mountain Range, the Mahoosuc Notch has been called the hardest mile of the entire Appalachian Trail. It's rarely hiked by anyone other than thru-hikers or the hardiest of section or day hikers. People have been known to take anywhere from 1 to 4 hours to get through the section, which is basically a ravine filled with boulder after boulder, ranging in sizes from several feet to as large as trucks. In addition to a lot of rock climbing, it includes small crevices that you have to crawl through without your pack and a bunch of caves to navigate where it's difficult to see. One blogger called it "one giant jungle gym" (Powder River, August 7, 2011), which seems to fit.
We headed into the Notch at 6:10 p.m. I've been planning for and looking forward to this part of the Trail since we started, and it certainly didn't disappoint. It was like a giant puzzle that we had to figure out step by step, so it was just as much an exercise for the mind as an exercise for the body. We took a 20-minute coffee break in the middle to let Forest rest a bit, and then forged ahead. I'm proud to say that we got through the Notch in just 1.5 hours, which I think exceeded the expectations of most people following our journey. Some people that I consulted along the way said that I was crazy to take a dog through the Notch at all. To those people, I can only say, "You don't know Forest." In the beginning I had to slow him down, and there were a few times I had to lift him and lower him, but he let me do whatever I needed to without a single hesitation. He was brave, confident, nimble and tough. He ballerina'd his way through like a professional and really seemed to have fun with it. I think I'll be on an adrenaline high for a while tonight. The Whites will be nothing but big climbs after this.
We came out of the Notch at about 8 p.m. and took a quick break. I had planned to go the mile to Full Goose Shelter (Mile Marker 276.9), so we didn't linger. Just a couple of tenths of a mile up, I found an unmarked water source and decided to just camp there instead of going all the way to the shelter (we're the blue bubble on the following map). Can't wait to fill our bellies and climb in the hammocks and get warm. We're at about 3,300 feet with a slight breeze. The weather report said it would be in the mid 50s at the shelter, so it's probably colder than that up here. Perfect sleeping weather once we're bundled up.
Tomorrow we will be saying goodbye to Maine and hello to New Hampshire!
No comments:
Post a Comment