Date: 2018-08-22
From: Speck Pond Shelter

To: Baldpate Leanto
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: light rain

Unfortunately the forecast was right and we woke up to rain. We were happy we stayed in the shelter. We packed up and then went to the cooking area to fix breakfast. No hiking for an hour then eating breakfast in the rain! After breakfast we hit the trail at 8am.We immediately began to climb. We needed to climb 500 ft to get over Old Speck Mtn. There were some fairly steep sections made more difficult by the rain. The water was a river running down the trail. Where it leveled out the mud bogs became lakes. There was no hope of keeping our feet dry. Near the top the trail became granite slab walls. Unfortunately many of these were out in the open allowing the full fury of the wind and rain to hit us...and that is today's picture! We were happy to get over the top and back into the protection of the trees. Next we had a 3500 ft descent to Grafton Notch.Going down in the rain carries a whole new set of hazards...roots are slick, rocks can be slick and the water is flooding the trail. However, just like our hike over Mt. Madison in the rain, we had to keep moving to keep hypothermia from setting in. Fortunately as we worked our way lower, the temperature warmed up from the low 50's to the high 50's. So after hiking for 4 hours we finally stopped for 5 minutes to eat a little lunch to keep the energy up, then back to the trail.We've been surprised by the cold rain. We expected hot and humid weather, with warm rains. Except for our first day on the trail, we have only experienced cold rains much like we get in the winter in California.By 1:30pm we finally reached the Grafton Notch parking lot. Who should greet us but a Trail Angel, Miss Moose, saying she had been waiting for ET and Spider! Turns out one of the hikers who had stayed in the shelter with us last night and who had preceded us down the mountain, had alerted her that we were coming down soon. So Miss Moose offered us hot chocolate (Wow did that hit the spot!), a ham sandwich, chips, banana and chocolate covered almonds. Sure better than the lunch we had planned. She said she had already taken several hikers to town, one who was hypothermic. Best yet, she pointed out a garbage can where we got rid of all the garbage we had been accumulating the last 3+ days.The rain had stopped by the time we went back on the trail and began our 1200 ft climb. In fact, the sun actually peeked out a couple times. So the storm was over...not! At 4pm a squall surprised us, getting our raingear all wet again. The trail still was wet and had all the rain related slipping hazards but no rivers of water. We made it to our destination by 4:40pm. Amazing how much a good trail and only taking a few breaks can make a difference in mph. You will note the change in terminology. We are now staying in a "leanto" instead of a "shelter". The term "shelter" is used throughout the AT except from here on... to Katahdin Mtn...the end of the AT.We hung our wet gear in the shelter to begin drip-drying out and got into dry clothes. After getting water and a few housekeeping chores were done, we crawled into our sleeping bags to warm up. We got back out long enough to eat dinner then to bed at 8pm. Forecast is for a nice day tomorrow...works for us!