Date: 2019-08-26
From: Speck Pond Shelter (ME)

To: Full Goose Shelter (ME)
Miles today: 5.1

I didn¢t sleep particularly well last night. I had a dream that I was at a camp that had imported tigers to roam free around the camp. I tried to tell them it wasn¢t going to work out well for them. We used a space blanket (a big piece of Mylar) last night under our sleeping pads and it worked great. It was another cold morning. I was cold until I was hiking for a while. SC and I stopped at the top of the Mahoosuc Arm, .9 miles from the shelter. I needed to get something from my pack and I realized, Spike¢s not with me! I know exactly where I left him. I took a picture of him this morning at the shelter. SC volunteers to go get him as she knows she is faster. She leaves her pack and heads back to the shelter. A few minutes later I hear her talking to Sidewinder. We left before him and he saw Spike and picked him up! He even took pictures of Spike doing things like climbing a ladder. I¢m so glad no one had to go all the way back!Today is supposed to be one of the most difficult. I have only planned for us to do a little over 5 miles because of this. In the last lean-to there was an entry in the log by Firsure that said, ¢It¢s Notch gonna be a cakewalk,¢ and ¢If Notch now, then when? If Notch you, then Mahoosuc?¢ SC says we¢re going to hike together today, but going down the Mahoosuc Arm, she and Sidewinder quickly pull ahead. The Arm is 1500¢ of descent in 1 mile. Anything over 700¢ per mile tends to be slow and difficult. Lots of nobos have warned us about how difficult the Arm is. However, it isn¢t as bad as they made it sound. It was a lot easier than coming down Katahdin. After the Arm is the Notch. SC and Sidewinder are waiting for me before starting. We meet up with a family with 2 boys ages 13 & 15. The 15 year old completed the Notch in 30 minutes. The Notch is 1 mile long. It took the woman we  saw at the shelter last night and had met on our first day 4.5 hours.The Mahoosuc Notch is a valley filled with large boulders. It is considered the toughest mile of the AT. We put our trekking poles away and start climbing. SC and Sidewinder have me go first so that I can set the pace. I think about what I was told by a nobo and try to go up and over whenever possible. Maybe .2 in, we come across an orientation group from Tufts. One of the women in the group says, ¢I signed up for Level 2: no previous outdoor experience!¢ We are trying to figure out what Level 1 would be: I¢ve spent the last 18 years of my life playing video games indoors?Halfway through the Notch, SC and I pause to take a picture in celebration of reaching 1000 miles. We still are not halfway through the trail though. It ends up taking us about 3.5 hours to do the Notch. It was fun. We took pictures and videos and laughed and joked with one another. At the end we sit, rest, and have some snacks. The 15 year old couldn¢t figure out how to get his trekking poles to collapse, so his dad had told him just to leave them. Now Sidewinder has new poles!There¢s only 1.6 miles to the shelter but there¢s another mountain to climb. This one is called Fulling Mill. Maybe because I am spent from the Notch, but this climb seems more difficult than the descent from the Arm. It is a lot of climbing where I have to find hand holds and pull myself up. It¢s nothing I haven¢t done before, I¢m just so tired.I get to the shelter at a reasonable time. I am able to set up and cook dinner before 6pm. Also before 6pm, a section hiker is snoring in the shelter.