Date: 2018-08-18
From: Gentian Pond Shelter

To: Full Goose Shelter & Campsite
Miles today: 9.6

DAY 165Still raining lightly when we woke so we had breakfast at the campsite. By the time we finished breakfast it was no longer raining so we picked up our wet gear and headed out for the day.Even though it was only 4 miles to the Maine border it took us until almost lunch time to get there. We had a climb up Mt Success, and the trail was wet with bog bridges and slippery rocks. After Mt Success there was a steep section where Mary decided to take off her pack so she could make the decent more easily. Snow Angel caught us in this section and we all made it to the Maine border shortly after. An amazing feeling reaching the final state!When we arrived at the Maine border we decided it was a good time to have lunch, Snow Angel was having her lunch just off trail. We asked her if there were any logs or rocks to sit on, she said no, so we found a spot along the trail to sit and "enjoy" lunch. I had spam, Mary had peanut butter with "marshmallow cream", which is nothing like fluff. Too sweet, and she says it tastes like they melted marshmallows in a jar and added too much sugar!As we continued along the trail we came to ledges dropping down into Carlo Col. Apparently this is a precursor to what the climb up Katahdin will include. Mary did not enjoy this short, steep, rock section that you have to scramble hand over hand (at one point we turned around to make our way down backwards). We had heard that a hiker had fallen in this section and actually ended with his head "wedged" in the rocks. At the bottom is the Carlo Col shelter, which we didn't bother taking the side trail to. We were already tired but we still had to get up over Goose Eye, which includes 3 peaks. I remembered this section having beautiful views from my 2011 hike, but today there were no views and it was so foggy that it was difficult to find the trail in some spots with the open ledges. The slick slab rock slowed Mary down as did the slick bog bridges. At some points you had to find away around the deep mud as the bog bridges were either swallowed by the bog or in disrepair. So far Maine has proven to be very muddy.We had considered going through Mahoosuc Notch today if we could arrive at the start by 3:00, but due to the weather and trail conditions we were happy to make it to Full Goose Shelter. We thought the others probably would have made it through the notch, but when we arrived at the shelter they were all there. Chaco, Calves, Prick, Snow Angel, and Crush (who made the comment "I thought you guys were going to do Mahoosuc today...") were all already set up for the night. We also saw Izzy set up, we haven't seen here since just before Lehigh Gap.The shelter was full, as were all the tentsites. The area was covered with blowdowns, but we managed to find a small rooty, rocky spot in amongst the other tenters to set up our tent. Even though it was only a 9.6 mile day, Maine continues to be tough and demanding. We cooked by headlamp tonight and headed to bed hoping to be rejuvenated enough to handle the notch tomorrow. Off to bed, we will probably both be dreaming of bogs, rocks, and fog tonight.