Date: 2014-07-18
From: Carlo Col Shelter

To: Bethel, Maine
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: few clouds

What a great night sleep! I picked an awesome stealth site out of sight of everyone. Woke early as usual and just laid there alternately dreading and looking forward to today. Dreading because I have Mahoosuc Notch, reportedly the toughest mile on the trail, and looking forward as the girls are back from Acadia and I have the added bonus of my friends Betsy and David in town who will be picking me up at the trailhead for a day or two off. Betsy and I have toyed with trying out for the Amazing Race for a while. I think we should do it, especially now that I'll have this on my c.v.! Was up and out by 6:30. The trail is much easier this morning than I remember last night. I kind of went happily along with a great attitude for once. Even with the constant ups and downs. Maine so far is not easy. Not horrible but not easy. About an hour into my climb I come across a southbounder on top of a boulder I'm about to climb. He's covered with mud up to his shorts. I remarked that I must have something interesting to look forward to. He said to watch out for the bogs. If you miss a board it's up to your thigh. I learned right away what he was taking about. Odd when the mountain tops are the bogs and not the low areas but these bogs where mucky messes! Any boards that had been placed had either rotted through or were so deep you couldn't see them. You had to probe with your poles to find them. Three times I couldn't find them and had to do a walk around through the spongey delicate alpine plants. Sorry delicate plants! I know it's against the rules! The morning went quick though and in no time I was at the Goose Mountain shelter with a bunch of camp kids. One mile away is the famous Mahoosuc Notch which btw someone had affectionately added a "k" to the end of on every sign. A short descent down and there it is. The toughest mile on the trail. Well frankly I don't know what they're talking about. Tough, yes. Unbearably fun? Absolutely! It was a blast! Just really a technical boulder scramble with areas of snow (yes snow!!) and leaps of faith, and lots of scrapes but so cool! Made the day really. You had to think about four steps ahead each time then when you got there stop and reassess where you'd be going next. Twice I had to take off my pack to squeeze through then pull it through after. Took about an hour. I also found there's a side trail up to it so I might convince my friends to do it when they're here. Directly after the notch is another challenge. The Mahoosuc Arm. It's an extremely steep mountainside climb on sheer rock. I wouldn't want to do this southbound for sure. Or in the rain! Kept a good pace to the top then some rambling before another amazing pond and campsite. I'm way behind schedule at this point so scarfed some food then raced up yet another mountain with spectacular views and started the final descent to the trailhead. It's about 4 and I told Betsy and David 4:30. Three and a half miles away so I'll be late for sure. No cell service so I just hustled. Put on some music to make me move faster. I'm a singer at heart. Love karaoke. So if no ones around I'm singing away. Hiked a long way and was belting out some old school Erykah Badu when I was stopped in my tracks by Betsy and David! They'd hiked a good two miles or more up the mountain to meet me. I'm loving these reunions! Such a blast from home. We headed back down the mountain with a promise of brownies. Mexican chocolate and sea salt caramel. So I ran! Betsy fell and jammed her finger! Sorry Betsy!! It was a long two miles but great views and a gorgeous waterfall. At the parking lot were Titty cakes and Hardtimes. I grabbed my brownie - the Mexican chocolate. I've got a craving for anything food-wise from home lately so it did well although I'm still dying for a good breakfast taco. Then they offered the other two to the hikers and we hopped in the car and sped off to Bethel. Downed a bag of potato chips in the car and we flirted with stopping and getting a pie from a stand simply marked "Pies" but drove on so I could shower. Bethel is the perfect little New England town. Has a Main Street and town common of which our B and B is located. Betsy and David's is a block away. Checked in to a great old house, showered and met Betsy and David down at their place where there's a little bar and bistro. I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to this. Drinks and tapas. All delicious. I had three side cars (yikes) and I forgot my low tolerance for alcohol now so glad I was just walking back. Girls got in around ten and here I am ready for the breakfast part of the bed and breakfast!