Date: 2005-09-06
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Grafton Notch
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: clear sky

What a day! What a fun, grueling, day which started with the Mahoosuc Notch. The Notch is something you hear about in the early days of the hike but put it out of your mind because it is so far away. You start thinking about it more and more as you get New Hampshire and as you approach Maine you set up your day for it. The Notch is a jumble of rocks and boulders where you have to crawl through holes, pushing or pulling your pack behind you. An area where you climb rock walls while trying to figure out how you are going to descend from it. An area where, if you are not careful, your hike can end due to to a broken bone or sprained ankle, but also, an area that was a lot of fun! We hit the Notch around 9:00 AM. Everything we have heard was to do the Notch in the morning, when you are fresh, and I can see why. It really lived up to its name! There were six of us going through it together, Gypsy, Touk, Mouth, Snowman, Thrifty, and myself. There was a lot of laughter, a couple of falls and stumbles, and a lot of "Oh my God, we have to go through that!" I don't think any of us came out of the Notch without some kind of war wound. My legs look like they have been peppered with a shotgun blast while Gypsy and Touk are sported a new fashion statement, scraped up legs, with nice patterns. We took a break about halfway through, when we spotted an ice cold spring. We had a snack and of of us agreed that the Notch was fun. After the break we finished it up, with more hole crawling. Snowman made it all the way through without taking his pack off. Pretty impressive, considering some of the holes we had to go through! It took us two hours to make the one mile journey. It had been said that it would take between one and three hours to do so we were in the middle. The fun and games did not end there. Next was the Mahoosuc Arm, a 1600 foot climb, which also consisted of some difficult, near vertical climbs. We were pretty exhausted by time we reached the top! We stopped at the Speck Pond Campsite for lunch. A late lunch but we needed the energy. We still had another 7 miles to go and another 800 foot climb, up Speck Mtn. By the time I topped Speck Mtn., which had some great views, I was really tired and I could see we weren't going to get to the planned shelter till late. That was making me a little "testy". I don't like getting to camp at dark or after dark. I like being able to relax a bit before nightfall. Based on this observation I told the group I that I might just throw down at a good spot once we got to the bottom of the mountain. We started the downhill and pulled off on a short blue-blaze to check out "The Eyebrows", a 825 foot cliff. It was pretty amazing but not to many of us got real close to the edge. I think the downhill slope may have something to do with that! From there we finished the descent into Grafton Notch where we found a cooler with some trail magic. Soda never tasted any better! We started the third 800 foot uphill and after a short while we passed a small clearing next to the trail and by a stream. I had found my spot. No more for me. The rest of the group was going to push the two miles to the shelter so I told them I would see them in the morning. I was able to set up, eat, relax and read before dark. I was no longer "testy". I was a contented camper! Tomorrow was going to be a short 10 miles into Andover. I will get to see Phoenix Rising again. Have not seen her since Duncannon!