Date: 2004-09-29
From: Gentian Pond Campsite

To: Grafton Notch
Miles today: 19.3
Weather: clear sky

Today I reached the Pinnacle of Success¢¦literally. I also started earlier than at any point on the trail, covered the ¢hardest mile on the trail¢, nearly killed myself in the process, and had a blast doing it. So much has happened that my head is reeling as much as my body is aching. Let me take you back to the beginning¢¦It¢s 1 a.m. and Beatbox is sleeping. The sounds of Gentian Lake are soothing, but he knows he has a tough 19-mile day ahead. As the full moon is unveiled from cloud cover the illumination level of the night sky increases.   Beatbox, in his groggy state, assumes it is a sign of the impending dawn¢¦ ¢time to get ready¢ he thinks. He packs up in stealth so as to not rile his shelter mates. In a short time he is packed up and sliding on his pack to leave. He hears the voice from one of the men still 34 asleep: ¢You know it¢s 1:30 a.m.?¢ DOH! Despite the early hour, he is too far gone to return to slumber. He convinces his body that the time to night hike is come. As I start climbing, I have 2.8 miles to reach the top of Mt. Success. Eyes wide shut I push onward. I¢m quiet, focusing purely on the rocky holds and slick roots hiding beneath the cover of night. They attempt to thwart my attempt to enter the dark realm, but each step makes me feel more triumphant. I push on slowly crawling upward until the slope flattens. I know I will be victorious but my eyes are heavy and my body weary. I thank God and decide I have earned a reprieve. There only 2 football fields from the summit, I set up my tent to the side of the trail and immediately pass out. The dawn rays serve as my alarm clock. 16.5 miles still remain before I will meet my ride at Grafton Notch. My adrenaline kicks in and I pack up immediately. Without even a conscious choice I begin to hike. Five minutes later I reach the top of Mt. Success. How many people can truthfully say they have reached the pinnacle of success? With a smile I look around at the above tree-line landscape. The sun rests low in the sky and mountains greet me in every shade of yellow, orange, and red. After a moment of absorption I proceed from the summit smiling. I know God blesses me more than I deserve, so I sing to him and walk. After 1.9 downhill miles I pause at a long awaited sign: ¢Maine¢. For 6 12 months I¢ve told people I¢m headed to Maine. Now I¢ve arrived. I try to choke back a small tear in my eye, but fail. Only 1 states remains. With my mind spinning I continue to walk. As I drop through a narrow crevice I use both hands to lower myself between 2 large boulders. I think to myself: ¢This is like repelling and its kind of fun¢. Little do I know the fun I will enjoy before the day¢s end. I stand 5.2 miles in at 9 a.m. in front of the sign for Carlo Col Shelter, my original destination last night. I continue to climb until I reach the first of the Goose Eye mountain peaks. With a determined look I push onward. The slope seems to go straight up. I climb log ladders and pull my body vertical by grasping roots and large boulders. In no time at all the mountain¢s first peak tamely rests below my feet. With full knowledge of my time restraints I proceed to navigate the careful footing required to descend the slippery rocky slopes. Though dripping sweat, I smile as I cover the last few steps over the granite to reach Goose Eye¢s northern peak. I keep pushing onward to the next shelter when I see a hiker on the trail in the distance before me. I catch him as I reach Full Goose Shelter 9.7 miles in. The hiker has been slowly completing the trail for 30 years in sections. In less than a year I have covered the same mileage (WOW). As we sit and talk another face arrives: ¢Pop Tart¢. We begin to talk about Mahoosuc Notch. Mahoosuc Notch is known to be the toughest mile of the trail and lies in wait less than 2 miles ahead. Pumped to have a partner to share the experience with and share picture taking duties, Pop Tart and I hike on to the famous ¢Notch¢. We have both heard of people taking 2 to 4 hours to finish the rocky mile and our joint anticipation is clearly bubbling over. Just prior to the entrance we drink some water, tie our trekking piles to our packs, and set off. The time is 1:02 p.m. as we begin. With a nervous few steps I wedge myself between 2 boulders and set in. On my 4th step my left foot slips, then my right¢¦THUD! With a mix of pain and laughter I find myself wedged between 2 boulders suddenly 10 feet lower than I was 2 seconds prior. Thank God my backpack took the weight of my fall. Laughing I look at Pop Tart : ¢Help!¢ After verifying that all of my bones were intact I feel a joy cover me. Suddenly Pop Tart and I are 6-year-old boys in a gym of rocks. We skip on rocks, grab boulders, pull on roots, and slide our weight. Spryly we fly through the rock maze pausing only for pictures and laughter. ¢The blaze is over here¢. ¢Hey Pop Tart, I fell again (laughter)¢. Like rock climbers on crack we slide through man-hole size openings that allege to be the trail. Popping out like weasels we push to the next white blaze on the rocks. Finally we pause at the sight of 2 long-lost friends (over 3 months) ¢Marzipan¢ and ¢County¢. ¢How far til we¢re through the Notch?¢ ¢You guys are finished¢. The time is 2:02 p.m. Pop Tart and I exchanged shocked looks. Despite pauses and pictures we took out the Notch in one hour flat¢¦whoa!I cannot describe the adrenaline that flowed through us. I felt so blessed to have had a friend to complete ¢The Notch¢ with. All told I fell 4 times, but barely felt any pain. In addition I was greeted by 2 old friends upon the Notch¢s completion. The 4 of us caught up and proceeded to Mahoosuc Arm. I had been warned it was tough and the Data Book suggested 1,600 feet in 1.5 miles. What the data book did not tell me was that the first half mile from the Notch to the Arm is essentially flat. In reality, the Arm is 1,500 feet in 0.9 miles¢¦ugh! I started the Arm just behind Pop Tart, filled with adrenaline. County and Marzipan took their time but we never paused. Neither of us realized the severity of the climb and we just went at it. Without breaking we kept moving our legs. The mountain was unrelenting and the sun baked us, but we kept going. 35 minutes later I was sweatier than at any point on the trip and my legs screamed in pain, particularly my knees, but there we sat atop Mahoosuc Arm. It was there we met ¢The Garland 5¢. The Garland 5 is a thru-hiking family. Due to sickness they will ¢only¢ (sarcasm) cover about 1,300 miles this year. The 2 parents, a 10-year-old son, 12-year-old daughter, and 14-year-old daughter have all been hiking together most of the last 6 months. They will finish their missing sections next year. We all talked, joked, and recovered :-). I was massively impressed with them and the mother shared a British candy that tasted like mint sugar. I did not like the candy but the family was awesome! At 4:30 Pop Tart and I said goodbye and went to leave with 5.5 miles to go. First we stopped to take in the awesome autumn view from atop the arm. We dropped down from the Arm quickly still pumped. After a mile we reached Speck Pond. It was gorgeous and we were forced to stare at the beauty for at least a few moments. Next we climbed ¢Old Speck¢. The climb was nothing compared to the rest of the day. I was so tired I was slightly giddy as we pushed. At the top a side trail went to the summit and the 3.5 miles to the Notch turned off to the left. We were both pleasantly surprised and began our descent at 5:30 p.m. I had told ¢Bear¢ to meet us at the road at 6:45 p.m. Pop Tart and I breezed on and talked. We both were so excited about the day. We talked about the joy of ¢The Notch¢, how amazing it is to be in Maine, and just how beautiful it is up here (and it is :-)). As we reflected my smile continued to grow. I barely noticed the slope falling behind us. As we dropped lower into the notch the pinks and reds of the foliage stood out even more; unbelievable! We were as giddy as school girls as we passed 3 day hikers and informed them of our day. They smiled and wished us well, letting us know we would hit the road soon. At 6:44 p.m., having started hiking at 1 a.m., I arrived at Grafton Notch 1 minute early. Yet again, God had carried me.The man who met us, ¢Bear¢, runs a hostel called ¢The Cabin¢. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about the place and he provided us with Blueberry Pancakes and Bacon. As we drove home to a bed I wanted to cry :-), I still can¢t believe I hiked 19.3 miles on the day of Mahoosuc Notch. The only bad point of the ride home was that Bear informed me that the fee for the ride was $25.00 :-(. We had no glue it was so high and were caught off guard. At least there are 2 of us though. On the way home we passed a moose that could vaguely be made out in the distance. We also saw a porcupine in the road. All of Maine is a wild place. We stopped at a store on the way home and I ordered a bacon cheeseburger and a coke :-). As we pulled into the Cabin driveway I felt the day could not get better. I was wrong. When we walked in the door I saw Knuckles and Underhill. Knuckles had to get off due to a hurt knee, but is slacking her boy. I miss both of them. ¢Dapper Dan¢ was on the couch with a friend and ¢Samson and Father Ounce,¢ a couple I have not seen since PA. who flip-flopped, were also there. I was blown away by all the hikers when a face turned around near the stove that dropped my jaw: Sunshine.Sunshine and I hiked from Delaware Water Gap to New York together. He single handedly made my birthday. I hugged him and took 5 minutes to recover from shock. Apparently, when he went home for his sister¢s wedding he skipped Massachusetts. When I was sick in Dalton he returned to the trail ahead of me by a week. Lately he has been hiking slowly and I am now only 30 trail miles behind him and catching up quickly. We talked for over an hour and I cannot wait to catch up to my old friend. I thought all of my old friends were way ahead. Minus the unexpected shuttle fee today was perfect. I hiked huge miles, it was gorgeous, and I completed the ¢most fun¢ mile of the trail through Mahoosuc Notch. Completing Mahoosuc Arm may be the actual ¢hardest mile¢ I have covered on the trail. None the less, both are over and tonight I go to sleep in Maine. Furthermore, I am surrounded by friends, particularly Sunshine, Knuckles, Underhill, and Pop Tart. I am so blessed and I am still in shock ¢ WOW!3 closing thoughts:¢¢        Tomorrow Pop Tart & I will slack-pack 20 miles. We actually will not sleep at ¢The Cabin¢ because they have to make room for the Garland 5. Instead we will stay at a B&B called Pine Ellis.¢¢        Today, climbing the Arm we passed 3 men. It did not dawn on me until now, but we took a 20-minute break on the peak and they never arrived. The climb was so tough I expect that they probably turned around. ¢¢        The foliage is so beautiful I cannot describe it. It is particularly stunning as the sun sets and the low light makes the leaves seem to glisten. (My hand is about to fall off from writing). Good night ¢ BEATBOX   ttt