Date: 2015-07-22
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Dunn Notch and Falls
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I set off this morning at 6 am ready to conquer Mahoosuc Notch. Wookie wasn't quite ready so I followed Crum Holtz and NOBO Cairn. They had started going south until I asked if they wanted to go north and pointed to the northbound trail. I met Crum Holtz at Genetian Pond the night before. He had been moose watching and had told me there was the mother and baby moose. I caught up to them and we chatted. They are from the Hanover area and had started hiking from there.After about a mile or so, we reached the famous Mahoosuc Notch which is a 1.3 mile horizontal Boulder jungle gym. They say it takes 2-3 hours to traverse the notch as you are climbing over, around and through boulders. While I expected the Boulder jungle gym, I didn't expect it to be so green and lush everywhere. I put on my GoPro and started climbing. It was a lot of fun. I would toss my pole up or over trying to be careful it didn't land in a hole or crevice where I would not be able to retrieve it. After a bit, I stopped to check water sources since I came across some water. Crum Holtz and NOBO Cairn caught up to me and I noticed Cairn was bleeding on his leg and elbow. So I waited while Crum got his ace bandage and a gauze pad to wrap Cairn's shin. Ironically Cairn is a doctor. We all started moving through the notch again. Blodge came flying by. At one point, Crum and Cairn took off their packs and pushed them ahead through a small space. I decided to go over the rocks which may have been my most precarious decision. I had to pull myself onto a ledge hanging onto a small root that was attached to the rock and then climb up with my knees on the rock. There wasn't much space so I hung onto a tree and thin ledge as I moved across. Looking down I started to doubt my decision as the edge of the rock below was lower than expected. There wasn't anything to hang on to and where I could lower myself down was a narrow space and I knee my pack would get stuck. But going back the way I came didn't look any better so I just hoped for the best. As I slid down, my pack did get stuck but somehow I got loose and miraculously landed on the rock. We took our time and enjoyed the experience. Almost two hours later, we were through the notch just as Wookie caught up. It was definitely the most fun mile on the AT!!I stopped at the stream a half mile up Mahoosuc Arm for water. It was really nice so I sat for awhile and ate a snack. Wookie, Crum and Cairn arrived and also decided to stop. After nearly an hour, we finished the last half mile climb up Mahoosuc Arm which included some straight up rock face. I was happy to be going up instead of down! It took 45 minutes to get to the top where we enjoyed a view of Old Speck Mountain and could see the tower. We descended to Old Speck Pond and then began climbing again. I passed several SOBOs along the way. The last scramble up Old Speck was once again exposed straight up rock face and it was very windy. I could see amazing views below but it was hard to stop for long in the wind. Once I made it to the top, I took the 0.3 mile side trail to the tower. Another SOBO Ketchup was ahead of me and we chatted on the tower. I had a 360 view and could see Mahoosuc Arm from where I had come and Baldpate Mountain where I would climb tonight. We had miles to cover so Is didn't linger and returned back to the AT where I had left my pack and found Wookie. We descended the mountain and came to a trailhead parking lot where we saw a couple hikers at picnic tables. We went over and sat down. One was a SOBO and one was Chris who was hiking for a few days. We chatted while we ate and rest. We were excited to also be able to throw away trash! The little things! We had to get moving again as we wanted to cover 9.4 more miles and it was already 4:30. We headed up. I chatted with Chris for a couple miles. He is an arborist from Massachusetts who used to run marathons and triathlons and other outdoor activities. Finally I had to hurry on. The last mile up Baldpate was another steep one and I could feel my quads were fatigued but I powered to the top only to discover I was only on the west peak and I thought I was on the east peak. The trail continued down west peak and across and exposed gap to the east peak which was also an exposed rock climb. The wind was blowing so hard as an ascended east peak I was grateful it was at my back and not a headwind or I might not have made it up! It was a very cool climb because there were no trees but it was hard to stand still in the gusty wind. At least it was clear and you could see! The trail continued across the peak and was still very exposed for quite a while. Descending was a little harder since the wind was now pushing me from the side as I hiked down the rock face. Finally I made it to the protection of the treeline. More steep descent. Wookie caught up and we continued on. It was 7:30 and we still had 4.6 miles to go once we finally passed a very crowded Frye a Lean To. We were both exhausted from a very long day but there weren't other places to camp and we wanted to get to East B Hill Road where Catch Up had told me there was a campsite. The mountains and trail in Maine are littered with fallen trees and debris which makes the trail very messy and tedious in places. Storms have really made a mess of the forest and it looks like a tornado went through many sections. We crossed a stream and had to scramble up a very eroded bank. We saw some flattish areas and decided to camp there. In the dark we couldn't tell it was the blue blaze trail to the falls.