Date: 2016-08-06
From: Frye Notch Lean-to

To: Mahoosuc Notch campsite
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: broken clouds

Today, I proved to myself that I'm probably as ready for the White Mountains as I will ever be. Starting from Frye Notch, I ascended East and West Baldpate, descended into Grafton Notch, climbed Old Speck, and finished the day off by descending Mahoosuc Arm. Tonight, I am camping at the base of Mahoosuc Arm, just before the AT enters Mahoosuc Notch. As an indication of how significant the terrain was today, it took me 9.5 hours to hike 12.8 miles, by far the "slowest" I have walked on my AT trek. The climbs up East Baldpate and Old Speck were steep, and the descent of Mahoosuc Arm was even steeper, likely the most demanding climb down I have thus far made. On this, my last full day in Maine, the weather had a few surprises for me. First, I awoke at 4:30 am to an hour's worth of rain that made my morning climb of East Baldpate slightly more difficult. Then, just as I was minutes from the top, the partly sunny skies gave way to a fog bank that enveloped the summits of both East and West Baldpate. With visibility quite low, the alpine zone cairns capably led me off the summits and down into more hospitable conditions. Then, in the early afternoon, when I approached the summit of Old Speck, again the clouds closed in, robbing me of blue sky, but offering me quite a view nonetheless (photo). Finally, just as I was about to descend Mahoosuc Arm in the afternoon, a ten-minute passing shower made the steep trail both steep and wet. This was the eventuality with which I was most concerned. I had heard time and time again that I did not want to descend Mahoosuc Arm in the rain, and now I was confronted with that reality. I had left the closest campground thirty minutes earlier under a brightening sky, and I had checked the weather to see that rain was not expected. I therefore thought I was in the clear as I stopped to take some photos of an alpine meadow atop Mahoosuc Arm. But just as I was putting away my phone, the sky turned dark and the short shower hit. Now what?Having stowed my umbrella, sun and blue sky quickly returned, and it seemed rather possible that the rain was over for the day. From where I stood, it was thirty minutes back to the last campground, or literally a minute or two the other way to start the descent. I decided to try my luck. Mahoosuc Arm would have been tough under any conditions. With the trail passing over large slabs of granite angled at ridiculously steep grades, one had to place each footfall with utmost care. Yes, the wet rock made it more difficult, but at least the rain had stopped, and I had left myself plenty of time to descend. Concentrating hard and moving quite slowly, I descended the one and a half miles in two hours. I never felt in danger or out of control, and I'm glad I made the decision to climb down. As a result, I begin tomorrow with Mahoosuc Notch, perhaps the most famous mile of the AT among thru-hikers. The Notch sits between two mountains which, over the millennia, have liberally shed boulders from their flanks. Gravity has assembled those boulders into a maze at the bottom of the Notch, and the AT moves through it for one mile. This one mile is referred to as both the AT's hardest mile and the AT's most fun mile. One climbs over, under, in between and through this jumble of boulders,making it like no other section of the AT. Every thru-hiker looks forward to it. Not every thru-hiker enjoys it. I'll be interested to see where I fall. From the moment I started planning my trek, Mahoosuc Arm, Mahoosuc Notch and the White Mountains have been focal points. All the trail literature treats them as the stuff of dreams. I'm so excited to be at this stage of my journey.