Date: 2014-08-02
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Pine Ellis Hostel via Grafton Notch
Miles today: 9.7

So we made it through the toughest couple of miles along the AT - unfortunately not without casualty. Big Dawg tweaked his foot again - not as seriously as before, but enough where it hurt him to walk - glad to be at a hostel tonight to let him rest it up!Had a very early start to the day - not totally by choice since our neighbors were up making noise at 5 am! They were not quiet about it either so we got up and packed up - much more efficiently and quieter than our neighbors! Turns out their group did a hurry up and wait - they made all that noise but they didn't even leave camp by time we had left.We finally made it to the Mahoosuc Notch - the most fun or difficult mile on the AT! A deep valley between mountains full of boulders and trees that we had crawl over, under, around, and sometimes through! It was a very unique phenomenon to be hiking through and I thought it was fun trying to navigate the boulder jumble! You never knew the path you were going to take and we even found ice in the notch - IN AUGUST! Fairly chilly in some spots along the way and it was refreshing pauses in the notch scramble. The notch was cool - literally and figuratively! The notch was still pretty tough to hike - it took us 2 hours to make it through from one end to the other and by that time Big Dawg was wiped! His feet had started hurting pretty good because of all the twisting and odd movements through the notch and the constant exertion wore him out. We took a break at the end of the notch and the bottom of the arm - the next part of the trail to conquer.The Mahoosuc Arm is not talked about as much as the Mahoosuc Notch but it still very difficult to climb - especially after going through the notch! Luckily it wasn't raining when we went up it but the climb up the arm took another toll on Big Dawg - we were moving pretty slowly up the climb. Don't underestimate the arm - it is a tough climb with sheer rock faces and running water and no breaks! Took us another two hours to complete the arm - so four hours to do 2.5 miles!We slowly worked our way to the top and rested Big Dawg's aching paws. While sitting there we met a NOBO hiker named Jukebox - an appropriate name since he came across us with music playing from a little speaker. A nice fellow he passed by quickly aiming for lunch somewhere. We also started moving shortly afterwards since we too were ready for lunch - decided to eat near Speck Pond Shelter in case the weather turned to afternoon showers.Nice lunch at the shelter with Jukebox, a SOBO, and a gentleman who was out for the weekend with his teenage kids. He was a local so he gave us intel on the trail ahead - sounds like another steep climb is coming followed by a steep down - surprise surprise! Turns out the gentleman was half right - the climb up towards Old Speck Mountain was steep as predicted but not as bad as the other climbs we have come across. We also met the caretaker for Speck Pond on the hill coming back from doing trail work - a cool fellow!Before starting the down to Grafton Notch it started to sprinkle but quickly stop - think we avoided the rain today! The climb down to Grafton Notch was not as steep as the guy told us and we made decent time down the hill - Big Dawg's foot was still hurting him so we walked at the speed he could manage. Hate to make him keep walking on it but the only out was the notch. Ran into several people out for the weekend enjoying the trail and finally made it down to Grafton Notch - time for rest!We had called the Pine Ellis Hostel from the mountain so we only had to wait five minutes for the pickup - no service from Grafton Notch so call them from up high! The shuttlers gave us lemonade to sip on the way to the hostel and we just sat back and relaxed - Big Dawg was happy to be off his feet!Pine Ellis is a nice place! The hostel is set up with three rooms in the house and a bunk room behind the house. The laundry machine is in the garage near the house and they have a good hiker resupply as you need it. The owner Ilene is very friendly and lively for an older lady and it was a fun place to stay! We settled in and immediately went to the nearby Little Red Hen for Pizza Night - all you can eat pizza! Several old friends were staying at the hostel tonight - Shroomer, AZ, Hass, DFI, and Cape! They had done the slackpacking around here and were moving on to the next section tomorrow - cool catching up with them before they moved on! Good food and good times at the Little Red Hen!Overheard Shroomer with sage words about the AT: people hike the trail for1) The natural beauty and surroundings2) The people you meet on the trail3) The people you meet near the trail (trail angels)A great summary of the allure of the trail - all important aspects for a great thru-hike and a good time! Since Big Dawg foot was still hurting, we decided to take a slack tomorrow to test his foot out. Hopefully getting off his foot and some rest will help him out!