Date: 2016-08-01
From: Carlo Col Shelter

To: Mahoosuc Notch North Campsite - Mile 1,914.9
Miles today: 7.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was TOUGH! It was expected to be tough and exceeded my expectations in terms of how difficult it was. I was probably tired from yesterday but I think today would've been hard even if I was completely rested. Mahoosuc Notch is referenced as the hardest or most fun mile on the AT. I suspect that Subman thinks it is the most fun while Suds and I think it is the hardest mile so far. Mahoosuc Notch's reputation is richly deserved. It is set between two mountains. My understanding is that the mountains collided and created this notch with huge boulders dropped by the two mountains. I'd read that the boulders were the size of school buses but I don't think many were that big. What was there were plenty big enough and the boulders had to be carefully climbed and then used to reach the next boulder. This was by far the most hand-over-hand climbing to date and there was some sliding down on my butt to reach the next boulder too. I can't imagine hiking it by myself. Subman led the way and talked through how he managed from one set of boulders to the next. Suds was great and went out of her way to let me know about specific crevices or tree roots used for hands or feet. It took us a little two hours to hike this one mile - it seemed like it was never going to end. Strong hikers and rock hoppers will love it. I was glad not to have fallen. The hike before Mahoosuc Notch was hard too. I slipped on a round stepping stone and quickly fell. Fortunately I wasn't hurt. I think we were all tired by the time we began Mahoosuc Notch. My goal today was to stay with Subman and Suds and not hold them up. We leapfrogged a few times but I was able to keep pace with them up to Mahoosuc Notch. Total hiking time today was about 8 hours for almost 8 miles. Rain was forecasted and held off until we finished Mahoosuc Notch.   A campsite exists at the north end of this notch and we all agreed that the smart thing to do was not attempt to climb Mahoosuc Arm today. Subman thinks Mahoosuc Arm may be the hardest mile on the AT so we'll tackle that one tomorrow with the hope that the rain will end before then. The campsite is filling up now and I think we're all glad to be safe and dry since we had time to set up our tents and have a hot meal before the rain began.Today's photos won't be available until another day since I don't have Internet access here in the notch. While talking with Suds today as we hiked I shared with her some of the terms Beth and I use as quick descriptions. A "Greylock" view indicates being amazed that we hiked as far as we did in a short time and we realize this by being able to see the place we hiked from in the distance behind us. The "Ramicone method" is a term created by and skillfully used by one of our best friends in Pittsburgh. The concept Art Ramicone created is to do a task poorly enough that you'll never be asked to do the task again. I told Subs before we hiked Mahoosuc Notch that I envisioned "Mahoosuc" to become one of our terms to describe something that is painfully hard to accomplish. I'll see if Beth is willing to use that one since I'll forever remember today's difficult mile. While climbing today I passed a spotted frog that was trying to jump over a stone about 6 times its size. It made me smile as I stepped around it. Hope the frog made eventually made it. I know I'm glad to have made it too.