Date: 2010-09-19
From: Andover

To: Grafton Notch
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Grafton Notch,    On the drive into Success Pond Road this morning we had a cow moose in the road and it ran the road in front of us for about 14 mile before it jumped off into the woods.   I have not been looking forward to Mahoosuc Notch. I have done the Notch two time in the past and it is just time consuming and strenuous.  We started the Mahoosuc Notch today at 9:24 am and finished it at 11:00 am. Two hours and 15 minutes. I could not go through it any faster because I was slack packing with Rocket today and I promised her that I would stick with her today. She has short legs so she had trouble getting up some of the large boulders.  When we were about half way through the Notch Big R came upon us. Us three stay within eye sight through the rest of the notch until we going close to the end and Big R disappeared from sight. Rocket and I stopped at the first flat area at 11:00 and we ate our lunches. After we packed up and moved on we ran into Big R who was just around the corner eating his lunch. If I had known that we would have walked a little further and ate lunch with him. His legs and arm were all bloody. I asked him what happened and he said he slid down a boulder about 12 feet and tried to stop himself with his arm and his legs bounced around too. He stayed and finished his lunch and said he was going to clean his injuries up at the next water crossing.   If I had tried to come through the notch with Hopper and her dog we would have taken a lot more than four hours just for the notch. It was have been a very miserable day for me babying and carrying a dog through the notch.   After the notch came Mahoosuc Arm. I was a little rough but not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. The notch is not really bad either. The notch does take some time to get through because it is like a giant jungle gym for adults. You have to stop at times and access the situation and figure out what it the best way to get up and over or under or around the boulders. Other than that it is fun. You just have go into it with the attitude that it is fun.   When coming down Old Speck about half way down Big R caught up to us. We were running later than we had expected and Big R did not know where he was going to the night. I told him that Hopper was going to be picking up Rocket and myself and he was more than welcome to come to The Cabin and say there if he wanted to. I explained the arrangements and he was more than willing to come for a night.   We ran into a two southbounders, one was a female named Ace who flipped in Manchester, VT. The other person we ran into a little later was a guy named Fudgepacker. It was a weird name and I did not even dare to ask him how he got that name.   It looks like Rocket and I are going to slack pack again tomorrow together from Grafton Notch to East B Hill Road. Big R will start off with full pack and continue on, we will not see him back at the hostel tomorrow.   It is a little over 10 miles and should not be a problem. We tried to talk Big R into going with us and coming back here tomorrow night but he is worried about getting to Katahdin before it closes and wants to move on. I had planned on slack packing while in the Andover area through the three road crossings so it is not a big deal for me. I think I am one or two days behind schedule right now though. I am going to have to find a way to make up two days between now and when I summit if I was to make it to Katahdin on the 8th or 9th. I do not want to arrive at Katahdin no later than the 10th.   Big R told us how he got his trail name. He picked it himself before someone gave him a name he did not like. He and some friends made up gangster names for themselves when they were younger and he got the name Big R. The R was for his first name of Rofus.