Date: 2013-07-04
From: Speck Pond Lean-to

To: Carlo Col Shelter
Miles today: 9.5

DAY 25MILES ON AT FOR DAY- 9.5 MILES TOTAL FOR DAY- 9.7HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!! You all probably spent yours sipping beers and grilling burgers. I'm jealous of you don't get me wrong, but I got to hike an amazing part of the AT to celebrate my July 4th and I got to spend it with family Oh and Nightwalker too. He decided to stick with us!Today was the day we would hike "The Notch". I knew my Aunt and Uncle had been looking forward to doing this the whole trip and so was I. The Mahoosuc Notch is considered the most difficult or most fun mile on the AT. It is a mile long boulder field that you at times have to take your pack off to squeeze under and through rocks. It's hot above the rocks, and then you'll dip down through the rocks and the temperature will drop 20 to 30 degrees. There is actually still snow and ice in the notch and typically there is all year round! Before we could reach the notch we had to come down what they call "The Arm" from the shelter which is a very, very steep section leading down to the notch. It took us a long time to get down with all the rocks being so slick from rain days prior to. Luckily the weather was looking to be in our favor though which would make doing the notch a lot more fun. When we got down to the notch you could feel the cold air coming off the rocks already. It was so cool! As we started to go into the first small boulder squeeze I ended up slipping and banging my elbow. Good start. No really though the rest of the mile was amazing. We had a blast climbing through there. It was nice to finally put my poles away and use my upper body and hands! It was very technical but like a playground for adults. It took us a little less than 2 hours to get through the mile (all photo ops includes) and I wouldn't have wanted to spend July 4th any other way!... Well except for maybe having a beer at the end of it! Instead of a beer we had lunch before we took on the rest of the day. We had to hit 5 peaks but all not too tough of climbs. For a long time, our hike was spent on the ridge between each peak where you could actually see what was coming up next. The skies were clear and it was such a nice change of scenery. And of pace and terrain! Half the time of the ridges we were on big bridges (mostly nice ones) going through meadows! We were really taking our time and just enjoying the weather and views but being Maine, we could start to hear thunder in the distance. After about 2pm or 3pm everyday you never knew what you were going to get. This made us pick up the pace. Nightwalker went ahead, wanting to get to the shelter before rain. Soon after I did too and we were all just trying to go at our fastest pace to get there. The last 2 miles I spent just pushing to the shelter. You would be on a ridge and then dip down into the woods, and then up on a ridge again. The ridge is not where I wanted to be when I could hear thunder cracking above my head. This was my first experience having this sort of weather while I was out hiking. I started to practically run to get to the shelter and thankfully I ended up making it there just in time to beat the rain! Nightwalker was already there and my Aunt and Uncle followed only maybe 10 minutes after. Everyone safe and sound. The shelter was awesome! It was like a little cabin. It was two floors and of course I wanted to stay on top. In the shelter was a NoBo section hiker named Candyman, a father and son doing a few days, and another guy on his own doing a few days. We had dinner and as a celebration of July 4th we all combined forces to do a little special dessert! We combined white chocolate chips, Swedish fish, and chocolate covered blueberries. Sort of red, white, and blue? Oh and Nightwalker tossed in someSnickers It was perfect. I almost felt like I was in town or at home! A bit later a NoBo hiker named Joe The Hiker came in. He was from Texas and had lost 40lbs on the trail. These men and their weight loss on the trail... Psh.As I fell asleep the thunder went away but faded into fireworks going off. It made me sad for a moment that I wasn't home but I would be in a few days. I was going to take a zero day in Meredith, NH to see my family and boyfriend. After a month on the trail it would be really nice. I listened to the fireworks and went to bed