Date: 2011-09-12
From: Mahoosuc notch camping

To: Grafton Notch
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: clear sky

The big day had arrived. Well, maybe just an anticipated day. Whatever it's called, the hike through Mahoosuc Notch loomed before us. Basically, it's a one mile rock scramble known as the longest mile because of its technical difficulty. We decided that we would hike it as a group to help anyone who needed it. Where we camped was not to far from the start of this section. I was grateful to be with such a wonderful group who had a willingness to stay together and help anyone in need. My experience with others had not been that good in this regard.        They would stop to help anyone in need but to hang back to be there just in case seems to be a rate trait. I wasn't sure how I was going do in the notch so having someone nearby was comforting. It took us about four hours to get through but we did it without anyone getting hurt. Most of the time, the climbing around was similar to what we had experienced in the Whites. A few places required us to take our packs off do that we could climb under some large boulders. My arm was not a factor other than just forcing me to be slow and careful about how I approach it. Of course, Ally, "Guinness"s dog just showed us up. She jumped from rock to rock looking at us as if to say, what's taking you all so long? She didn't need to be carried at all through this section. When we finally emerged there was much rejoicing. While in the notch, "Biscuit", "Velvet" and "Bumblebee" caught up to us. It was great to know that they were right around where we were. The hope was we would get to hang out at a shelter or camping area. They were moving faster than us so they got out of the notch before we did. We decided to hike to a spot where we could very water and have lunch before hiking up Mahoosuc Arm, the climb right after the notch. It seemed anticlimactic after going through the notch even though it was a long climb. Of course, the view at the top was spectacular as usual. We could look back and reflect on the hike through the notch as well as the hike over the past days. "Charity" and "Hopeful" were the only two missing from the group at the summit. We continued to the next shelter and regrouped. We recognized that we would not be able to make it all the way to the shelter just beyond the next road crossing. Thus, it was decided that we would find a camping spot somewhere along the trail. We started down off the mountain towards Grafton notch where there was a road crossing. We had no desire to go to a nearby town because of the expense and the distance to the town from the trail crossing. Once we got through all of the rock scrambles, the hike down was fairly easy. The running joke in the group originated with a German guy named "Navigator" who hiked with the group for a while before moving ahead. When "Guinness" mentioned one day that part of the trail in the Whites looked fairly flat for a change, "Navigator" asked, "Are there unicorns too?". So whenever we got to a move section of trail, we would ask each other if there were unicorns around. The trail down to the road crossing was certainly that way. The only place that had water nearby was fairly close to the road crossing. I normally don't like to be that close to a road crossing but at least we were able to find a camping spot back on the woods a few hundred yards. The other nice thing about camping there was the privy that was there at the parking area. "Biscuit" joined us but "Velvet" and "Bumblebee" ended pushing ahead not knowing that we had stopped at the road crossing. "Hopeful" and "Charity" stopped at a camping area just short of where we stopped. They needed to stop because it was getting so late. We got set up and had dinner. We all sat together do we could socialize while eating. Afterwards, we headed for our tents and called it a day.