Date: 2005-07-23
From: The Cabin, Andover, ME

To: Mahoosic Notch, ME
Miles today: 17.4

17.4 miles todayMahoosic Notch, Maine I had stayed up later than normal last night and I had a harder time getting up this morning. I didn't roll out of bed until 5:50am...breakfast was at 6. ;-))) I can't say enough about how good the breakfast is at The Cabin. All you want of anything and there's a big selection. I had been thinking about staying one more day and just doing another 10 miles between roads, but I would have had to walk north and I was afraid I might miss seeing Goldilocks. Mrs Moosie had said that he left Gorham yesterday, so he could be in this area by now. I packed my backpack after breakfast and asked Bear if he had any parts to fix a Leki. The tip on my hiking pole was broken and I didn't want to go through Mahoosic Notch with a broken tip. He had one and had it fix in just a few minutes. I said my goodbyes to everyone. That's always the toughest thing about leaving places you really like. I made some good, new friends while I was there too.Bear took me to the trailhead at East B Hill Rd and I started walking south at 8am. I got near the summit of Surplus Mtn and saw a deer bounding off. It's fairly rare to see a deer along the trail here in Maine for some reason. I got to the Frye Notch Lean-to and ran into Bars and Cotton Joe there. Cotton Joe and I had met at Trail Days earlier this year. We talked a while and I hiked on. I continued climbing one of my favorite mountains on the A.T....Baldpate Mountain. It was a good climb and I eventually got above tree line. The day was cool and in the wind above tree line, it felt cold so I didn't stop like I had planned. I still enjoyed the views, but I had to keep moving or I would have had to dig out my jacket. The East Peak is my favorite because of the views. The West Peak has more trees on top. I hiked down to Baldpate Lean-to and stopped for water and to eat some lunch, then I hiked the rest of the way down to Grafton Notch. I really like this part of Maine because of the rough terrain and beautifull views. I started a long, fairly steep climb up to the summit of Old Speck Mountain. I ran into 2 nobos. Captain Crunch was one, but I can't remember the other's name...Colonel something. I continued up the mountain and ran into a familiar face. A guy I hiked around some down in Tn earlier this year by the name of Snowdog. He said that KB and SB were behind him a ways. I had hiked around them too. We talked for about 10 minutes before I continued climbing. I ran into KB and SB near the top of Old Speck. They seemed to still be enjoying their hike. When I got to the top of Old Speck, I had to keep moving again because the wind was still blowing cool. I found a spot that I had stealth tented before and sat down and ate dinner. This was the spot that I woke up to the best sunrise I had ever seen a few years ago. Had I cameled some water up the hill, I would have stayed, but I didn't have enough water for coffee in the morning, so I walked on. Coming down Old Speck, I ran into Mrs Moosie's little boy. :-))) Mrs Moosie, you'll be glad to hear that Goldilocks looked great. He's still got a big smile on his face, so he must still be liking his hike. He was with Biscuit and Chairman. Mrs Moosie gave me orders not to hold Goldilocks up too long talking, because he has to get to Katahdin before school starts. We only talked about 15 minutes and they hiked on with plans of sleeping on top of Baldpate Mountain tonight. It's going to be very windy up there and probably pretty cold. I stopped at Speck Pond Campsite and got water before hiking on. I did the long, steep down of Mahoosic Arm and decided to tent at Mahoosic Notch on the East end tonight. I'll go through Mahoosic Notch first thing in the morning. I ran into English Bob just as I was looking for a place to set up my tent. He was going to try and catch Biscuit tonight. He said he ran into my good friend Frogcaller down in Vt a couple weeks ago. I'm in my tent, it's getting dark and I'm getting sleepy...goodnight.