Date: 2009-08-20
From: stealth past Mahoosuc notch

To: Baldpate Lean-to
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I got up at 6:47 to a very nice morning. My campsite was so peaceful and I took my time eating and packing up and did not leave until 8:20. I soon reached a pretty brook and heard a familiar screeching sound. I looked up to see a red squirrel sitting in a tree branch, flapping his tail and defending his territory. He really did not want me there! I was quite amused, as I had had a similar interaction with a red squirrel in the White Mountains a couple of years ago. (Erik thinks we have the same stubborn energy). I finally let him be and started up Mahoosuc arm. It was long, but not nearly as difficult as I had heard (which always seems to be the case). I think it definitely helped that I started off with fresh energy. When I reached the top, I called Erik to let him know I was fine, and then called the lady at the Pine Ellis hostel to make sure I had a place to stay the following night. She told me that if I planned on getting to the Frye Notch Lean-to, that I had a long day ahead of me!       I could see the path in front of me, which looked nice- a boardwalk of planks between two granite mountains. Then, I made my way down toward Speck pond. It was beautiful and I wished I could have stopped for a little swim, but again, I felt like I had no time to do so. I pressed on to the shelter and sat down for a break while I read through the log. The caretaker was standing nearby, composting the privy, but did not say a word. I was getting the feeling that he was unfriendly, and almost didn¢t want to walk by him to get to the water source. I read through the entire registry (backwards) until I got to the very beginning, where the caretaker had written a note, which he signed, ¢Caretaker/Beau/Footloose¢ Underneath, it said ¢GA-ME ¢08¢. Footloose? I knew him! But I couldn¢t reconcile the happy guy that was thru-hiking with the person that was now working near me. I went over to him and asked him if he was Footloose and if he had hiked the AT last year. Then, I told him that I had met him in Vermont on my first backpacking trip and started to recount the conversation we had. Still, he didn¢t look quite the same, and of course, he did not recognize me. But, as I reminded him of what we talked about, some of the memory came back to him. I asked him if I needed to purify the water here, as I was just about out of steripen batteries, and he advised me to save them for a more sketchy water source. He said he never purified his water here. I gave Footloose a message for Braid if he came by, chatted with him a bit more, signed the registry with my new (full-circle) story, and got going. Footloose told me I had an easy 3.8 miles of downhill ahead of me and that it would be no problem to get to Frye Notch Lean-to.       I climbed up the mountain and stopped to eat my lunch, as I was now hungry again. As I moved on, I saw a sign letting me know that the summit was 0.3 miles away. Then, I saw a fire tower. A man caught up to me and started asking me questions. At first, he thought I was just starting out on my hike. Then, he thought I was 3-4 days from finishing. Neither one was true... I climbed the tower ladder and took in the views, chatted with the man again, and headed off again. But wait, that wasn¢t the trail! It was a blue-blazed path. I turned around and went on a different path into the woods. That wasn¢t the AT either! Where was it? I went back the way I came in, tried a different path, but ended up turning around from that as well, as it seemed too overgrown. So back I went to the fire tower. After 40 frustrating minutes, I realized that this was the fire tower Footloose was talking about- the one he said was not worth going to unless I wanted to summit all the 4000+ footers in Maine! Somehow, I thought he had meant it was on Baldpate mountain! So back I went, retracing my steps, and getting back on the AT, which lead down the mountain to Grafton Notch. I don¢t know why Footloose described it as ¢easy¢, either! It¢s best not to listen to guys in their early 20s when they describe the terrain and how ¢easy¢ it is. Everything is easy for them!      As I was nearing the end of this section, I saw a familiar Santa Claus tin ahead on the trail. Trail magic (just like in Port Clinton)! However, this time it was empty. When I got to the Notch, I took a little break, ate a piece of candy, dumped out my garbage, and put on some bug spray (the bugs were bad!). I looked for the trail across from the signs, but only found bathrooms. Then, I saw Ducky coming out of the woods without her dog, Madison. I had last seen them at White Birches. We crossed the road and headed up the next climb. I was completely out of energy and knew that Frye Notch Lean-to was out of reach. At 5:50, I reached the path to Baldpate Lean-to and knew I was done for the night! Ducky decided to stop in to eat her dinner, and there were two other southbounders in the shelter. I collected some water and joined them. As I ate my chili mac, it began to sprinkle and we all moved our things into the shelter. My energy started to return and I became more chatty. I made some hot chocolate and ate a candy bar for dessert and we read about the ¢midnight moose¢ who had been visiting this shelter. I wondered if it would come near my hammock. Band-aid talked about the thigh-deep mud in Maine and made our eyes turn wide (it turned out that he only experienced that after falling off a bog-board). Ducky moved on, knowing she would be night hiking to get to the next shelter, and Skeeter and Canteloupe, along with two other guys came in. I set up my hammock and the girls set up their tents. All of the guys stayed in the shelter and joked about their guys¢ club.