Date: 2007-09-04
From: Gentian Pond Campsite

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: clear sky

Today I finally entered Maine, my 14th and final state on the AT! A cold front must have gone thru last night. I woke up to colder temps (42), cleat skies and strong gusty NW winds. The reputation of the Mahoosucs as a rugged and remote mt range showed itself today from the moment I left the shelter. The trail began to climb immediately from the shelter, then went back down again then abruptly climbed again. This time however the climb continued steeply for more than 1,000' and nearly 2 miles to the open rounded summit of Mt Success.The summit of Mt Success was a broad expanse of Krumholz and boggy flats of blueberry, bog billberry, mt cranberry and leatherleaf. The summit was whipped by the full force of the winds and was a cold place to be. I measured wind gusts of 37 and temp of 41, making for a wind chill likely in the low 20's. I had gotten hot coming up the steep climb and was wearing only shorts and T-shirt when I broke out on top and had to quickly put on a wind breaker.The view from the summit of Mt Success was wonderful, especially to the south to Mt Madison and Mt Washington. The trail then began a series of short but steep ups and downs over rock ledges for several miles along the crest of the Mahoosuc Range. Eventually I arrived at a sign saying "Welcome to Maine, The Way Life Should Be". I stopped for a snack and soon JB, Iceman, Gypsy Spirit and Speaks Little had all arrived. We took pictures for each other at the sign. We have now hiked 1,892 miles from Springer Mt and have only 281 miles left to go to Mt Katahdin. Now we can truly say we have hiked from GA to ME. It seems hard to believe we are finally in Maine after walking towards it and thinking about it for the past 5 months. We wondered why we were the lucky ones to be sitting here at the sign, and why so many others we knew had not made it but dropped out along the way.I spent the reminder of the day walking with JB and Iceman as we scrambled up and down over many steep rock ledges and crossed many open summits and ridge saddles. In many places I carried my poles and used both hands to lower myself over rocks or pull myself up steep pitches. I took a number of photos of JB and Iceman scrambling up and down various pitches to lend perspective to the terrain we were passing thru. Going up the south side of Goose Eye East Peak we came to a long steep ladder at the top of a very steep slope and we passed cameras back and forth as each of us climbed up it. There was a wonderful view from the ladder looking back south to Mt Success, the southern Mahoosucs, and the distant Presidential Range.From the open ledges of the Goose Eye Mtn North Peak we got our first good views of the famous Mahoosuc Notch nearby to the north. We will tackle it tomorrow AM. On the summit the winds continued strong and gusty. I measured peak gusts of 37 mph and a high temp for the day of 51. Fall seems to have arrived, at least temporarily.The final mile to the Full Goose Shelter was along what appeared to be a relatively smooth and open alpine ridgeline with sonderful views north to Old Speck and mountains beyond. It turned out to be brief open ridges broken by sharp steep descents and ascents across hidden canyons.I arrived at the shelter about 4.30. Popeye and Lightweight had been there for some time already. Eventually all the thru-hikers from last night showed up to stay. Kilgore Trout came in later as well.Today the Mahoosuc Range proved it was a very rugged and beautiful mt range. The feeling from every viewpoint was one of a wild and remote range of peaks that few people hike in. The views north and south from the trail were spectacular under the cold clear blue skies. It was a wonderful day of challenging hiking terrain with incredible views at every open summit and rocky ledge. This may turn out to be one of my favorite mt ranges of the trail.