Date: 2008-08-23
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Baldpate Lean-to
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: broken clouds

Day 163 -- Up early (not as early as planned,but that's ok) so we can hit Mahoosuc Notch early and not feel rushed. Little by little our brigade headed out, leaving behind SOBO Tinker and the SOBO group that loudly night-hiked into camp at 2 am last night. We passed the Atlanta crew for the last time before the Notch--nice hiking with them--hope the rest of their hike goes well. I entered Mahoosuc Notch at 8:07 am and had a great time. I passed Silver, a SOBO section hiker--very positive and affirming of what was to come. The Notch is a boulder-filled ravine where the Trail went over, under, and between rocks of all sizes. I had a blast. I ended up catching up to Jackaroo because of one of the multiple spots where one has to take their pack off to get through a hole between rocks. His camera bag fell 7-8 feet down under a large boulder. Neither of us could get under there. We waited for Sofaking and his rope, but 10 O'clock came along at the same time and he fit down in there and got it. I continued on, in good spirits until I slid down a rock a little too fast...I was ok, but it scared me a bit, so I stopped for a break. All those guys passed me and I was the caboose for a little bit. I was crawling through a bunch of rocks and met two SOBOs on the other side. With snack break and camera fetching break included, I did the 1.1 mile long Notch 1 hour 45 minutes longer than anyone else in my group, but not too bad for Take-My-Time Peanut. I took a break for a few minutes with some of the guys and then headed up the Arm. I really enjoyed the climb. Most of the guys passed me and a group of three young SOBO backpackers, too, one of whom was descending in his crocs. He was doing it to make a point. He says our feet are weak because of special shoes/boots and that not having the support will keep his feet strong. Anyway, I stopped near the top with Jackaroo and Sofaking met us. I snacked and moved on to meet Wrongway at the shelter. It was a nice hike to Speck Pond Shelter and he, Rocksteady, Butters, Site, Pathfinder, 10 O'clock, Double D, and Quiet Riot were already there. Most of them were there for a while and little by little they set off to conquer Old Speck Mountain. I left alone and made the rocky (slabs mostly) climb. The sun was beating down and the views were great. On the way down I stopped to chat with a father/son duo from Pittsburgh and ended up hiking down some with them. I really enjoyed talking to them. I left them to try to close the gap between Wrongway and I. He wanted to do 15 miles today and if I can stay close enough to him, I might be able to pull it off (depends on the terrain--it's slowed me down recently). I heard some hootin' and hollerin' coming from further along the trail, and since it sounded like Rocksteady and Butters, I answered back. Sure enough they were resting by a stream with Double D. I took off my pack and joined them for a snack. A SOBO, Pathfinder, and 10 O'clock passed and I left too, catching up to the latter two close to the bottom. When we came out at Grafton Notch, we met up with Quiet Riot and we hung out at the picnic table near the parking lot for a while. We read in the sign-in that Wrongway and Site got trail magic sodas, but there was no evidence of any left...bummer. I climbed up toward Baldpate Shelter, meeting lots of nice day hikers, including a man who just climbed his last of the 100 tallest NH (or New England?) peaks--congrats. A woman in the group gave me two homemade chocolate chip cookies--WOW! When I got to the shelter, they had decided to stay--I was glad. I would've kept going because Wrongway wanted to, but I didn't really want to. Everyone, except Butters and Plus Mike (NOBO thru) stayed at the shelter. It's really nice to be around so many fun-loving people. I'm really glad this bottlenecking happened. You know--new stories, new jokes, different energy, and stuff. I love who I've been with and continue to want to hike with all of them--but it's nice to have new/different people around.