Date: 2004-10-21
From: Speck Pond Trailhead

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: clear sky

¢Back on the trail¢First things first.I absolutely loved the Mahoosuc Notch today. I loved the hell out of that boulder-ridden mile of trail. It is now officially one of my favorite sections of trail anywhere. But, more on that later. Now, back to your regularly scheduled program...***Ah, I like sleeping in until 7:00. 7:00 isn¢t actually considered sleeping in, is it? Well, 7:00 is late compared to what time I¢ve been getting up these last few mornings. When I awoke at seven this morning I felt like I¢d slept the day away. But, I hadn¢t. There was still plenty of day left to do plenty of things.Today was the day that Ross and I set out to tackle the Mahoosuc Range and the White Mountains. That¢s right. Ross has decided to come and join me on the trail for a few days. He¢ll try to tell you that I dragged him into it, but don¢t be fooled. This was all Ross¢s idea. He said he wanted to do it and I said he should and that was that. I¢m going to have a hiking buddy. It¢ll be great.I¢ve been looking forward to this day. I¢ve been looking forward to these mountains.After one final incredible breakfast made by the loving hands of Holly, Ross and I gathered our gear and decided it was time to hit the road. I said goodbye to Holly and thanked her for her hospitality and the great breakfasts. Ross and I piled our gear into the car and with Mandi behind the wheel we were off. And, of course, there was no direct route to the trailhead. There was no direct route to East Andover either, which we were going through so we could check on my maildrop.When we finally did arrive in East Andover, we almost drove right past the post office. (You would think I hadn¢t been there two days before). I walked inside and before I said anything the postmaster informed me that my package still hadn¢t arrived. Seriously? She was kidding, right? Of course not. Why wouldn¢t it take nine days to mail a package from North Carolina to Maine? It makes perfect since. Wait. No it doesn¢t. So, yeah, the postmaster double-checked and confirmed that my package is definitely still out there somewhere. We just don¢t know where.I returned to the car empty handed and a little frustrated. I am now officially annoyed with the U.S. Postal Service. Seven days, maybe. But, nine days? Come on. It¢s not like the package was coming from Alaska or something. I¢m not going to go into it and I¢m not going to dwell on it, just so long as we know where I stand. U.S. Postal Service = Bad.We stopped by the Cabin so that I could talk to Margie and Earle. I rang the doorbell and an older woman answered.¢Hey there, I¢m Grizzly Adam.¢¢Ah, of course you are,¢ Honey says, reaching out to give me a hug. She tells me that my package hadn¢t arrived and I said I already knew, as I¢d just come from the post office. Margie invited me inside while Ross and Mandi waited in the car. The Cabin is a beautiful place. We went upstairs to the kitchen and chatted for a few minutes. I told Margie about my recent adventures and she inquired as to what my plans were. I told her that Ross and I were picking up the trail and heading south. She asked what she should do with my package when it arrived and I said I had no idea. I told her it wouldn¢t really do any good to forward it since I needed this stuff for the Whites and I¢d be going through the only town on Saturday and it was already Thursday. The next thing Margie said kind of caught me off guard. It kind of blew me away.¢Well, when are you going to be in Gorham?¢¢Saturday. I have to get there before the post office closes at noon because, hopefully, there is another maildrop waiting for me there.¢¢Earle and I are going down to New Hampshire for a wedding reception on Saturday. We could stop on the way and meet you if you wanted.¢¢Excuse me? Really? I couldn¢t ask you to do that.¢¢It¢s no problem. This is what we do. We don¢t mind at all.¢¢Really? Wow. That would be great.¢¢Well, let¢s just meet at the post office at noon, then.¢¢Wow. Are you sure?¢¢Of course. This is what retirement is all about. We love this stuff.¢¢I guess I need to go ahead and retire, then.¢¢I¢d say you do,¢ says Honey.I¢m completely blown away by the kindness of others. By the kindness of strangers. By the inherent goodness of the AT community. I have really been blessed with the company of incredible people on this trip. Wow. I didn¢t know what to say to Honey for offering to hand-deliver my package to Gorham. It just really completely caught me off guard. I thanked Honey again and again as we walked back to the front door. I told her that I¢d see her on Saturday and she wished Ross and I well in the Mahoosucs.We drove through Andover and took East B Hill Road to Maine 26. Traveling down Maine 26 towards Grafton Notch, I could see that both Baldpate and Speck Mountain were still covered in snow. It made me wonder about the rest of the Mahoosucs. It made me curious about what the trail had in store for us. It made me wish I had my crampons and ice axe. After turning onto Success Pond Road just before reaching Grafton Notch, we began to look for the trailhead. I knew it was down this road, but I just didn¢t know how far. I¢d heard that the Appalachian Mountain Club uses very small white signs to mark the trailheads on this road. Part of me figured that if we drove long enough I¢d eventually start to recognize things since I¢d been here before and know we¢d gone to far. Of course, I was only kidding myself. The last time I was on this road it was about twenty degrees and there were 8 inches of snow on the ground. It looked completely different. This is the point where I start to fake myself out. Of course, I¢ll try convince myself that we¢ve gone too far and passed it when really we haven¢t gone nearly far enough. Just when I was certain that it was time to turn around, there appeared a little white sign on the left-hand side of the road.The trailhead for the Speck Pond Trail. I was returning to the spot where I bailed out of the Mahoosucs almost a year ago to the day. Last time I was here; I was bruised, broken, and completely beaten. I was sick of it. I was ready to quit. Not today, though. Today I was ready to do some hiking. Today when we parked at the trailhead and started putting on our packs, I was excited. I¢ve wanted for quite some time to return to these mountains. Before they started kicking my ass last year I was thoroughly enjoying them. So, I was glad to be back.With packs on our backs, Ross and I bid Mandi farewell and set off into the woods. There was no snow at the lower elevations. Everything was brown and green. The temperature was in the thirties, but it felt good. I soon found my rhythm and put some space between Ross and myself. The trail followed a creek, crossing it a few times, for about a mile and a half. This first part of the trail wasn¢t bad at all. But, I knew it was going to get much steeper as we neared the top. There was a two thousand foot difference between the trailhead and where we would pick up the AT at Mahoosuc Arm. I stopped at a small creek to snap some pictures. Ross caught up to me and stopped for a minute before pressing on. I told him I would catch up in a little bit.The trail left the creek it had been following and immediately began to climb. It was a gradual climb, but a climb nonetheless. I could hear Ross hiking up ahead and it wasn¢t long before I caught up to him. We stopped for a second and then he steps aside saying, ¢After you.¢ I take the lead and again put some space between Ross and me as I begin to climb the now steep trail. The moss and trees are covered in bits of snow and ice. Nothing too serious, just a trace. I¢m feeling good. Much better than when I was last hiking a week ago. I¢m feeling strong. My legs feel good. My feet feel great. My lungs tingle when I breathe in the cold air. I finally reached the Joe May Cut-off Trail. I dropped my pack and just stood there, admiring the view and catching my breath.It was a little cooler at the higher elevation and there were still traces of snow and ice, but no accumulation. The sky was overcast, but the clouds were high. I could see the valley and a few towns. The sun was forcing its way through the clouds in some spots, highlighting some parts of the valley. The trees in the valley still had color. Mostly yellow.I left my pack and followed the Cut-off trail towards the Mahoosuc Arm. After about a hundred yards I came out onto some open rocks and stopped. The view made me weak in the knees. Really. To the north stood my old nemesis, Old Speck Mountain. She stood proud. And, from what I could see, she was free of snow and ice on the south side. The fire tower on the summit looked tiny from my vantage point. The rest of the Mahoosuc Range was to the south, with the sheer walls of the Notch rather prominent in the foreground. Past the Mahoosucs towards the horizon lay the White Mountains. Their tops were above the clouds. Their flanks were covered in white. It appeared as more of a yellowish gold because of the way the sun was hitting them. They were beautiful. Very excited, I ran back to my pack just as Ross was arriving. He began to unbuckle his pack to take it off, but I told him to leave it on and follow me.Back at the open rocks we took a nice break. Ross was completely winded and soaked through with sweat. He seems to be a little out of shape. He¢ll be the first person to attest to that. He says he has gained twenty pounds since coming off the trail earlier this year and has done little to no exercise. As for me, I was ready to tackle some mountains. This was the first time since the beginning of my adventure that I was excited about doing some hiking.We pushed on. I gave that bad betty, Old Speck, one last glare before we dropped back down into the trees. It wasn¢t too long before we picked up the AT at Mahoosuc Arm. We dropped eleven hundred feet over the next mile towards the Notch. It was intense. It was wicked steep. Was this really the trail that we were hiking on, or had we somehow veered off onto the face of a cliff? I felt like we should have been tied off on a rope or something so we wouldn¢t slip and fall. A few times I did slip and fall. Ross would ask if I were alright and I would laugh. Sometimes I just fall for no reason when I¢m hiking. (Oh, I think I¢ll slip and fall now. That was fun). I would pick myself up and we¢d continue on our way.We stopped for another break not long before we entered the Notch. I pulled out my secret weapon. I¢d been saving it all day because I knew I¢d need it pretty soon. Ross has created a secret weapon. A weapon that is sure to get any hiker through any day. Ross has made a sweet concoction called the ¢28-mile cookie.¢ I¢m not exactly sure what is in them, but it is something to the tune of: oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chips, coconut, dried cranberries, pecans, and other assorted bits and pieces. Ross spoke highly of them when he was making them last night, but I was a little hesitant. I rationed out a few for the hike. I took my first bite and knew that I didn¢t bring enough of these things. Holy crap. These cookies are (pick one of the following adjectives) ---amazing, bizarre, boss, curious, darb, exceptional, fab, fantastic, flash, gnarly, heavy, inconceivable, incredible, marvelous, odd, outstanding, particular, peculiar, phenomenal, primo, rare, remarkable, singular, some, special, strange, stupendous, surprising, terrific, tough, uncommon, unfamiliar, unheard-of, unimaginable, unique, unprecedented, unthinkable, unusual, unwonted, weird, wicked, wonderful, zero cool.With snack time over, we pressed on.Next stop: the dreaded Mahoosuc Notch.I¢ll just go ahead and put the stats out there for the fun of it. The Notch is a mile long. It gains about 300 feet from north to south. That bad boy is full of rocks, roots, and boulders. Some of the boulders are bigger than your house. Word has it that some hikers have taken upwards of four hours to traverse this mile of trail that goes over, under, around, and through these house-sized boulders. Ice can be found in it year-round.I was excited about the Mahoosuc Notch. I¢d been looking forward to this for quite some time. The Notch intrigued me. I just couldn¢t comprehend how it could take a person four hours to walk a mile. I wanted to see what this nonsense was all about.Like I said before: I absolutely loved the Mahoosuc Notch today. I loved the hell out of that boulder-ridden mile of trail. It is now officially one of my favorite sections of trail anywhere.At four o¢clock, Ross and I entered the northern end of the Notch, where a jumbled mess of boulders greeted us. For the next hour we crawled over, under, around, and through this rock playground. I led the way with Ross close behind. We kept our packs on as long as possible, but eventually ended up passing them through where the squeeze was tight. I threw my trekking poles over rocks and into cracks and was surprised that they didn¢t end up lost forever beneath a boulder somewhere. The Notch was quite a workout. At just after five o¢clock we exited on the southern end. What a fun time. If we¢d had more daylight, I think I would have gone back through the Mahoosuc Notch a few more times. Without a full backpack, I could spend an entire day in the Notch. It is like a mile long playground.We decided to take a short break before pushing on towards dusk. The sun was setting and we still had a mile and a half left for the day. I didn¢t mind hiking in the dark. Ross was worn out, but I was feeling good. The climb up to the South Peak of Fulling Mountain was very steep. The ascent was made easier with the aid of rock and log steps that had been dug into the trail. The AMC even went so far as to build ladders on the side of the mountain where the trail climbed a smooth, granite face. I sat and waited for Ross at the top of one of these ladders and watched as the last rays of sun faded into the night sky. Ross had mentioned that his headlamp was buried at the bottom of his pack, so I got mine from the top of my pack and gave it to him. Ross sat down and I continued up the trail.It is kind of funny. I don¢t have great vision at night, but sometimes when I¢m hiking, I have really great night vision. (If that makes any sense). Even with the slightest bit of light from the stars or moon, I can still find my way down the trail perfectly fine. I can see every rock and root and have no trouble keeping a decent pace. The moon was shining fairly bright this evening and even through the woods I was able to continue hiking. Out onto Fulling Mountain the trail opened up, winding across the summit over bog bridges and rock surfaces. The moon shone brightly and the temperature felt good. I could hike all night like this.I stopped and waited for Ross to catch up again and we both began the descent to the Full Goose Shelter, guided by the light of my headlamp.I think we were both a little surprised to find two other people here tonight. They are tenting behind the shelter and have a roaring fire going. We chatted with them for a bit before heading to the shelter to set up camp for the night.I am glad to have a hiking buddy with me. This next week is going to be a great adventure. I am looking forward to the beauty that awaits in the mountains to the south.p.s.- This journal entry was capitalized and properly punctuated in honor of my friend, Cap¢n. He seems to like things better when they are capitalized. So, this one is for you, buddy.