Date: 2017-08-26
From: stealth site just before Mahoosuc Notch

To: stealth spot by stream
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: overcast clouds

The mileage does not at all reflect the work we put in today! Holy cow. Any of the pieces of what we did today ¢ Mahoosuc Notch, Mahoosuc Arm, Old Speck Summit, up the super scary ladder up the observation tower ¢ any one of those on its own would have been a big challenge. A month ago, I probably would've reserved the whole day for Mahoosuc Arm. But we did all of them today!I started by eating three packets of oatmeal with peanut butter, knowing I was going to need the extra calories. And Mother Nature set about trying to make her pack as compact as possible, anticipating the tight squeezes we would be doing. We both stowed our poles. I wore my sleeping pants, figuring I'd be on my knees and butt a lot today. Then off we went.Mahoosuc Notch: A little ravine or valley, filled with giant boulders and loose suggestions for the path through them. It was basically, you look out, see two options, neither looks good, you pick one and keep going. :-)I actually like the tactical parts of climbing a lot ¢ but I'm not a fan of sheer drops, and of course, doing it all with a ginormous  pack.We took turns leading ¢ and it was interesting to see our different approaches. Mother Nature tries to avoid sitting on her butt on rocks. I am *all for it*.We used our hands a lot. There was one descent that was a sheer rock wall with a thick, fixed tree root hanging down.  I basically used that and my arm strength alone to rappel down! Mother Nature took one look at that and decided to do something else.We only had to take off our packs once or twice to pass under rocks. I got videos of one of them.We saw almost no one. But I did think it was funny when I heard a SOBO probably only 5 feet away, but still couldn't see him because of the rocks!Once again, it was a mile of trail that took us 2 or 2 1/2 hours to complete. But it was a lot of fun as well as challenging and we laughed a lot through it.After that, we headed to Mahoosuc Arm. I don't know why it has that name¢¦ Although the singular "arm" made me think of Trogdor the Burninator.Mahoosuc Arm was a long, long, long climb. We still had our poles stowed, because it involved hand climbing as well. It was exhausting. I played a lot of music to get through the morning. 1500 feet over 1 mile!At the almost-top of the arm, I collapsed onto the rock ("corpse pose!"). We ate more snacks.Then it was a down a bit to Speck Pond, where I took some lovely photos of lily pads.And then there was MORE climbing to go up Old Speck.  It was just long, giant slabs of rock angled up into the sky. You could walk on it - the rock was grippy - but it was relentless. And as we got higher, the wind picked up¢¦ And it was echoes of Madison! The views were stunning, but honestly I didn't look back much, because I was so focused on keeping my balance and moving up.The Prodigy song kicked in again at one of the hairier moments. It really is aural courage!I honestly don't know how I made it up some of those sections. It's like some primitive animal part of my brain took over. Finally, that was done too - and Mother Nature wanted to do the side trail to the fire tower. So along we went. I wasn't sure I'd do it ¢ I've chickened out on fire towers before. And this one ¢ are you ready for this ¢ was a single, continuous *ladder*.Mother Nature went up first. Then I went up halfway. I probably would've stopped there if it was just me ¢ but she was at the top, encouraging me. So what the heck, up I went. The 360 degree views were, of course, incredible.And then we continued on¢¦ And I just ran out of gas. We'd been joking for hours that our bodies were like cars with the fuel light on...and the car was on fire. Mother Nature was feeling muscle pain. I didn't have that, just insane fatigue. I was zombie-walking with just about nothing left and we only went seven something miles. So as I said, the mileage really doesn't reflect the day. Maine is *hard*.We watered up, came to the campsite, and proceeded to eat as much as we dared ¢ knowing we can't resupply until my friend Kristin picks us up Monday morning. I ate a 750-calorie meal (the cheese enchiladas with tortilla chips inside - my new favorite), but my darn stomach was STILL rumbling. So then I threw in two packets of oatmeal and a cup of coffee.I had strange dreams last night. In one, Kickstand wanted to quit the trail and I was trying to persuade him to continue.I woke up a few times - once because the ground was cold and I'd somehow gotten off the Thermarest. In the dark, I tried to straighten it, and it wasn't until the morning that I realized I was practically perpendicular in the tent.In the morning, I woke up to the sound of pinecones pelting the ground around my tent. Squirrel warfare?There were times today when I was laughing so hard, I couldn't climb! I feel really fortunate to have made a friend on the trail - yet again, close to the end ¢ and sad to say goodbye. I could totally go to Katahdin with Mother Nature and be done in a matter of weeks, but it's not in the cards for me. I will have that adventure in the future.I'm glad I decided to get off the trail after Mahoosuc Notch. That's not an area where you want to be earning trail legs!