Date: 2016-06-28
From: White Mountains Lodge & Hostel via Rt. 2. 

To: Carlo Col Shelter 
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: overcast clouds

I surprisingly felt very little motivation to go today. With rain in the forecast for later today and all of tomorrow, and being so comfortable here at the hostel, I didn't really feel like getting up and going, even if it meant going to Maine. I surprised myself by it. Breakfast was a sort of pizza casserole type thing, but also there were some leftover breakfast burritos that I had. Wonka and Sorority Steve were around chatting in the morning, and Wonka began interviewing him for her project (I believe she is getting a little stipend from Duke for doing this and will write an ethnography paper on thru- hikers). She said she would interview me too if I wanted and it became harder to break away. Finally, leave I did. Along with all the other familiar faces I saw yesterday came the first wall of Sobos I had seen together, about eight of them. I guess that'll just sort of be the name of the game from here on in. Better start getting into camp earlier, I guess.The day's hiking began with a roadwalk across a dam of the Androscoggin River, which was frankly very pretty as roadwalks go. It turned left into the woods until finally spitting me out onto a trailhead for Mt. Hayes, which overlooks gorham to the west. The woods were very picturesque, and reminded me quite a bit of connecticut woods. As I ascended higher, though, they turned back into what i have come to expect from new hampshire, that is, open slabs of granite populated with a few shrubs and stands of trees. The sun was beating down heavily, and I got quite warm crossing these large open areas. Mt. Hayes had a number of false summits, and frustrated me. The trail, which has consistently gone by other names in the whites, became the Mahoosuc Trail, which is the last of the names other than simply the AT. The network of trails which I have been following for more than a week is fading away, and the AT is becoming once again the only trail around. The day was full of small ascents and descents of 1000 feet, and was pretty exhausting, what with my pack more full than it has been since North Adams or Kent. The trail also passed by numerous ponds, which are becoming more and more the theme of the trail.The last big climb of the day was mount Success, which I had been told was a real ass-kicker. It went pretty alright, nothing crazy, but it did feature a few scrambles that made me think about just what sort of terrain I am putting up with more regularly now. I had to heave myself over some climbs that simply are not thinkable anywhere in the south. Welcome to the Mahoosucs, I guess. Everyone said this is the hardest part. The other main trail difference is how much puncheon there is. Whenever I get to a flat place now, it seems to be covered in boardwalks in some state of decay. Every flat place in these parts is a bog I suppose. I crossed one such bog at the top of Mt. Success, and came out to a spit of rock, where a gold disk marks the summit. I took numerous pictures of "Success," especially because this is the last peak in New Hampshire. The view back to the presidentials was lovely, and the view ahead to the Mahoosuc range was covered in mist, spooky. I descended off the mountain and into a little col, and then a few small climbs later, I found myself in a clearing with a sign I've been waiting to see for months, and indeed, years: Maine. I did not hesitate, but walked over to the sign and gave it a big hug, with a huge smile on my face. I had done it. I had walked from Georgia to Maine. This was a huge moment for me. Now with under 300 miles to go, and only one more state, the end is in sight. It's time to start counting down rather than up. Big K, here I come. I pushed on a little further up a hill to a turnoff for Carlo Col shelter. I wasn't hugely happy about having to go .2 off the trail downhill to the shelter, but with all the rain forecasted, I was not about to go stealth somewhere. Plus, even though it was only 4 o'clock, I was pooped. Today was hard. Down at the campsite were already two groups of boy scouts, one American the other Quebecois from their accents. They are all tented out, however. The shelter itself is a little cabin, with only an open doorway, with two shelves of bunks and a surprisingly bright interior. Inside were two women who are section hiking. I changed my clothes and set my things out to dry in the sun and the breeze outside. The water is pretty low right now with all the nice weather, and the water source was the first time in a while I've had to use a leaf. The rain that had been forecast to hit all afternoon held off almost the whole evening though, only beginning to drizzle right before I went to bed. Another Sobo came in late and we discussed challenging parts of the trail that lay in either direction. Tomorrow it's supposed to rain all day. If it's truly awful, there's no way I'm heading out, because first thing: the Mahoosuc Notch!