Date: 2016-09-19
From: Carlo Col Shelter

To: Grafton Notch/US 26
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: light rain

Carlo Col shelter in Maine at mile 1907.8 to Grafton Notch State Park/ME 26 at mile 1921.9 for 14.1 milesHighlights of the Struggle is Real. Mt Carlo 3565', Goose Eye Mtn 3810' and it's several peaks, Fulling Mill Mtn 3395'....then....wait for it....pause for dramatic effect....Mahoosuc Notch. "The most difficult OR fun mile of the AT" "Make your way through jumbled pit of boulders." At 2165'. Big & Animal say yes to both. "Difficult at the time, but yet fun!" Then they went on to Mahoosuc Arm at 3770'. Big commented that the trail went off a cliff, yes a cliff! To the shelter last night. They both thought..."that can't be the way", but it was. (I forgot to mention that yesterday). After the arm came Speck pond and then the Eyebrow. I met trail maintenance volunteers, that are currently building new trail with over 500 rock steps on Eyebrow trail. Today I met, Quiet from Norfolk VA and Foxy from Tallahassee FL. With them was GI Joe, who needed some booboo care. So, I gave him some wipes & hydrogen peroxide for his head and leg gashes. They all had coffee and cell phone charges.WishBone & I met a Tour Group that hiked a mile to Table Top trail & back. WishBone got some love from the ladies, even a treat from one lady with dog cookies in her pocket. Bluejay, Blister & Trout did hello & goodbye pitstop. Not in need of anything except trash dump and this park offers a can, so...easy peasy! Carrot arrived in need of a water bottle. She was going to dig one out of the trash, but I gave her our small Sawyer bag, when we see her she can return it, but it's ok if we never see it. Not the end of the world and she doesn't have to get one from the trash can!! She did look though lol. Thankful she didn't have to.Boobytrap and Gandolph had coffee with Carrot, then the 3 were off again. Babushka W/ husband Spudnik from Philly arrived early evening and visited and had coffee. Then, I finally met Liz. She is trail supporting, Jay, her husband & Katie 18 yr old daughter. We sat and visited for several hours!! A delight!! We had just called it a night at about 7:30, moments later I hear voices & see head lamps, from North & South directions. Our hikers arrived at the same exact time! It's a God thing, Liz exclaimed!! Definitely, I agree!!We got dinner, foot care, pie from Jo & Frank. They are from FL & big hikers! Even gave us DVD's of their hikes. From all over the place. Jo even hiked from Key West to Newfoundland!! Astonishing!! They shared a pie, they bought on the side of the road. Yes, instead of a fruit or vegetable stand it was pies & woopie pies. With a leave your money, honesty box! The pie was blueberry & blackberry and Animal loved it. I didn't worry that Big wouldn't like it, he likes everything! Except grape jelly! Several times today Big Cypress & Animal heard...you can't or you shouldn't do the notch & arm on the same day. Well, hind sight, they wouldn't, but they did and lived to tell the tale. Several falls were taken. Animal thought for sure dad was gonna need a helicopter off the trail. But....after 5 minutes rest, and MUCH surprise by both, nothing broken and off they went!! Big said, "God took care of me on that one, cuz I knowI should've been all broken."I had found a decent stealth spot for Animal and helped him set up his tent. Big & I talked for a longer than usual time tonight, not really getting to sleep until after 10 pm. "It's so good to be here with you, I really miss you on the trail", Big expressed & to sleep we went.