Date: 2004-07-29
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Baldpate Leanto
Miles today: 12.0

Started at: Full Goose ShelterEnded at: Baldpate LeantoMiles: 12Here are a few little mpeg videos from early on in the trip. I forgot we even had these:Georgia and North Carolina Border 360 Degree View From Albert Mountain in Georgia Walkin Down The Trail With Sasha This Links To All Of Our PicturesThis Links To All Of Our MoviesThe real journal entry:Today was the big day. Mahoosuc Notch, known widely as the toughest mile of the whole trail. Mahoosuc Notch is basically a crevice where the bases of two mountains meet. These mountains are very very old, so over time they've been worn away little by little. Don't get me wrong; they're still big mountains. Only not as big as they used to be. Over the course of many thousands of years the huge boulders that weathered away have collected in the notch between these two mountains, creating something of an oversized rocky jungle gym. We got an early start this morning and were filled with excitement and nervousness as we headed into the boulder scramble. We began by descending about 15 feet and immediately we noticed the temperature dropped an easy 20 degrees. Here it is late July and you could see ice down in the cracks between boulders, ice that never melts all year.It was incredibly slow going, but so much fun. The path in front of us was neither uphill nor downhill but was certainly not a straight line. We scrambled up, over, under, and between the huge rocks piled all around us. We used our hands as much as our feet. In places we had to take our packs off and drag them behind us in order to squeeze through a narrow crawl space. I found that my poles were more of a dangling encumbrance than a help to me, so I strapped them to my pack and went after the jungle gym hands-free. Mahoosuc Notch is like nothing we've seen out here. When I looked around at us I noticed wide grins had spread across every one of our faces. Leki, Arwen and I had gotten an early start this morning ahead of the rest of the gang so we wouldn't end up too far behind. They all caught up to us about halfway through the Notch - Footloose, Camel, Mountain Man, Walk On and Waldo. We were all having such a great time marveling at this incredible rock pile that we took a load off at the first - and only - relatively flat spot we came across and had a snack together. Traversing terain like this, you can't help but keep reminding yourself to watch your step. One false move and you could end up hurt pretty bad. It's not like some of the steep slopes we've climbed up and down, where a wrong step could cause a 200 foot fall. If you fell in here, it might not be all that far down but you'd surely land on some painfully sharp spire or find yourself stuck in a crevasse. Sure enough, we heard later this afternoon that a girl broke her leg in there behind us today. Or possibly her arm or hip. She was with a girl scout camp, I think. (News travels quick out here, even if some of the details are a little fuzzy.) One thing's for sure. It must have been incredibly painful for her and incredibly tedious for the group she was with to get her out of there. I had a hard enough time getting my own tired body through. I can't imagine trying to rescue someone else.Camera 1 & Camera 2Heather & Arwenvaughan@pocketmail.comhttp://www.hobbithole.net