Date: 2014-08-15
From: Carlo Col Shelter

To: Jim and Ann's house via Grafton Notch
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: clear sky

One thing I'm learning about the AT is that as the terrain becomes more rugged, the scenery becomes more spectacular. Today was no exception, as Grub and I climbed through Mahoosuc Notch, considered the toughest mile on the AT. Unlike the well-known notches in New Hampshire, such as Franconia, Crawford, and Pinkham, which are wide enough for roads to run through, Mahoosuc sits between two vertical rock walls a thousand feet high and is no more than 50 yards wide. Over the eons, massive boulders, some the size of houses, have fallen from the cliffs above and collected in the ravine, and the AT runs lengthwise through this jumble of boulders. So little light filters downs into the narrow slit that ice remains year around in the caves formed below the boulders. I'd been anticipating with trepidation the hike through the notch for weeks.Yesterday's traverse through the notch did not disappoint. It takes a typical hiker between one and three hours to cover the single mile, and Jeff and I made it in an hour and a half. After 30 minutes, my arms, shoulders, and chest muscles were screaming in protest from the exertion of lifting my body over, under, and around the massive boulders. On three occasions we had to remove our packs and shove them through narrow cracks before climbing through ourselves. By the time we reached the far end, my nerves were frayed, and I joked to Grub that I needed a stiff drink.The reward for making it through Mahoosuc Notch is the Mahoosuc Arm, a steep, 1600-foot ascent of the peak on the far side. I found this climb, which was exhausting but not treacherous, helped soothe my shattered nerves.On the run-up to the notch, we crossed more alpine bogs. On one occasion, Grub leaped across a large gap between two boardwalks, slipped off the far one, and had one leg disappear into the muck up to mid-thigh. Were it not for the fact that he was straddling the boardwalk with his crotch as he struggled to extract his leg, I would have had to throw him a lifeline instead of teasing him about playing in the mud again.After reaching Mahoosuc Arm, we hiked along a ridge past a mountain lake called Speck Pond to the summit of Old Speck, the first 4000-foot peak in Maine along the AT. From the lookout tower on its summit, I called Jim from Maine, who'd met me though this journal and had offered to put Grub and me up for the night at his house near Sebago Lake. We arranged to meet in Grafton Notch at the base of Old Speck in two hours.Jim was there when Grub and I arrived with a bag of treats including cold beer and fresh fruit. On the drive back to his house, we stopped to pick up pizza and I did a minor resupply at the grocery store next door.Jim and his wife, Ann, own a house built in the 1800s where Nathaniel Hawthorne, the American novelist, once lived. They've filled their house with antiques they've bought at auction over the years. After a pizza dinner, during which I talked about my adventures on the AT, and Jim and Ann explained the finer points of buying at auctions, we sat in front of a big screen TV to watch the first half of the Patriots game, during which I promptly fell asleep.Thanks, Jim and Ann, for sharing your home with Grub and me. Experiencing the contrast between the rugged Mahoosuc Notch and your elegant house today was truly remarkable.