Date: 2008-08-01
To: 7 Months
Miles today: 0.0

The Mahoosuc Trail is HARD! I've hiked quite a bit in NH and ME, and this trail was definitely the most challenging. Dom and I spent 4 days hiking on the AT from Gorham, NH, to Grafton Notch (ME26) - total mileage was 31.1. Day 1 was a leisurely hike (very humid!) from Gorham to Tident Col Campsite. Luckily it wasn't raining because there is no shelter here, only a few camping areas. Day 2 was from Trident Col to Carlo Col Shelter. It POURED on us off and on all day, up steep river beds, through ankle-deep mud, and down slick rock faces and boulders. We dragged our soggy selves to the shelter around 7:30pm...luckily there were only 2 (smelly!) section hikers already there so we had lots of room to dry off, change, and hang up all our wet gear. We fell asleep, dry and cozy in our sleeping bags, to rain pounding on the shelter roof and wind whipping through the trees outside. It was perfect. It wasn¢t raining when we woke up on Day 3, but putting on wet clothes, socks, and shoes was tough. I started to dry out a bit as we started walking, and luckily it was another warm day. Just as I thought my shoes were drying out, as we sumitted Goose Eye Mtn, we had to dodge ankle- (sometimes knee) deep mud...I had a close call and almost landed in a couple feet of mud. Now that would have put a damper on our trip! We had a quick lunch break at Full Goose Shelter, and moved on to Mahoosuc Notch (notoriously known as the hardest mile on the entire AT). Of course, it started raining just as we entered the notch, making the rocks just slick enough to be treacherous. It was slow going through the notch, but it was fun and technical, and we had to take our packs off twice in order to squeeze between boulders. We saw the talked about dead moose (well, the bones that remain) that lost its footing in the notch last summer and fell right onto the trail. With broken bones, the moose was unable to move for weeks, until some hikers passing through the notch finally took it out of its misery and slit its throat. Poor moose :-( Now Tibetan prayer flags hang above the bones, which are visible 100 yds after entering the notch. Anyways, after the notch came Mahoosuc Arm which is tough, much harder that the notch in my opinion. And as we're climbing the arm, it started pouring (again) on us. Several slips and falls later, we summit Mahoosuc Arm and the rain lets up, and an amazing rainbow emerges right in front of us as we slowly descended to Speck Pond Campsite. We made it to Speck Pond around 7:30, and quickly set up our tent before it started raining again. Lots of thru-hikers already asleep in the shelter, including one very loud snorer, so I was gald we were tenting! We hung up all our wet clothes, but of course they were sopping wet the next morning. Bruised and battered, Dom and I emerged from the woods at Grafton Notch on Tuesaday afternoon. All in all, a great trip! We changed at the car, and headed to Gorham for some food. If my shoes and socks were this smelly after only 4 days of hiking, I wonder what the'll smell like after 6 months. I guess there's only one way to find out! In addition to taking a some time off for a 4-day hike through the woods, this trip doubled as a shakedown hike for the real deal next year, where I could test some of the gear I've aquired since last fall. I tested out my stove, backpack, and dehydrated meals.Stove (SnowPeak GigaPower) - I have nothing but good things to say about this little stove. We used it twice each day (for breakfast and dinner) without a windscreen, and water was boiling within a couple minutes. A small MSR cannister lasted all 4 days, and there was still fuel left over. We brought a backup just in case. Backpack (Osprey Ariel) - In just the 4 days we were on the trail, I'd say that every other person was carrying an Osprey pack. Most carried the Aura/Atmos model (the one I exchanged for the Ariel). I was very happy with my pack, although I'm going to have to try to rig up a way to hold a water bottle closer to the front of the pack for easy access throughout the day. The way the water bottle holders are situated now, its almost impossible to reach for water on my own. I noticed a rash on my body where the pack hits...around my waist and my shoulders. I had this issue with my Gregory pack last summer (when it was like 90 degrees with 100% humidity) but not when I was backpacking last November (when it was 30 degrees). I wonder if the rash is from the humidity or from wearing wet clothes. Either way, hopefully it will eventually go away after several days on the trail.Food - The dehydrated dinners I previously made were pretty good and took just minutes to make. After long, wet days on the trail, its nice to be able to make dinner quickly with little prep and clean up. I will have to make minor adjustments (e.g., the peas didn¢t rehydrate well in my curry rice meal), but I think this is the way to go for next year. I was getting tired of my lunches which usually consisted of a clif bar, peanuts, and hummus on tortilla. I'm going to start thinking of lunch ideas that I can add water to in the morning that will be ready to eat by lunchtime...I'm thinking tabouli (I have a great recipe from my boss), pasta/cous-cous, or salsa/black bean/rice that I can put on a tortilla. I like leaving the clif bars and peanuts for snacks in between meals, and not as my lunch...I'm going to need something a little more substantial. Also, I'm going toss around breakfast ideas...for 3 mornings straight I had instant grits with butter buds, and although it was nice to have a warm breakfast, I got tired of that quick, and that was just 3 days. I like having a warm breakfast in the morning because then there is usually warm water left over to wash my face, clean the dishes, and rehydrate my lunch.--OH, I forgot to mention the most important/exciting part about this whole trip...my knees didn't hurt!!! This is the first backpacking trip (in Maine) where my knees haven't bothered me. Three days in the Saddlebacks last year left my knees squeeling in pain, as did 3 days on the Grafton Loop Trail. They didn't hurt during a short backpacking trip in MA because the terrain was relatively flat. I guess my leg lift exercises really paid off! I'll have to continue doing those until March just to be on the safe side...