Date: 2004-09-12
From: Full Goose Campsite, ME

To: Upside Down
Miles today: 12.0

This morning the rising sun projected beams of light through the spruce trees illuminating the sides of the trunks with an amber glow.As I ate my breakfast, a movement in the trees caught my attention. A squirrel was casting a shadow upon the amber glow on the trunk of the spruce tree. The shadow appeared to scamper down the side of the trunk. The actual squirrel was descending another trunk about eight yards away.My sore left ankle felt better at the start of hiking.The first ascent of the day took me up to the south peak of Fulling Mountain (3,395 feet). In the upper elevations, there was a mix of forest and open areas. Game trails, probably created by moose, intersected with The Appalachian Trail. These game trails piqued my curiosity. I felt an urge to wander down one of them and explore the nooks and crannies of the upper elevations of the mountain.I resisted this wanderlust and descended into a narrow gap between two steep mountains. I had entered Mahoosuc Notch, the most obstacle ridden mile on the entire Appalachian Trail. The bottom of the notch is strewn with hundreds of boulders, some of them gigantic, and thousands of rocks. These boulders and rocks lie on top of each other haphazardly. In between these boulders are small caves, gaps, chasms, and crevices. Incredibly, The Appalachian Trail passes through this morass.It is considered an achievement for a hiker to pass through the notch without taking off his backpack. This was the goal set by myself, Hans, and T-Bott.Using our hands, feet and knees¢sometimes it was necessary to crawl¢we slowly made our way through this dangerous and challenging jumble of boulders and rocks. Each step, or sequence of steps, had to be considered beforehand. My wooden hiking sticks were sometimes useful, but I frequently tossed them ahead, or up, or down, and grabbed the boulders and rocks for additional support. I was crawling through a narrow tunnel among the boulders and tossed ahead my wooden hiking sticks. One of them fell into a chasm. This mishap was frustrating. That walking stick was an excellent one with a handle that bent in an ergonomically correct angle. It had taken me a long time to find it in the woods.I peered down into the dimly lit chasm and saw my walking stick lying at the bottom which was several feet beyond my reach. The chasm was too narrow for me to bend my arms and legs. There was another possible way to retrieve the stick. I took off my backpack¢so much for the no backpack removal challenge¢then asked Hans to hold my feet and lower me head first into the chasm.He complied with my request. I slowly dropped into the chasm with my hands leading the way. It felt cooler inside of this rocky chamber. At the bottom, I noticed another wooden walking stick; it was slimy to the touch. There was a plastic Gatorade bottle next to it. I grabbed my walking stick and told Hans to start pulling me up. When I was part ways up, I passed the stick up to T-Bott.At this point, I think that my legs and thighs were clear of the hole. My hands were pressing down on a wedge in a rock; this provided some assistance to Hans, who was holding my feet.It was decided that some photos ought to be taken of my legs sticking out of the hole as Hans held them. T-Bott removed my 35 mm rangefinder camera from my backpack. He did not know how to focus it and set the correct aperture and shutter speed combination. A bizarre situation ensued. As I hung upside down in the chasm, I shouted instructions up to T-Bott about how to operate the camera. He took a single photo with my camera, and then took photos with the cameras belonging to Hans and to himself.With the stick retrieved and the photo op finished, Hans pulled me out of the chasm.It took us two hours and twenty minutes to walk, climb, descend, and crawl through the bottom of the Mahoosic Notch; this included time spent taking photos. I felt tired from this physical challenge.And then came phase II¢The Mahoosic Arm. This is a steep 1,600 foot ascent out of the notch. I slowly climbed up the slope sometimes grabbing roots, branches, and other handholds to pull myself up, or maintain my footing at the most difficult sections.Talk about exhaustion! First there was the mile long jumble of boulders to traverse and then a long and steep ascent.When I reached the top of the The Arm, I was greeted by Will, my friend from back home. He had driven up from Massachusetts to hike with me for a day.We hiked together for a short time and stopped for lunch at the next shelter. T-Bott and One Way were also having lunch at that place. Will prepared some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for everyone.After that, we hiked for several miles to the road crossing at Grafton Notch, Maine. We enjoyed several viewpoints along the way.At a parking lot beside the trailhead, someone had placed a cooler for hikers which contained bottles of a sports drink. Will opened up his trunk, removed a cantaloupe, and cut some sections for me, One Way, and Bramble, a thru hiker from Connecticut. The fruit and sports drink hit the spot.I said goodbye to Will, crossed the road, and hiked up another 1,600 feet to a shelter on the slope of Baldpate Mountain. I strung up my hammock nearby.What a grueling day. The Appalachian Trail in Maine continues to exact a price in exhaustion and low mileage.But there were some highlights to this day. The Mahoosic Notch (not the Mahoosic Arm) was tiring but fun. I met that challenge with two thru hikers. A shared experience like that is what creates bonds and develops trail friendships. Later I was joined by a friend from back home.Tomorrow I will hike eight miles to East Andover, Maine where I will resupply and spend the night at a hostel.