Date: 2007-09-11
From: Frye Notch lean-to

To: Speck Pond lean-to
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: light rain

What a cold, miserable day. A light rain started falling in the morning, and by the time I climbed up Baldpate, the misty rain was half sleet with a stiff wind blowing in my face. Baldpate is fairly exposed so I had to keep my glasses in my hand as I walked because they kept fogging up and getting covered with rain and sleet. The climb up wasn't too bad, but damn was it slick trying to navigate from one end of Baldpate down the other side. The trail down the mountain went over a sheer rock face, forcing me to put my glasses in my mouth commando style to free up both of my hands in case I started to slide down the rock. I took my time and fell just once, eventually making my way down below treeline. It was the most hazardous conditions I've faced so far and I took a break at Baldpate lean-to before pushing on to Grafton Notch where I encountered a road I knew led into Bethel.With the conditions as they were, it was tempting to stick my thumb out, but I resisted, took a picture of the big AT sign by the road and was informed by my camera that the battery was about to die soon. What a piece of shit. I really think it lies to me because the batter power indicator drops to one bar with a quickness but I always manage to get quite a few more pictures out of it, sometimes several days worth. Oh well, I'll conserve so I can get a couple shots at the New Hampshire border. I crossed the road and started climbing up Old Speck. As I was ascending the rain started up again, and by the time I reached the top I was completely overjoyed to see the sleet return. The climb up was fairly covered and I hoped beyond hope that the drop down the other side would be the same. No such luck. It was just as exposed as Baldpate - more so actually. At one point in the descent, I actually slid about 10 feet on bare rock, miraculously keeping my balance by "skiing" down the rockface. I rolled into Speck Pond shelter at 2 p.m. and decided to break for some lunch. Two other guys were there, a nobo thru-hiker named "Nice" and a section hiker, Don, who was waiting to meet up with some nobos. Nice, who had come from Full Goose lean-to 5.1 miles to the south, had gone through Mahoosic Notch and up the Arm in the shitty conditions and decided to call it a day. I couldn't blame him - to the point that I decided to call it a day, deciding I'd spend the eight bucks to stay. He told me the descent down the Arm would be completely over exposed rock. Faced with that and the notch itself, it wasn't a hard decision to take a nap and dry out some clothes.The two nobos Don was waiting for eventually showed up - Peach and Edge. They also went a tough 5.1 through the notch and decided to stop at Speck Pond. The rain wasn't making life too enjoyable for anyone. Don gave me a pleasant surprise by informing me the caretaker had left for the season the previous night and therefore the night's stay was free. Unfortunately that pleasant surprise was balanced by the unpleasant surprise I received when going to get water; the source was brown. Don said it was a result of tannic acid seeping into the ground. Since I had no water I decided to roll the dice and drink it anyway. Guess I'll see what happens.