Date: 2005-07-27
From: Full Goose Shelter and Campsite

To: Bethel Spa Motel - Bethel, ME
Miles today: 9.7

Miles hiked today : 9.7I woke up this morning at 6:00 a.m., packed up, and hiked out with Michael and Sean at 7:00 a.m. For safety reasons, we had planned to pass through Mahoosuc Notch together. The morning started out with a minor climb over 0.5 mile stretch, followed by a 915 foot descent over 1.0 mile to the entrance of Mahoosuc Notch. "The Notch," as we've been calling it, is 1.1 miles long and is often referred to as the toughest mile of the AT. In essence, the Notch is a jumble of huge boulders that must be navigated over, under, and around.I arrived at the entrance of the Notch at 8:10 a.m. and was somewhat dismayed as rain began to fall. The presence of rain meant that the boulders were going to be slippery and the already dangerous route would be even more so. Before I reached the Notch, the air was warm, though as I dropped into the entrance, the temperature fell and the air felt chilly. I could see pockets of ice in crevices which appeared to be in the path of sunlight on a regular basis, which made their presence rather peculiar. Fortunately, I didn't have to cross any patches of ice. Sliding on my back side was rather common as I progressed through the Notch and 0.1 mile in, I hit the 1900.0 mile mark of the AT. Overall, traversing the Notch proved to be tricky and at one point, as I lowered myself while resting on my stomach, I slipped and scraped my right shin on a rough surface, losing a couple layers of skin, as well as striking my right forearm on a ledge. Ouch!In all, it took 2 hours, 20 minutes to cover the 1.1 mile length of the Notch. I passed through 3 rock tunnels, the first 2 of which I had to remove my pack to pass through. The last was a bit dangerous, as I had to step over a large gap and then crawl and climb upward through a rock tunnel. As I climbed upward, I realized that I was nearly stuck. With my pack on my back, I didn't have much leverage to pull my body upward. Trying not to panic, I slowly maneuvered upward, then slipped and started to fall downward, though I quickly scrambled with my feet and managed to hug a boulder to keep from falling. My heart was racing, though I had a smile on my face, as I was highly enjoying this experience. I'd been looking forward to the Notch long before my AT hike began and wasn't going to let anything ruin it, not even a little rain. Of course, my spirits might have been adversely affected had I had a bad fall.I emerged from the Notch at 10:30 a.m. and at 10:40 a.m., I stopped for a 15 minute rest and snack break. Immediately following Mahoosuc Notch is Mahoosuc Arm, which is a steep climb up an incline primarily composed of sheer rock faces. At 11:55 a.m., after climbing 1,585 feet over 1.6 miles, I arrived at the top of "The Arm." On the way to Speck Pond Campsite, I slipped on a wet rock and landed left knee down in a very soft bed of moss. Cha-ching, fall #33. If only all of my falls could be that pleasant. I arrived at Speck Pond Capsite at 12:25 p.m. Not including my break, it had taken me 5 hours, 10 minutes to hike 5.1 miles, which is probably the slowest pace I've ever traveled on the AT.I stayed at Speck Pond Campsite for a 1 hour, 15 minute lunch break. Immediately after the campsite was a 740 foot climb over 1.1 miles to the side trail to the summit of Old Speck Mountain. The sky was clouded over, which meant there were no views from any of the peaks. As such, I bypassed the side trail to the summit of Old Speck Mountain and, at 2:25 p.m., I began the 2,682 foot descent over 3.5 miles to Grafton Notch. Thankfully, the descent was well graded and the only obstacle was that it began raining again. With approximately 1,000 feet left to descend, the rain fall intensified to the point where my boots and clothing were soaked within a few minutes. At this point, it sounded like a good idea to try to hitch into Bethel from Grafton Notch (ME26) to get a hotel room, though by the time I finished the descent at 4:25 p.m., the rain had ceased to fall.Michael arrived at Grafton Notch with me and also wanted to hitch into Bethel. We waited for Sean, who arrived at 5:15 p.m. and began hitching. We'd initially been hitching with only our thumbs, though at 5:50 p.m., I pulled out my "Hiker To Town" sign. There had been very little traffic on ME26 and at 5:55 p.m., just as we were about to give up, a truck pulled over. I truly believe that my sign made the difference. The driver, Stan, drove us 17 miles to the Bethel Spa Motel and we were given a great rate, $65 for a pair of adjoining rooms.We had checked in at 6:30 p.m., gathered together our wet clothing and walked down the street looking for the laundromat. We didn't see the laundromat, so we ducked into a pizza shop. The service was lackluster and it took over an hour for us to get our pizza, though it was rather tasty. After eating, we found the laundromat, though it closed at 8:00 p.m. We returned to our room where I journaled while listening to a movie.Shortly before journaling, I called Opa at The Cabin in Andover, though I reached a voicemail system. Hopefully I'll be able to reach him in the morning to ask him to meet me at the trailhead so that I can avoid hitching into Andover. It may be a bit tricky to get back to the trail in the morning. Hopefully we'll get another "miracle" hitch such as the one we received into town.Bedtime at 11:25 p.m.