Date: 2006-07-21
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Speck Pond Campsite
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: broken clouds

A rather buggy night at Full Goose Shelter ¢ I had to apply DEET to keep all of the "little creatures of the night" at bay. Started early at 5AM with the prospect of Mahoosuc Notch and Arm looming.   A nice pleasant start in the cool morning over the South Peak of Fulling Mountain with dreamy misty vistas in the valleys below. Arrived at ¢The Notch¢ at 7:30AM and spent the next 3.5 hours negotiating it. What can I say? It is just as described. Large jumbles of rock that you climb up and over, go under, go around, or pray to be levitated over! At the start of the Notch I met with Pace Car and Mouse Hiker from Florida, out for a day hike, and they hiked with me through the first quarter of the Notch. They then finished the Notch and met me again on their way back with the welcome news that I was almost all the way through.   The notch is very hard work. It is literally climbing a mile of individual boulders and I was exhausted by the end, but like everything else on the trail you just take it slow and easy, one step at a time, and you get through it.   I got some photos of the ice in the bottom of the Notch, and I realy liked the cold air down at the bottom. When you climb up on top of a boulder you can feel the difference in the hot and humid air. Despite all of my concerns I did not have to take my pack off to get under any of the rocks, nor did I have to take my pack off and ¢pass it up to a friend¢ to get over any of the boulders. You can make it through the Notch even if you are hiking solo.   In the middle of the Notch I stopped to have lunch with two SOBO hikers - Pi [a matamatics graduate] and Laces ¢ who gave me Oreo Cookies. The father and son also passed me in the Notch and we said our goodbyes in the middle of the jumbled boulders.   Finally it was over ¢ and after a water replacement break it was on to the Mahoosuc Arm. This was the real back-breaker of the day! It is 1000 feet straight up ¢ and I mean STRAIGHT UP ¢ and having exhausted myself in the Notch it was a real balls buster. I thought that it would never end. I ached all over and at the end was pausing every few minutes, with my head down, heart pounding, breath gasping, snot drooling, muscle aching, with sweat streaming off of my face, arms, hat and shirt. I drank two gallons of water during the day and was rewarded with a few measly drops of dark concentrated urine for my efforts.   At the top of the Arm, I met with Just Gene NOBO from just outside Chicago ¢ small world indeed. I got a spotty cell signal and spoke intermittently with KT. All is well.   As I finished my break at the top of the Arm, dark threatening thunderheads began to move in, and I scurried down here to the Pond. The cold front had turned the humid air into a blowing mist across the surface of the Pond, and with the first drops of rain falling; I made it to the shelter.   Just Gene was here and we chatted while he ate lunch and the rain blew over. He has the same boots as I do, but his leak even with the Gortex liners. I was thankful that I had taken the precaution of Snow-Sealing mine and not relying on the Gortex liners alone. Just Gene left as soon as the storm had passed to go on to Baldpate.      There are also ten adolescents and two adults here camping out on the tent platforms. I have not seen the caretaker yet ¢ his tent seems empty.      This was a very tough day. I think that I do OK for the first 6-8 hours, but after that I just have no more energy left and every step becomes an effort. I will look at my remaining schedule when I get to Andover, but short mileage days mean more days between resupply and a much heavier food bag ¢ which makes for a much harder days hiking, which was what I wanted to avoid in the first place!   Feel OK now. No residual aches or pains. Will cook dinner and relax.   Thought for Today ¢      Rapid Motion does not mean Advancement!   [Think of a car wheel stuck in the sand ¢ lots of action, but no results]