Date: 2007-06-13
From: Gorham, NH

To: Gorham NH thru The Mahoosics, ME & more
Miles today: 41.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Hugo Update-Hugo has Lyme Disease. Couldn't get squeezed in to see local vet earlier like we hoped. Appt at 1130 finally. After lots of thorough assessment, testing, IV's, antibiotics, and narcotic pain meds word is he will be get better, but has to get off the trail. We wrote off the rest of the day with lunch and trying to figure out what to do about getting Hugo home to Virginia.We also talked to Guthook last nite and he hooked us up with an old friend in Bethel, ME where he will be staying tonite. (Amy & Tony Chapman, Greenwood ME-near Bethel) The plan is we'll get to their home and slackpack a few days outta there with Guthook.So Amy picked us that afternoon and on the ride there very graciously offered to let Hugo stay with her until Groove is done with the hike! HOME RUN! Everything solved.Amy runs a bakery outta the front part of her house, Tony is an independent and very environmentally conscientious logger. Great people. And they have a black lab Remmie (major Red Sox fans!) for him to play with.So we've slacked several days outta here and dined very well indeed.Home cooked food almost every night and awesome breakfast bakery treats & cookies.It's great to be hikin again with Guthook, too. It's been hundreds of miles with since he stayed behind in Poughkipsee. I hiked all CT & MA solo and caught Groove in VT & hiked the Whites with him and Hugo. We will miss Hugo, but it's best for him. We can't wait that long for him to be well enough to hike. Gotta keep moving.He is much better already, running and playing with Remmie. He is very happy.The other HUGE news on the trail is that Woodstock has to get off the trail before he can complete his hike. Ran outta time, has family committments. So he's done officially as of the 15th, but he'll stop in Rangely, ME. And he will be back in August to finish the last couple hundred miles. Bummer for him, but he will finish with all the slow and late starters. Pretty cool I guess.Had to hike with mostly full packs (minus tents and a few things)for an overnighter til we get past the Mahoosic Arm. No roads in between to slackpack. So we hit the trail for 2 days. We chilled at Gentian Pond, soaking our feet in just one of Maine's many very cool natural ponds. Then, the 3 of us cranked out the last NH miles on the Mahoosic Trail into Maine!What a moment! FINALLY hitting maine. We rallied and took numerous pics at the Maine Sign: Welcome to Maine, The way life should be.Stayed at the first Maine Shelter, Carlo Col Shelter. 17 miles in pretty tough terrain. Steep climbs & descents.Next morning was a huge day-The long awaited & infamous Mahoosic Notch & Mahoosic Arm. Maybe harder than the Whites. "Famous for ice found in deep crevices throughout the year. Many call this scramble under, around, over, and between boulders the most difficult mile on the trail."In the morning it was foggy so we aborted a predawn hike up over Carlo Mt and up Goose Eye Mtn for a sunrise on the summit. Just regular time at daybreak. Got a good start by 7 and made the climbs without much difficulty.Resting at the first shelter, we got a big surprise when Li Brannfors arrived. Li is a NOBO too. But he started on Springer Mtn, Georgia March 25th!! He's been crankin 30's and better most days with very few days off cuz he's gonna hike the CDT when he finishes. He's on schedule for just over 90 days to complete the AT.When I started March 1st there were way less than 100 hikers who had started north. Li was number 400 March 25th. Recall Guthook started about Feb 25, Groove Feb 13th. The Goodfellas & Fruitfly similar. He has now passed or caught all but the 4 NOBO thru hikers ahead of us. And we thought we were doing well! G.H.O.S.T, Trek, Toothpick, and Bookworm are all that remain on the trail ahead of us for 2007.Li is very cool, and has lots of experience hiking several long trail, including the PCT. With the AT complete he'll start the CDT very shortly after and complete the Triple Crown.We were humbled bigtime but psyched to have 4 thru hikers together to hit The Mahoosic Notch! We've all been hiking mostly alone for hundreds of miles off and on.The Mahoosic Notch turned out to be my favorite day on the trail so far!Awesome!As we dropped down into the mile wide/long notch the temperature droppped 20 or 30 degrees (catabatic air currents). We had already stashed our trekking poles since we knew they'd be useless. This would require hand over hand very creative climbing/bouldering. We began climbing over, around, under and through huge boulders. Snow was present all over the place in crevices and sometimes on the boulders we climbed down onto. Sometimes small caves requiring slithering on our bellies, barely fitting through with packs on. Definitely the coolest stuff so far. And for the 4 of us being agile flexible & aggressive climbers it was a LOT of fun. You can't be shy with terrain like this-just gotta go for it. Sometimes it means jumping across a cavern or sliding down a rock face cuz you can't reach down and droplanding with both feet on a snowpile hoping you don't punch right through into a crevice. Very cool. Lots of creative climbing and rock hopping. Each of us trying something different to get over under around or through the maze. Sooo cool.Can't imagine people hating this part saying it was difficult or miserable. It was by far the best yet! Lots of cool pics, will try to upload soon.We were so psyched....and bummed when it ended.Finally we climbed up the Mahoosic Arm, a major climb for today. Very steep. But we were ridin on adrenalin. Climbed to the top and then down. Then up Old Speck Mtn. Another big climb. Called Mom to say Happy Birthday! What a GREAT day."only" 14.1 miles, but WHAT a day!Got to Grafton Notch and caught our ride back for more FOOD.As an added bonus we went to their lakefront camp and chilled there for dinna. Today we slack packed from Grafton Notch to East B Hill Rd, Andover, ME - only 10.7 miles, but we thought after yesterday we'd need a shorter day. Tony met us at the pickup with Amy's Whoopie Pies & ice cold beverages. Mmmmmm!Li parted with us to bang out another 7 miles or more and is hoping to finish by the 25th of June or sooner. Maybe even catch 1 or more of the 4 remaining NOBOs ahead of him. Best of luck to him on the rest of the AT and the CDT. It's been great hikin and chillin with Li!Laundry, dinna, more great pie for dessert. Tomorrow it's back to real miles. 20's for a few days to get back on schedule. We're still in some very tough terrain in Maine. But loving it!I'm psyched.Not sure if it was the weather in the Whites, the difficulty of the Whites or what that had gotten me kinda down.Much betta now-Maybe it's that we finally hit Maine.I'm sure Groove & Guthook would agree it definitely helps to be back in a pack of NOBOs this late in the game. Too bad we won't see the Goodfellas of Fruitfly again.But it's extremely unlikely anyone else can or will catch us now. Li was a very unusual thing. But cool he caught us when he did. He was just as psyched to hike with us throught the Mahoosics & Baldplate Mtn East & West peaks today. Great views & awesome climbs over exposed rock. Fortunately it was dry and great visibility.Can't wait for the rest of Maine!