Date: 2007-09-24
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Speck Pond Shelter
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: clear sky

September 24, Mahoosuc NotchSo I am lying in my tent right now just waiting to get up. It's 44 degrees in here right now and it's 7:27 a.m. Ideally, I would be leaving camp at this time. But last night when we discussed our plans for today, my vote didn't stretch as far as I'd hoped. I'd wanted to get up at a decent time, leave camp at a decent time, take our time going through Mahoosuc Notch to the next shelter, and if we had time to make it farther, go farther. Melk and Ronin wanted to sleep in, leave at 9 a.m., and no matter what, stop in five miles at the next shelter. In the end, I guess it doesn't matter in this instance. I guess I just get antsy. Especially when I get ten hours of sleep - a marathon really. I don't know how they are still sleeping! But it's small decisions like these that add up throughout the length of the hike.Anyway, I'll have a leisurely morning and maybe even make some hot chocolate. I'll sit here and worry about how cold it will be in the notch, hope the winds die down, and hope we all make it through safely. I'm just glad it's not raining! ...It was close but we all made it through the notch okay. I had a near-tragic fall though. Let me start by describing the notch a bit...It is one mile long. That mile took us three hours and 24 minutes. If you add it our breaks, it too over five hours. There were boulders everywhere. We had to go up, we had to go over, around, and even under them. We took our packs off, put them back on, collapsed our poles, and passed gear from one person to another. We scooted on our butts, pulled up with our arms, laid down to make it less scary, lept, squeezed through crevasses, and helped each other by pulling, pushing, and making notches when there were none.A moose tried to pass through the notch earlier this season and was not successful. It laid there for days, its leg broken, in agony, before someone decided to come put it out of its misery. The remains were still in the notch decaying as we passed. We had to hike right over it. Someone had placed prayer flags on either side of it. What a sad way to go.Melk told me I was like that moose when I fell today. Ronin had already hurled himself up the sheer rockface but warned us that the one place you would think to put your foot was very slippery. I contemplated it like a puzzle for a few minutes and then started out. One foor here, one foot there, I was almost up! Then, BAM!, something slipped. I fell about eight feet straight down. Thank God I had my pack on to break the fall. But my right foot was stuck firmly between two boulders and my left leg had been attacked on the way down. I was in panic mode - I was trying to collect my right foot while still trying to decide it my left leg was going to work. I'm sure I looked frazzled. And I thought of that poor moose. But I made it over. I passed my pack up to Ronin and Melk lent me a hand. Probably couldn't have done it without them.The rest of the notch went by without note but taking a long time. My poor pack was shuffled along so many rocks today that a hole has come in on the bottom and several on the side pockets.We made it out of the notch and up the Mahoosuc Arm. The entire climb was up sheer rockface. Straight up. For over a thousand feet. But we made it up, came back down and ended our day at Speck Pond Shelter. It is beautiful here. The pond is the highest body of water in Maine. It's gorgeous and serene, completely surrounded by mountains and picture perfect forest. After dinner I sat by the pond for a bit while the moon and the stars came out. I wish I could watch it all night.I have no idea why anyone would build a trail through what we went through today. But they did and it brought me here so I'll take it. That was quite a day. - Sound of Ronin wiggling in his bag, turning the page of a book, Melk yawning, the wind, crickets. Post Trail Thoughts:More than one year later, I still have some residual pain in my left shin from this fall in the Notch. Maine beat me up quite a bit but it gave a lot back to me in return... Just that night I ate up the glory of relaxing near Speck Pond. It was definitely one of the best times for me out on the trail. Peaceful. Serene. And, boy, did it feel nice to know that I'd worked so hard to get there. It was like a small piece of heaven.We were joined at the shelter that night by Moosehead and Cul-de-Sac, the brother/sister duo from the south. Nice folks.