Date: 2004-08-21
From: Full Goose Shelter, ME

To: Day 120: Speck Pond Campsite, ME
Miles today: 5.1

When I awoke at 4:00 a.m. on AT Day 120 it was raining, so realizing that on today¢s schedule was what has been claimed to be ¢the toughest mile on the AT,¢ the Mahoosuc Notch, I stayed in my sleeping bag until 5:20 a.m. hoping for a break in the weather. I¢m not normally intimidated by rain, but the guidebooks warn that the Notch is ¢difficult and dangerous¢ and that we are to take care to ¢avoid slipping on damp moss.¢ Even though I had been careful to only plan on trying to complete a grand total of 5.1-miles for the day, I was still worried about the time so I finally gave up, retrieved my food from the shelter¢s bear box and made breakfast in my tent. When I did eventually start hiking around 7:00 a.m. it was only 50-degrees and misting, but that soon degenerated into drizzle and then full rain and intermittent drizzle and mist with peak temperatures of perhaps the upper 50¢s ¢ perfect weather to be careful about not slipping on ¢damp moss¢ on the huge boulders of the Notch!In the end, with very careful route planning (and sometimes re-planning) I managed to successfully complete this maze of huge slippery boulders (over, around and even under) in 3.5 hours. To be honest, if it hadn¢t been cold and raining, this adventure would have really been fun. As it was, I had to work to remain calm so I could complete this physically tiring (my stomach muscles hurt from the huge leg lift step-ups) journey without injury. I had to remove my pack four times to shove it through crevices between and under boulders and up onto particularly high step-up ledges. Boy was I glad I had taken care to remove my pack cover and stuff everything into the inside of my pack to give it a comparatively sleek shape, otherwise I would surely have lost gear or simply gotten stuck.The adventure of the day¢s hike didn¢t end with the Notch as the AT then soon began a very steep 1,620-foot climb over a mere 1.6-miles to reach the 3,770-foot summit of Mahoosuc Arm. Again the guidebook warns to ¢Use caution in wet weather.¢ Since I was making this climb in a light downpour, and the trail often looked like a cascading waterfall, following this advice was a definite challenge.In the end, after another steep and slippery 700-foot descent I was elated to reach the wind-swept shore of Speck Pond. I couldn¢t see across the pond because of the blowing mist and rain, but I knew the campsite must be near and for that I was very grateful, as I was very tired, cold and wet. The first thing I did was put up my tent, throw in my gear, change my clothes and climb into my sleeping bag to get warm. I also quickly ate one of my Power Bars and a bagel with peanut butter. I had this food ready since I had been so rushed to complete this day¢s hike that I hadn¢t taken the time to stop for any snacks or lunch. My non-stop hiking behavior was also prompted because I did not want to take the chance of cooling off and starting the hypothermia spiral. All told it had taken me 8.5 hours to cover the 5.1-miles, clearly validating the claim that this was indeed the toughest section on the entire AT ¢ or at least I hope it is!After a couple of hours of listening to the wind, the rain stopped and I finally ventured outside of my tent to filter my water for dinner and breakfast. This, of course, got more clothes wet, but I had little choice if I wanted a hot dinner and I assure you that I did want this ¢luxury.¢ In spite of the ¢challenging¢ weather, I met a number of SOBO hikers (two from Quebec, Canada) during my journey through the Notch and up the Arm so I was reassured that I wasn¢t the only one crazy enough to be out there in this weather. Chatting with some of the other hikers at the campsite I was very pleased to learn that the weather forecast called for clearing overnight and good weather for the next couple of days ¢ I also learned that tomorrow¢s hike would begin with another very steep climb¢¦