Total trail mileage: 1909.8 (approx)
Starting location: Before Goose Eye Mountain north peak
Ending location: After Old Speck Mt.
Weather: 67 degrees in the morning. 64 - 81 degrees during the day.
Cloudy all day. Thunderstorm in the early afternoon.
I am at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=44.580684,+-70.962810
I made it out of the Mahoosuc Notch alive! Actually it was a lot of
fun and only took a little over an hour and a half. It was a big pile
of boulders. Sometimes I went over; sometimes I crawled under. I
only had to take my pack off a couple times, but my poles were useless
so they stayed strapped to my pack the whole time. I had to use all
the tricks I had learned from bouldering (where to distribute my
weight, how to grab or push off of holds, how to test a hold before
applying all my weight, etc.).
I hear Boston got injured and had to go out to get his wound cleaned.
I heard he fell and got a gash down to the bone. He is alright
though. Really, after seeing the terrain I am surprised there aren't
more injuries.
When I dropped down into the rocks the temperature dropped
considerably. It felt like air conditioning. I even saw a few sheets
of ice in the caves. When I climbed back out, my glasses immediately
fogged over because of the sudden increase in temperature and humidity.
When we entered the Notch we started to hear thunder. Fortunately the
rain didn't come until we were about 3/4 of the way through the
Notch. If it was raining the whole time it would have been much harder.
I didn't see the moose bones that are supposedly in the Notch.
There were a few points today when I stepped on a wooden bog bridge
and it would sink into the mud about 6 inches. No, there is no way to
get through Maine without getting wet and muddy. Someone said that
last year most of the bog bridges were 2 - 3 feet under water and
mud. But, this year has been a pretty dry year so hopefully I don't
run into that.
My pack is falling apart even more. Today one of the shoulder straps
came unstitched. It isn't as bad as it sounds since there is another
strap that is still attached, but it isn't as comfortable. I am
hoping I can find a needle and thread in Andover so I can fix it. I
guess 2000 miles is the limit for the pack. Hopefully I can squeeze
out another 300 or so.
After Speck Pond I could start hiking again. It felt good to be able
to walk without fear of falling down. Of course that could have been
the coffee I made at Speck Pond (someone gave me a Starbucks instant
packet the other day and I just found it). Hopefully tomorrow is just
as walkable since I need to do a decent number of miles to hit town.
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