.August 13, 2005
On the way to the trailhead, Lynn and I got to see a moose today. Lynn dropped Snoopy and I off at Mahoosuc Notch Trail. It took me about an hour to hike in to the AT. This was the backdoor to the dreaded Mahoosuc Notch, considered by many to be the most difficult mile of the Appalachian Trail. It is filled with house sized boulders. For centuries, the boulders have fallen from the mountains above into the notch. Hopefully there will be no incoming 'mail' today.
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Almost immediately after reaching the AT, the notch begins. Although it was a nice day, it had rained the night before. The boulders were still wet which would make the scrambling difficult. It was an eerie feeling being there. Even though it was August, there was still some ice in the notch. This area was a natural refrigerator. As the wind blew through, the cold breeze sent chills through me. It was still foggy in the notch and it resembled a scene from a horror movie. As I looked into the notch all I could think was: "You have seen the end of this movie. Don't go in there."
Snoopy and I proceeded anyway. As you can see from the pictures below, there are many places where you have to crawl under the boulders. There was even a couple spots where I had to take my pack off and push it through. Note the white arrows pointing the way.
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I don't recommend taking dogs through this section. Snoopy did great, but this is the only hike that I regret taking him. By the end of the notch, he was exhausted and we still had a long way to go.
It took close to two hours to make my way through the notch. I could have done it quicker but I had to keep picking up Snoopy and pushing him to the top of some of the boulders.
Next up came Mahoosuc Arm. Although the notch was time consuming, I have heard that the steep climb up Mahoosuc Arm on bare rock slabs could even be more difficult. The trail was extremely steep and the rock slabs were still wet. This was very tricky. In many places there was nothing to grab as I inched my way up the slippery rocks. I think the white blazes in this area have long sinced faded away. The trail got very narrow and I wondered if I had missed a turn. I was just about to turn back when I heard voices ahead of me. Some people were coming down from the campsite to check out the notch. They assured me that I was still on the Appalachian Trail. I pressed on and reached the top of Mahoosuc Arm.
Next was a 300 foot descent. Snoopy doesn't mind going up ladders but he is hesitant when it comes to going down them.
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I reached Speck Pond. At 3670 feet, it is the highest pond in Maine.
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Then I came to Speck Pond Shelter where I talked a few minutes with the caretaker.
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Onward to Old Speck. I looked back and got a great view into Mahoosuc Notch.
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I met a hiker coming down.
"Am I still on the Appalachian Trial?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Oh good. I haven't seen a white blaze in a while."
"I know. They are few and far between."
"Are you thru hiking?"
"Section hiking. I'm going from Maine to Virginia. I did the southern half of the trail last year."
The Maine section of the AT is so remote, long distance hikers often get low on food so I try to bring extra apples with me. They eat so much dehydrated food that I have found apples are usually very welcome.
"Would you like an apple?"
"I can't give you anything."
"They're free."
"Then I would love one."
We talked while he chomped on the apple before we headed our separate ways. I love creating a little trail magic when possible.
I made my way up to the side trail that goes to the summit of Old Speck. It is an extra .6 miles roundtrip but worth it if you have the time. The tower at the top needs extra caution when climbing. It is a long ladder to the top with no guardrail. There is a great view from the top.
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As I made my way to the bottom of the tower, I met two men who had hiked up from Grafton Notch. One of them was eating a sandwich. I didn't realize, but he had left half of his sandwich sitting on top of his pack. Before I could stop him, Snoopy picked it up and ate it. I was mortified. I didn't know what to tell this man. We were out in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't like I could offer to buy him another one.
"I am so sorry," I said.
"Do I look worried?" he said.
I thought to myself, "I don't know. I've never seen you worried."
I managed to say "No", hoping this was the answer the man wanted to hear.
He then brought his hand down and fed Snoopy the rest of his sandwich. He reached in his pack and pulled out another sandwich. Apparently he was well supplied which really made me feel better. We talked a while and I began my descent of Old Speck. I had climbed Old Speck once before so the AT miles on the way down ended up being additional bonus miles.
I looked back for one last look up at Old Speck.
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About a mile from the bottom, I met Lynn coming from the other direction. We talked a minute and when I turned around Snoopy was laying down. It isn't often Snoopy will lay down when he is outside, so he must have really been tired.
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We let him rest a while before we continued the descent down to Grafton Notch.
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