[at-l] Ready's Journal : SEPT 3 TD 82

[kahley7@ptd.net (kahley)]

You can write to Ready    readyhiker@pocketmail.com

We ignored the alarm and slept soundly for one and a half extra
hours. We still managed to get out onto the trail only 45 minutes
later than planned.
The air was chilly and a stiff wind passed through from time to
time. Still, it was not as chilly as the past several mornings had been.
As usual, the day started with a climb - this time, up Mount Carlo.
On the descent, we were confronted with several very steep cliff
drops. It's as if Maine was saying, "we've got the biggest, meanest,
baddest mountains on the trail!" And just to drill in that point, a
sudden fall-like wind blasted through. Brrr.
It was a fairly gentle climb, followed by less gentle climbs up the
dual peaks of Goose Eye Mountain. Twice we climbed up ladders
affixed to the mountainside. From one, we were able to wave to
Sticks and Patches, a short distance behind us.
We met section hiker, Eileen, who was in obvious awe and envy
about our thruhike and thruhikers in general.
We stopped at Full Goose shelter for a mid morning break, meeting
  2 slackpacking southbounders, Eileen's hiking partner, Dave, and
Joe, who'd passed us last evening as we were pitching our tent.
Joe's day today would call for him to hike almost 20 miles, to the
Baldpate Lean-To. We were planning to go only 16 to Grafton Notch,
stealth camping nearby. Eileen reached the shelter just as we were leaving.
We headed out after only 15 minutes, climbing up Fulling Mill Mountain.
By now it was quite warm, the sun shone brightly and we had high,
light clouds above. The temperature reading was 64*F.
We headed into the infamous Mahoosuc Notch. Right from the start I
found it difficult. After only 10 minutes, I was declaring this section the
most ludicrously difficult and insanely planned portion of the entire trail!
That attitude stayed with me for most of the passage through the Notch.
Finally, we collapsed our poles and continued without them. That helped
me cope better, but I was still pretty nonplused about it. The only fun
part for me was running into Tumbleweed and Happy Feet as they
were taking a break in the middle of the Notch.
We stopped to eat lunch at a small stream right after emerging from
the Notch, where we were entertained by the antics of 2 chipmunks
who seemed intent on "joining" us for our meal. As we were finishing
up, Dave and Eileen climbed out of the Notch, looking tired but
extremely victorious. They certainly had better attitudes about
Mahoosic Notch than I had!
We set out for the 2nd "challenge" of the day, Mahoosic Arm. I had
been dreading this climb about which I'd heard countless "horror"
stories. We started out slowly; full bellies immediately after lunch
will do this. ;-)
As the climb continued, I started to feel stronger and stronger. This
climb was a breeze - the footing was almost always solid and the
pitch fairly regular. I loved this mountain! We made excellent time
and my spirits were decidedly elevated.
I have renamed these Trail icons. Henceforth, the Mahoosuc Arm
and the Mahoosuc Notch will be dubbed Mahoosuc "Arm" and
  Mahoosuc "Armpit," respectively. ATC, please take note. ;-)
Next stop: Speck Pond Campsite for water. We passed some
fishermen and really enjoyed the idyllic scene. The pond was beautiful!
The water at this site was piped along a carved out log and was
  fresh, cold and sweet tasting!
As we were leaving the Pond, we met Joe, who had revised his
plans. He had decided not to continue further today, but to instead
  stay here and have a swim. We moved on, carrying our almost 8
liters of water up Old Speck Mountain.
Again, even in the late hours of the day, the climbing was easy. We
moved steadily along. We were about 2 miles short of Grafton Notch
when we saw an ideal camp spot. We decided to stop here as it was
  almost sunset.
Spur pitched the tent while I prepared supper. By now the wind was
blowing pretty steadily. The hot chocolate was just the ticket to warm us up.
We were finished with supper and in our tent journaling by 9 PM. This
had been an incredibly satisfying day. Tomorrow, we hike about 11.8
to East B Road, where we hope to catch a ride with Pegleg and
Sandra into Andover to stay at the Guest House there.



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