44 jumps, steps and jump through Mahosuc Notch 0.00

Well, today is the day. The notch. Fearmongers work hard on petrifying walkers with stories of the challenges they expect along the way, and no story looks more or more than the incredibly difficult challenge that Mahosuc notch will offer in Maine.

What is notch? Well, to be perfectly honest with you, I had no idea. Perid interest when people begin to tell stories about difficult or challenging sections of a path. It seems especially on this path where many of the participants are hikers for the first time or without experience in which the challenges are completely disproportionate to reality.

What I was anxious to do is reach this section of 1.3 km as early as possible with the hope that no one else would be in the notch. I suppose that if it narrows, I would prefer to be able to wind at my own pace instead of being trapped behind others.

Then, at 5 in the morning, I dragged the content of my package to the bag, I put a couple of bars in my hip pockets for breakfast, and I was on the road before 5.30 am

Mahosuc

He took approximately an hour from the shelter to get to the entrance to the notch.

A notch to the extent that it could be seen seems to be a cannon. The steep slopes bent on both sides of the notch and spread in front of us (Chestnut decided to pass at the same time so that we could laugh at the other) were a lot of large rocks that we needed to climb or underneath.

And that’s all. Nothing more or less exciting for «the most difficult mile on the path of the Apalaches.» A group of large rocks to treat like a jungle gym.

I can tell you that a notch is a natural freezer. The temperature fell sharply as soon as he entered the rock field and was very refreshing since summer day was heating well. We carry our posts and assure them to our packages. And then the fun began.

It was one of the easiest miles since Massachusetts left. I needed zero technical knowledge. You didn’t need any special equipment. You didn’t even really stretch in any direction. It was simply a level rhythm for super simple beginners.

I kept thinking as we move forward, it must surely be difficult at some time. It will surely be impassable and I will be forced to eat my words. Surely … no. Little more than an hour after entering the notch, we left the other side.

Extraordinarily anti -limitic.

The arm

Of course, fearmongers are not going to speak in the notch, then talk about the arm. Again, I could not tell you what a geographically speaking arm is. The only arm I have found before this path is when it is on a river route and you choose an arm or other river when remarking.

I will apply my thoughts of eyeball to which I think an arm has done it now. It seems to be a path that takes you out of a notch (cannon) for an steep climb. That said, it was not more or less steep than most of the whites of the whites, and was better described with the occasional change on a perfectly created and maintained path.

For those who run into this mess of words when they prepare to walk the notch and Mahosuc’s arm, all I can tell you is to ignore all the fear. The boulder was very fun and super easy and the arm was a simple uphill up.

Post notch and arm

Ironically, the day actually became hard after the Mahosuc section. Speck Mountain kicked my ass in both the ascent and in the descent. The views at the top were not half bad.

I collapsed next to a cascade about two thirds of the hill. Cavé at lunch eating the classic tortilla combo, pepperoni and cheese, followed by a great handful of nuts.

Progress was very slow due to gain and loss of elevation, I find that my speed due to the steep hills is particularly slow since my knees complain in each meter lost towards sea level.

After ten exhausting hours, I limited in the camp, excited to throw my store and go to bed in my hammock for one or two hours.

The French

When I entered the sight of the shelter, I received the sounds that the Frenchman was spoken by a large group of teenagers. My tired brain slowly rebuilt that Maine was bordered by Canada and Quebec is in Canada and has one or two French -speaking people.

I said Bonjour and I discovered that, in fact, it was a group of students from the Maine school who were on a guided walk as part of an immersive French course. The children could only speak French while they were on the road. I thought it was super intelligent.

The group was all camping and had caught the best of the store sites. On the other hand it meant that no one was using the shelter, so I decided to push myself there. The Quebec guides were busy cooking the hungry dinner of children in the middle of the shelter, and began to cook my own dinner in the other half.

Chestnut rolled up and joined the party shortly after, and we talked with the guides while preparing dinner. They finally called the children to eat, and moved like sharks that had found a tuna school in the ocean.

Once the children were filled, the guides asked if Chestnut and I would be interested in eating the leftovers. Having eaten our own dinners, he may think we reject politely. If you thought this, even for a second, then you have not been following this trip.

We thank the guides and then we crawl to the carbonara paste as people who had been abandoned on a desert island for weeks without sustenance.

Finally, the big pot emptied in our stomachs. I sat after the double dinner wondering how much more I could have eaten. Probably just a third dinner that I supposed. Four dinners would be too much.

All the children were satiated and went to their stores at night. We thank the guides, we display our mattresses and stayed very still. It had been a difficult day of uploads and descents, and I was very happy to be prone and full (ISH).

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