A new notch in your belt

Most hikers listen to horror stories about Mahosuc Notch before they even reached a path. «Prepare for the longest mile of the AT!» The notch is not a joke! It’s so difficult! I originally thought it was due to a mad lifting amount, but it turns out that it is more than a rock gym. WHELP … BRING IT TO MAINE!

Something that has been a concern for the last month has been the sources of water to dry. While I am grateful for the lack of rain recently for hiking, it is certainly affecting the environment and the ability to stay easily hydrated. What is supposed to be a «roaring stream» ended up being a fixed pond for the morning … Ah, well, I can’t complain when CDT hikers are literally drinking from cows ponds.

In the morning, although I did not necessarily have great miles to do, I needed to spend a decent time out of the camp. Grafton Notch Betel transport is at 3 pm 9.5 miles to do today normally means just having to walk for approximately 5 hours, but today’s walk too, again, has a mahoosuc notch, so I didn’t know what to expect.

I came to say notice quite fast, and I was surprised how cold it once put on the notch itself! While today was not hot because of any stretch of the imagination, the mute of the previous day is still present, and being in the refrigerator helped neutralize that. Even so, it does not change the fact that Mahosuc Notch is … difficult.

It is a stretch of rocks that carry it through tight tights and large climbing movements. Nothing mainly dangerous compared to the Kinsmans or Wildcat, but only forced a slow march. I could spend in less than an hour, thanks to having some basic escalation skills to my credit. When people ask me now what is something I recommend that they do to prepare for the path, my first answer is always to invent some basic rock escalation skills: they have been useful many times.

Through this, I ran back to Father Tom, who had left his loading things in a previous shelter, and was doing the notch again to get his things. Oof. I wanted him long before continuing. A statistic that I am proud of the notch is that I only had to take off my herd once to push it. Ultralight was definitely worth it today!

Just after the notch came the next kick in the nuts: Mahosuc Arm. It is a rock slab that essentially goes directly … Above! Not as steep as many other climbs before, but only a long slab. Furnoso for calves, there is essentially no rest for about 1600 straight feet. While I was here, I met Sakura and Bamboo, two Nobo hikers from Japan! While I didn’t have plenty of time to chat today, I wanted the best, knowing that with my plans to reduce speed in Maine, I am sure to see them again.

Mahosuc Arm leads Old Speck, and Speck Pond, a hiking of an extremely popular hiking in Maine. I skipped the blue fire to the peak of the old specifications, but I really enjoyed the pond, and I grabbed some blueberries, before starting my descent in Grafton Notch. It was not terrible, but it was still quite slippery on the way down. I am afraid that the whites have worn out the rolling band of the shoes, that any false step can give rise to a great fall!

Before I realized, with frozen (yes, I love to freeze!) Exploitation in my ears, I put Grafton Notch! I made some people take my photo with a sign in the nearby, before Doogie of the Knoll Hostel picked me up.

Grafton Notch is special because it is the last place of the path that «I know.» There is a brief walk through the next Nobo mountain he had made with a group of friends the previous year. And it is also the connection point for Bethel, I, a beautiful city housed right next to Sunday Rier, the local skiing station. I asked Doogie if on the way back, we could go through the cake post, and was surprised to have a relatively intimate knowledge of the area. We talked about his life, and I learned that he and Homespun decided to open a shelter since they were relatively close to the path, and loved all the shelters in which they stayed as they came out of walking. If I lived near the path … I would probably be tempted to open one too. While it is difficult, I would love to give back to this community.

Doogie left me first at the Post Office … where I learned that my shoes really never appeared. Uh oh. Altra sending through Fedex, I suppose, is a bit … unreliable in the rural area of ​​Maine. A kind of disaster. I will try to buy some of Rei and I hope your shipment is more reliable. Because my shoes are definitely due to a last update.

We collected some sobos Bossbae and Birdcall, which are vlearing their trip and stopped at the shelter. «His house, my house» was the atmosphere of the shelter. Homespun showed us, and Kevin (the dog) was the friendliest during our tour! I took the first shower, which was a good outdoor shower that was apparently built by the community of trails very recently only for its shelter. Then, he spoke with Extra, another sobo for a moment, while he finished and catches a little closure before dinner.

Here, I also returned to Princess Peach! I met her quite early, after interacting with her mainly from boots to Marion Outdoors. She decided to turn and go to the south now, and was here with her husband Macgeyver for a zero. When the dinner bell rang, we all climbed with enthusiasm and … Holy smokes. I regret not taking a photo, but it was a beautiful chicken extension, sweet potatoes, macoroni salad and salad. Homespun explained that he prefers dinner during breakfasts. Every time breakfasts are served in the shelters, everyone is absent, thinking about the miles they need to do, or just waking up. But dinner offers time for everyone to chat!

We ate the blueberry cake that I chose from the cake support, before each retired one retired to do our own things. For me, that was mostly to handle some basic tasks of the shelter: laundry and setback. I also asked Homespun if he had a sewing machine … and he did! So luckily for tomorrow, I will have some prapported shorts.

I can’t wait to return to Bethel tomorrow. I love this place. Conquered Mahosuc Notch! What follows, path?

(Title lyrics of: You know you were Trouble, Taylor Swift)

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