Hiking the AT in Rugged Maine

This week we encountered the hardest part of the entire AT and met a legend.

Day 5 - Wednesday, July 8

Lemonade’s Notes

Back into the Woods

Location: New Hampshire

Start: Centennial Trailhead - 1900.2

End: Gentian Pond Shelter - 1911.2

Miles: 11.0 on AT & Total

Ascent: 4050 | Descent: 2638

Sleep: Tent

Yesterday’s rest did wonders for my very sore muscles. Four of us and Trail Horse started out together. After 30 minutes Trail Horse said his goodbyes and returned to the van. Sky Pilot decided to stop at the shelter 6 miles in, while Timex, Hot Mess and I reached Gentian Shelter, for an 11-mile day. A lot of the day was uphill. Thankfully there were only a handful of places that required using hands. I felt extra tired the last two miles of the day, before arriving at a crowded shelter. For the second time on this trip, I shared a tent platform with another hiker.

Hiking to Gentian Shelter

Trailhorse’s Van Adventures:

We woke up and I drove the Van (with Lemonade in tow) to the Libby Hostel to pick up Timex and SkyPilot and then dropped all three of them at the Centennial Trailhead.  The rest of the day was unremarkable but relaxing.

Dropping the Ladies off

Day 6 - Thursday, July 9

Welcome to Maine! 

Location: Maine

Start: Gentian Pond Shelter - 1911.2

End: Carlo Col Shelter - 1916.5

Miles: 5.3 on AT | 5.7 Total

Ascent: 2332 | Descent: 1539

Sleep: Tent

Tough day! The trail was definitely more technical and steeper with a lot of traversing large boulders, and a good bit of climbing. I believe a few sections are a sneak peek at what Mahoosuc Notch may be like.

Hard day Hiking

But today’s excitement came from entering Maine and saying goodbye to New Hampshire. I have now completed my 11th AT state! My list is down to NC, parts of TN located in the Smokies and Maine.

Overall, although tired on some climbs, I am feeling pretty good at the end of the day.

Trailhorse’s Van adventures:

Nothing of note except for a small hike on the local trail. 

Day 7 - Friday, July 10

Day of Follies

Location: Maine

Start: Carlo Col Shelter - 1916.5

End: Notch Trail - 1922.5

Miles: 6.0 on AT | 8.1 Total

Ascent: 2103 | Descent: 3409

Sleep: Building

Until last night the weather has been beautiful. When setting up the tent yesterday I had checked for limbs above it but had not noticed a dead tree next to my tent. Now a thunderstorm was rolling so I crawled inside and remained stressed until the storm was way past.

My alarm did not go off in the morning, and I woke up 10 minutes late, glad to have not been flattened, and happy to not hear any rain. I packed up the gear inside the tent and just before getting out, it began to pour. So out into the rain I went lugging my pack over to the shelter where a few more follies occurred, like spilling some of my electrolytes for the day and bonking my head on a low beam.

Another hard day with well won views

About an hour after departing with a wet tent attached to my backpack, I had discovered that I never turned on my Garmin InReach tracker. Throughout the morning, we attempted to cross, climb and decent wet rock slabs, with each of us slipping and sliding.  Once the rocks dried, we still had a lot of climbing that required being on all fours and several times we used ladders and rebar rungs along the trail. It was very slow going. Three hours into the day, we had covered two miles!

Eventually we made it to the Notch Trail and headed 2 miles away from the AT to the van. Once there we had a very nice afternoon getting prepared for slacking the Mahoosuc Notch. Hot Mess and Timex pitched their tents on the edge of the parking lot near the van.

Trailhorse’s Van adventures:

Left the campground and started staging the van to meet up with the gang.  I delivered items to SkyPilot who left the group yesterday that was on the van and then after a stop at the store headed out into the woods to a parking lot down a forest road to meet up with Lemonade. 

Van Base Camp

After setting up the tent I hiked about 2 miles up the trail to meet them (even though I wasn’t sure when they would get there).  After an hour wait, I was getting cold, so I hiked back down to the Van and waited.  About an hour later they arrived. 

Hotmess and Timex set up their tent next to the van and had a little planning session since I was going to hike with them on Saturday. 

Day 8 - Saturday, July 11

Mahoosuc Notch & Arm!

Location: Maine

Start: Notch Trail - 1922.5

End: Speck Pond Trail - 1925.2

Miles: 2.7 on AT | 7.5 Total

Ascent: 2893 | Descent: 3135

Sleep: Van

What a rewarding day! After years of hearing about the infamous Mahoosuc Notch and the Mahoosuc Arm, I am so glad to have finally completed these beasts.

Today we had the luxury of only having to carry only the items that we needed for the day, called “slackpacking” which includes the Top 10 essentials plus a few other comfort items. This significantly reduces our pack weights for better mobility.

Mahoosuc Notch and Arm

Timex, Hot Mess, Trail Horse and I set off on the Notch Trail around 6:20 a.m. for the 2-mile hike up to the AT. From the trail junction we entered the Mahoosuc Notch and spent nearly three hours traversing the next mile. We had a lot of fun working our way over and under giant boulders as we tried to figure out how to find our way through the notch. There was not a lot of elevation gain or loss, but the scrambling around the boulder field did fatigue me and about halfway we stopped for a short break. The key to enjoying this stretch is to anticipate the conditions and the speed which it could be done. We budgeted four hours and were very happy with completing it in three.

Once out of the notch, we took another break and refilled our water bottles in preparation for climbing the Mahoosuc arm. Here we hiked and climbed up 1,500’ over a mile long ascent. While it was steep requiring some climbing as well has having a few spots with moss or wet rocks that required careful movement, it was not a scary climb. At the top we enjoyed sitting down to have lunch with sunshine, a breeze and a view.

From there Trail Horse took off down the mountain at his happy speed, while the three of us took our time. We used the May Cutoff and the Speck Pond Trails to reach Success Pond Road where we waited for Trail Horse to finish walking an extra 2 miles to pick us up in the van.

Trail Horse’s Van adventures:

I won’t try to repeat too much of what Lemonade said but I will say this was an epic hike and was great fun to do with others.  I took point most of the time we were in the notch so I could help pick out a path so the other’s could follow.  Since I only had to do one hard hike, I could wear my self out a bit and not have to worry about hiking the next day. 

More Notch Photos

During the hike up the arm my thighs were failing me near the end of the climb, but I made it.  Great views and after lunch I went full Trail Horse and bolted out ahead so I could make it to the van and come pick everyone else up.  So, I got an extra two miles in.

After picking up the ladies we went back to our earlier camp site for night two in the woods (absolutely no cell service).

When we arrived back and started unpacking our items we discovered we had a little stowaway on board when one of the ladies found a small hole in her food bag.  You guessed it, we have a mouse on the van. 

Day 9 - Sunday, July 12

Spiderman action = Magnificent views

Location: Maine

Start: Speck Pond Trail - 1925.2

End: ME26 Grafton Notch - 1930.5

Miles: 5.3 on AT | 8.5 Total

Ascent: 2895 | Descent: 3136

Sleep: Van

The morning was wonderful as we did a spiderman climb up Old Speck. My new shoes are incredibly grippy and we did not find the climb to be scary. We ended up stopping often to admire the absolutely magnificent views behind us.

Effort and Reward

Trailhorse’s Van Adventures:

I was quite sore this morning after my 10-mile hike yesterday. But no rest for the wicked.  Lemonade made no bones about it and gave me my marching orders:  Find and kill the mouse with extreme prejudice.    

We left our boondock spot in the woods, and I drove Timex, Hotmess and Lemonade back to the trail head so they could hike up the hill and get back on the AT.  I then drove the 10+ mile bumpy dirt road back out to Maine 26 and scoped out the parking lot where I would pick up the group later that day. 

Leaving our Boondock Site and going to Campground with a little visiting friend (perhaps a mouse catcher?)

I then went to the Wal-Mart parking lot in Mexico, Maine on US 2, parked way in the back and took up two parking spots for the van.  I then tried to remove everything I could from the van and put it in the grass and slowly went through all the items to see if I could find our stowaway.  No dice on the mouse.  I put everything back in the van and went into Wal-Mart to buy some traps.  Hopefully we will find this guy but there are so many places behind the van panels he can hide I have my doubts. 

Moving on, I went to our campground and checked in.  After a few hours, I headed back out to pick up the ladies. I hiked in about ½ mile and then we all said goodbye to Hotmess and the three of us when back to the campground for the evening.    

Day 10 - Monday, July 13

Starting the day with Greybeard

Location: Maine

Start: ME26 Grafton Notch - 1930.5

End: East B Hill Rd – 1940.9

Miles: 10.4 on AT & Total

Ascent: 3597 | Descent: 3614

Sleep: Van

The start of today’s hike was a lot of fun with our meeting Greybeard. He is currently doing a thru-hike of the AT, seeking to set the record for the oldest thru-hiker. At 91 he moves like someone 40 years younger.

Hiking with Grey Beard

Today’s hike did not involve any technical climbs! Perhaps a location here and there that required hands to help maneuver a big rock, so the going was a bit faster. What may have slowed us down was the very, very steep climbs. At least these were accomplished using just two feet.

A highlight of the hike was heading up Baldpate Mountain. This as a giant slab of stone at a sharp angle with fantastic views. Timex describes one of the slab crossings as going on a moon-walk.

Trailhorse’s Van Adventures:

As typical I ferried the ladies back to Grafton Notch and they were on the trail by 6:45 am.  They met the famous Greybeard, which at 91 is making an attempt at the oldest Thru-hiker on the AT trail.  The guy was amazing.  You can read a great article on him here.

After that I went back to the campground (after stopping at the grocery store) for a few hours before I went back to pick up Lemonade and Timex at a cross-road 10 mile up the trail. They were done quite early and was exiting the trail when I was driving up. 

Day 11 - Tuesday, July 14

Start: East B Hill Rd - 1940.9

End: South Arm - 1950.9

Miles: 10.0

Ascent: 3322 | Descent: 3368

Sleep: Building

Today we hiked with Greybeard and discovered that he is a pretty fast hiker! We caught up with him as he was talking to a southbound hiker. From then on, we leap frogged with him trying to figure out just who is the fastest hiker. We all were moving pretty fast with the sound of thunder coming our way, and everyone made it to the shelter before the hard rain began. It was fun hanging out with Greybeard and his team as we ate our lunch.

Hike to South Arm with a hotel at the end

For the first seven miles, the trail was pleasant even if steep. However, during the last three miles the trail decided to remind us just which state we were hiking in. In classic Maine style, we traversed a steep hill with rock scrambles and rebar rungs. It was a tough end to the day.

A nice touch to this day was a bit of trail magic provided by Patriot at South Arm Rd. He had chairs with backs, Gatorades, soda and snacks available to hikers passing through. It was fun to hang out on the side if the road with hikers that we have been meeting on this hike. I find it interesting that I can get a reminder of the thru-hiking culture during my 17 day hike.

End of Day Trail Magic provided by Patriot (Guy in US shirt)

Trailhorse’s Van Adventures:

We left Stonybrook Campground about 6:15 in the morning and I dropped the ladies off at the trailhead by 6:45 am.  My task for today is to find a spot for tonight.  There is some bad weather coming in tonight with possible tornados and after looking at a few possible camp sites and the fact that Timex is in a tent we decided to stay in a little local hotel in Rumford, Maine.  We figured a roof over our head tonight was needed. 

After that we went out to dinner and, as in normal hiker fashion, retired early.