Appalachian Trail SOBO day 20 – The Mahoosuc Notch
15th August 2023
Tentsite (274.4) - Gentian Pond Shelter (286.7)
Daily miles: 12.3
Total miles: 293
It didn’t rain over night and I didn’t notice any mice.
We didn’t coordinate, but we were ready at the same time. Cal could have got through the Mahoosuc Notch fast, but he chose to stick with me as it’s, in his words “more fun with a buddy”, which I’m grateful for. I would have gone through on my own, but it was definitely better to have a friend to share it with.
We were chatting to a NOBO who came in last night just as it was getting dark and he said he had done no research at all into the trail and had no idea The Notch was a thing. It’s notoriously the hardest, slowest mile on the AT because it’s just full of massive boulders. I can’t imagine coming up to that and not knowing it was part of the trail!
We were just 0.2 from the start of The Notch and when we got there and secured everything on our packs and stowed our poles; hands are needed for this. The one thing we were trying to avoid was doing the Mahoosuc Notch in the rain and unfortunately it started to drizzle right at the same time we headed into it.
The Mahoosuc Notch, doesn’t look like its raining but it is!
It was as expected. Tough. Slow. But it was also fun in a weird way. There was a sense that you could break something with a simple wrong foot placement so you just had to hope that if you did slip you didn’t break your leg or skull.
Honestly, it was sketchy. There were a couple of ‘caves’ to go through which we were both in agreement that they weren’t caves; you’re just going under big rocks, that isn’t a cave, is it?
Packs off to get through some of the gaps in the rocks
There was only one bit that I really struggled to get up and Cal gave me his hand and pulled me up, afterwards I had to apologise for squeezing it so hard! I just really didn’t want to fall backwards and I was on my knees so I didn’t want them to be scraped across the rock either!
It felt quite relentless at times and as it rained more everything got slippier and more treacherous. We saw about 4 people coming the other way… one older guy had gloves on which was very sensible. I would have liked to have taken more photos but it was difficult to operate my phone with wet hands, and the main focus was just getting through it.
Squeezing through is preferable to climbing over
We went in at 06:44 and came out the other side at 08:10 so less than an hour and a half for 0.9 of a mile, which was actually pretty good timing. Some people can take 3-4 hours to get through.
It was fun to think that on my 2108 hike I was doing the Mahoosuc Notch on the exact same day, the 15th August, and it has only taken 4 more days to go south than it did to go north through Maine. Coming at it with fresh legs, I’m happy with that.
I sad bye to Cal. There was a strong likelihood that he would go further than me today and, without question, faster. He has to be in town for noon tomorrow so he would need to go faster to get there on time. Plus the very next part of the trail was a climb up to Fulling Mill mountain and it, as expected, took me ages to get up there. The trail was still a lot of slab rock and rebar and bog board and there were some nice views at the top with the clouds hanging low in the valley.
Thankful for the rebar today
There was a lot of it
Low hanging clouds in the valleys
Bog boards for miles
Some steep descents
I stopped at the shelter because the trail went right past it and Cal was there which I wasn’t really expecting, but he’s the type of hiker who can take long breaks and still smash out the miles. I, am not. He left shortly after I arrived and I stopped to eat some cheese and crisps and I moved on quickly.
The rest of the day can only be described as a long slog. Steep up followed by steep down followed by steep up followed by steep down. So much vertical slab. For me it was very slow going; I was doing about a mile an hour for most of the day.
A nice break from the wet rocks
Back to the wet rocks
So much rebar today!
And a lot of sections with no rebar!
Getting out of the trees
A moody sky
I also ran out of water and it was about 6 hours before I could fill up. Of course about half an hour after we finished The Notch the rain stopped, so it was getting warm and I was getting very thirsty. I came to a part of the trail where there was a very steep uphill rock climb but I could hear water tricking somewhere so I climbed up to see if it was accessible. There was a snake slithering across one of the rocks so I avoided that and then found some water trickling out the mountain.
I managed to find some water trickling through the moss and filled my bottle
I filtered a bottle. Drank the entire thing without it really touching the sides and moved on. I didn’t take any water with me because I didn’t want to carry it.
In-between all the steep up and downs were bogs and bog boards to navigate. I was doing quite well with avoiding the bogs and stepping in the right places until I got to Mt Success and that is when everything kind of went to shit.
I slipped off the edge and one of my feet went right in the bog. It stinks. My feet had been damp all day anyway so this wouldn’t make it any worse.
Some nice views between the coulds
Lots of bog boards
Never trust a bog board
Almost as good as being above the clouds
Helpful ladders
In the clouds
Looks nice but it is pure bog
Bog boards on steroids
Questioning my life choices
The descent
Does it look steep? Because it’s steeper than it looks!
The sun and blue sky is over there
I got to the Maine / New Hampshire border which was fun. First border crossing complete, into the second state and one of the hardest states now behind me.
New Hampshire – Maine state line
1 state down, 13 to go
Looking into New Hampshire from the sign… the bog isn’t over yet
Mt Success was anything but. It’s so poorly marked, no white blazes and it was lacking in cairns too. At one point I went the wrong way and started seeing yellow blazes on trees, I’m not even sure what a yellow blaze means, so I had to backtrack to get the trail again.
I was absolutely sweating buckets and I didn’t have my sweat rags because where they have been wet for a few days they really stink so I didn’t want them near my face. I hadn’t seen any other hikers for ages and then I saw 4 climbing up to Mt Success as I was going down. They all said the trail gets better after this descent. Thank god, because today has been long and slow and my knees felt like they were about to pop out.
I filled up on water again and made it to the shelter (where I stayed in 2018), I would have liked to have gone further but my knees wouldn’t let me. After being really careful all day, I took a fall right before the shelter!
This is what the majority of the trail looks like
Views on Mt Success
More bog
Took a tumble just before the shelter
The view from the shelter
There were a couple of NOBOs there. They were telling me all about the trail coming up and the Whites and the huts… all of which I already knew but I just played along and thanked them for all the info.
I scoffed down some food, did all my chores quickly and I was lying down by 19:30 which I needed.
One of the boys was eating sardines from a tin and he spilt the oil all over himself and the shelter floor which isn’t great news for the mice, but I really couldn’t be bothered to set up my tent so I am on the upper floor of the shelter (this one has 2 tiers). Sardine boy is in here too and there are some others camping.
Me and 2 NOBOs settled in for the night
There is a bear box here and I put my food bag in it. There is a bunch of trash left in there which I can’t understand. The packages people leave are lighter than when they had food in which they carried in; just carry out your trash!
As I’m writing this I’m being hounded by mosquitoes. It might be a difficult night!
