Day 155 - 2nd Sept - Full Goose Shelter - Mahoosic Notch - Grafton Notch

Full of anticipation today for the 'hardest mile on the AT' - the renowned Mahoosic Notch. We first have to negotiate a steep climb followed by a steep descent into the ravine or 'notch'. The notch is full of boulders, some as big as two story houses - as if a giant had scattered a handful of rocks through the valley floor, and the boulders have piled up on top of each other. There is no easy path. Someone has painted very good arrows to show hikers the path - one look at that crevasse - do we really have to squeeze through there???. We crawl through tunnels on our knees dragging our packs behind us, and then squeeze up cracks to get over boulders. It is a great gymnastic work out and the three of us - me, Digs and Sourdough really enjoy ourselves.

Half way through the notch we pass the older couple who had left extra early, with the bad hips and bad knees etc going at a snails pace, but determined to make it. Another hundred metres and we find a family with 2 children around 10 and 12 who have been benighted in the gorge and are travelling very slowly. I think - take the packs of kids and let your natural balance work for you, as we leap from boulder to boulder to get past them. It takes us an hour and a half to get through the notch and then we start the climb - called something like the Mahoosic Slabs or similar.

We were so psyched up to get through the notch that this climb has taken us a bit by surprise - vertical granite cliff faces with no hand holds to speak of, lunging from tree root to tree root trying to keep your balance. Parts of the rock faces are slimy and wet for some added excitement. This is a 2,000' ascent and we are exhausted by the time we reach the top.

We have lunch by a shelter on a lake, with trooper and sourdough and then decide to keep going and head for the valley 2,500' below where the road awaits us. At the road there is a car park and we toy with the idea of maybe hitching to a nearby town, but there are no cars and our mobile does not work. We cross the road and search for a good campsite along the creek, and settle in for the night. Sourdough continues on for another few miles. From inside our tent we hear a car, car doors slamming, and voices - it is Tiny Dancer and Salty who have arranged a pick up at the car park so they can skip the next bit of the trail. They head off by car into Andover, where we meet them a day later.