August 5th, 2018, Maine
It was a foggy morning but I could tell the sun was trying to work it’s way through. I got back on the trail around 7am and continued the climb up Old Speck Mountain. I made it up but was in the fog and there was little to see. On the way down the other side I passed by a nice lake then met an older couple, Detour and Tag Along, who were finishing 20 years of section hiking on the AT. They would complete the whole trail at the main road later today. I congratulated them and continued on.
I reached the top of Mahoosuc Arm around 10:30 and started down. I came up behind two older hikers called Lucky Boy and Cheesesteak. Lucky Boy lives in Falls Church, VA and Cheesesteak is in Charleston. They are both retired Navy and are heading to Harpers Ferry to complete their flip-flop hike.
I reached the bottom of Mahoosuc Arm without incident and stopped at a stream for water and lunch. I was only a short way from the start of Mahoosuc Notch.
As I was heading out from lunch I walked with a young hiker from Green Bay, WI called Thor. He had longish blond hair and looked a little like the actor from the movie. We started the Notch together. It was not so much hiking as climbing over and under giant boulders.
The interesting thing was, as the warm summer wind blew, very cold air would come up from the crevices and caves below us. I guess it was about 40-degree air and it felt like someone left a giant freezer door open. You could even see wisps of fog rising up where the more humid air met the cold air. This continued the whole time and at one point I got a glimpse of some ice down below some of the rocks. It was hard to believe ice was present in August but there it was—and you could feel the cooling effect throughout the Notch. In the picture below, you may be able to see a white patch of ice inside the dark triangular cave. The cave was about four or five feet across.
About half way through Thor got ahead of me and I didn’t see him again today.
Once I finished I came upon four hikers who had also just finished. I knew three of them, including the couple from Minnesota and Little Red Riding Hood, from several weeks ago at Shaw’s in Monson, then we crossed paths again a few days ago at the Human Nature Hostel. There was a girl with them I hadn’t met called Maine-iac. It turns out they were all hiking together today and she had slipped and fallen down in a crevice about 15 feet or so. She had some scrapes and bruises but, more seriously, had hit her head on the rock.
She was coherent and wanted to keep hiking. So we continued as a group up toward the next mountain. I suggested when we reached the top we try and call for some medical advice in case she had a concussion. When we got up there one of the group called a hiker buddy, Defib, who just retired after 30 years as a paramedic. He advised to watch for nausea, lethargy, and to wake her up every two hours to make sure she was still coherent. We continued on to Full Goose Lean-to where they planned to stop. They planned to take turns checking on her through the night. With all seeming under control, I said my goodbyes and continued on.
I hiked for several more miles, nearly to the Maine-New Hampshire Border. The weather was clear all evening and it was a nice hike. Between several mountains there were alpine bogs with the log bridges to help cross them. I had been warned that several of the bridges were just floating. If you stepped on them they immediately sunk down and you would be waist deep in the bog. I was careful to test out any questionable ones and found several that sunk deeply when I checked them.
It was already twilight when I set up my hammock. I had to cook dinner while using my head lamp. I would have stopped sooner tonight but couldn’t find a suitable spot to set up for quite a while.
