Georgia To Maine: Day 144: The Toughest Mile

Hiked 10.6 miles, tenting on top of Old Speck Mountain.

I woke up this morning with a stuffed up nose and sore throat. It seems I am coming down with a cold. There is nothing for it though than to keep moving north.

Up above the cloud deck this morning

Looking back at New Hampshire!

On top of Mt. Carlo

The climb up Goose Eye Mountain was very steep indeed

Still climbing Goose Eye

I started out by finishing the climb over Mt Carlo, followed by passing up and over Goose Eye East, West and North peaks. Even though we are below 4000 feet, much of the day was out of the trees. This is because it is so rocky and steep. The terrain was tough and it took me over three hours just to do the 4.4 miles to the next shelter. Not only were the climbs and ascents difficult but we were introduced to a lovely feature of Maine, the peat bog. The fun part of peat bogs is that the ground looks like mostly dry mud, but when you steep on it you sink way in and the water seeps up.

On top of Goose Eye West looking at Goose Eye East

After crossing Goose Eye East it walks along a ridge to Goose Eye North

The climb down the far side of Goose Eye East was rocky and steep

Looking back at Goose Eye East from Goose Eye North

Looking ahead towards Fulling Mill Mountain from Goose Eye North

I stopped at the shelter to snack and get water and many others joined me. Everyone wanted to rest a bit because we were about to enter the toughest mile on the entire AT, Mahousuc Notch. After a boulder scramble down to the notch you walk along the notch for 1.2 miles before climbing back out. This section entails climbing over, around and even under car and truck sized boulders. Some people I have talked to reported taking almost three hours to get through, though most report about an hour.

Walking along the top of Fulling Mill Mountain

Entering Mahousuc Notch, doesn't look too hard yet...

And so begins the rock scrambling through Mahousuc Notch

Swell and Moving On clamber through the notch

The traverse through the notch was a lot of fun. Don't get me wrong, it was very tough too, but it was also one of my favorite miles of the AT. I am glad to have a background in rock climbing, it definitely helped to get up and over some of the tougher sections. All of a sudden I was through and out the other side. Final time: 54 minutes. This is definitely my slowest mile so far.

Humen ponders his next move

The trail passes under some big boulders

Further through the notch

Part of me really wanted to kick this stick out and see what would happen

Everyone takes a break on top of Mahousuc Arm

I wasn't in the clear yet though. I still had to get up Mahousuc Arm. This is a very long and steep climb out of the notch and is also infamous for being an incredibly tough section. The hardest part was definitely that a large portion was one long slab, which had poor footing. Again it was tough but every mountain has a top and I got there eventually. A large group had stopped on top to make food and relax in the sun and I joined them for a while.

On top of Mahousuc Arm, looking ahead at Old Speck Mountain

There was a mini peak on the way up Old Speck with a great view

To the right of the above photo

Further up Old Speck

Climbing Old Speck

This was my tent spot for the evening on top of Old Speck

I thought about calling it a short day and just walking down to the next shelter, only .9 miles down the trail, but this was an AMC campsite and I didn't feel like spending $8. This meant climbing up Old Speck Mountain which was another tough one. At the top is a side trail to the summit which has a observation tower on it. I decided to hike up and found a great spot to set up camp. Although it is windy and cold up here I got a wonderful sunset and the sky is very clear promising a great night for star gazing!