Mahoosucs in Maine

Hiker Seth

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May 15, 2019
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So, sadly I decided that a trip out west was not the best choice for me during the Covid outbreak. I work in a key position in a rural hospital in Maine and me getting sick would probably delay or cancel care for people who would have to travel a long way to get it. Everyone has to make their own choices and I believe mine was the most pragmatic. However, here in Maine and NH we are at the ebb of the outbreak, so why not hike here? So I decided I would try to finish the AT in Maine, possibly this calendar year. For those that don't know the beginning of the AT over the Maine border is probably the hardest part of the whole trail. I've done some big chunks already so this would check a box that I've been thinking about for a long while. I started the afternoon of 7/31 and finished on 8/2. After getting out of work I was on trail by 14:30. If I had the whole day I would have started at Rt 2 in Gorham NH which would have mad it a whole traverse. 31 miles and 10,000+ feet of climbing, but since I was late on trail I took a more direct route up Peabody Brook trail to Gentian Pond campsite.

Starting with 1.5 miles of road over the Androscoggin river with the northern presidentials looming in the background.

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Yeah dirt! Maybe I just have the look of a desperate hiker but I was offered a ride to town and a ride to the trailhead within ten minutes of leaving my car.

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Detour for views on the way to camp. This is Bald Cap ledges looking back to the Carter Moriah range. On the way up here I spooked and treed a bear cub. I did not stick around to see if mom was still in the picture.

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Presidentials

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Passing Dream Lake with Mount Adams behind

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Camp. Gentian Pond is a fantastic site. Mostly tent platforms but I found some dirt in the overflow area.

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View from the AT shelter at camp. I met two thru hikers here, one southbound one heading my way. The NOBO name Shoebones would turn out to be my trail partner for the next 1.5 days and he was a great guy to hike with.

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Topping out on Mt. Success on Saturday. Perfect hiking weather, no bugs, gentle breeze, plentiful sunshine.

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Look, we found Maine.

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Next objective is the Goose Eyes. The left and middle peaks are the ones you cross. I've done them before but from the sub peak to the right.

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Yep, up we go. In the rain these sections would be undoable without these. I think SAR advocated for them.

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Topping out on the first Goose

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Google pretified this photo for me. The tallest peak dead center is Old Speck. If you follow the ridge line down to the left you see an obvious notch in the cloud shadow. That's Speck Pond where I need to get to to camp. The sub peak to the left is Mahoosuc Arm and would prove to be a real morale and leg killer at the end of a long day. Between that and the the ridge in the foreground is Mahoosuc Notch and is possibly the most fun mile of the AT. Seriously, I loved it.

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After another 5ish miles and couple 10,000 rocks later you find yourself staring in to Mahoosuc Notch. Some intrepid hiker used the Wiki feature on this sign.

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Shoebones negotiating the entry to the Notch. There was some committed jumps over no fall zones and some spots where you needed to remove packs to scoot through little caves but nothing that was truly heroic. All in all my kind of type 2 fun.

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August snowpack is no biggie out west but we never see it here until now.

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I have no pics from Mahoosuc arm because I was in hiker zombie mode. After we finished the notch it was 12 miles with 5000 feet of gain. Mahoosuc arm adds another 1400 feet over 2 miles. I went in to grind and made it to camp. 11.5 hours for 14+ miles. Not my usual speed but not my usual hike. No open ground at the pond so I hit the very plush AT shelter with Shoebones. Another perfect night of weather.

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Last views on the backside of Old Speck before heading in to the trees. Like a lot of peaks on the AT Old Speck is a spur off of it. Shoebones had no interest and I've been there before. You have to climb a fire to to get any view anyway. On the way down Old Speck I saw four people I knew. It's a small state population wise. My wife picked me up and we gave Shoebones a ride to Bethel to resupply.

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Total stats were around 25 miles and 9400 ft in two days. Those that do the whole traverse in one day are different. Going north to south would be slightly easier. What these pics don't show are the endless rocks, hip deep mud pits that need to be avoided, and the countless up and downs and scrambles. It's definitely a section to be respected and reckoned with. It has earned the rep. Thankfully we have better partial pressures of oxygen here. Blueberries were very disappointing but I made up for that yesterday on a day hike. It ain't the CDT but it's honest work.
 
Awesome Pics. My buddy just bought a house in Maine (albeit closer to the coast) but I plan to visit him just to get in some great hikes
 
Beautiful scenery - we enjoyed the Grafton Notch part of the AT but were too wimpy to try Mahoosuc. Glad you had fun!
 

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