Date: 7/29/04
Starting Location: Full Goose Shelter
Destination: Baldpate Lean-to
Miles: 12
Total Miles: 1918.4
The day we've all been waiting for—Mahoosuc Notch. Thankfully, I felt a little bit more healthy and energetic for this famous stretch through a mile-long deep notch where the trail scrambles over, around, and sometimes under some extremely large boulders. It was great to pass through this stretch feeling better and laughing with the others about where the white blazes were leading us at times. So much fun to enjoy this long jungle-gym with the rest of the bunch from last night. In some places, you could actually spot large patches of year-round ice deep in the rocks where the temperature is considerably colder than the trail outside the notch.
A beautiful day for hiking with Footloose, Camel, the Camera Crew, and Leki-less who were all sitting at a break together when NY Mule (a.k.a. Brett) came along. I barely recognized him, but the trail name jogged my memory. Being the brother of my friend Shauna back in NY, I knew he was out hiking the trail but had no idea where he was or if I might see him before the end. It's great to have such a surprise meeting with someone from home, and we walked for a ways together catching up on each other's trail experiences. Apparently, when I reach Katahdin I have his permission to date his sister, so I've got that going for me....which is nice.
