Last night was rough but I knew it was going to be that way when I set up the campsite. It was definitely less than ideal. Although I tried to button down my tarp as tight as possible the wind was so strong that in the middle of the night it pulled up one of the stakes and I was awakened by the flapping. I should have gotten up and tightened everything up, but I was so tired so I drifted back off as best I could.
I got up at dawn and packed up ready for the hike up Mahoosuc Arm. Thankfully it's not raining today, but it's much chillier this morning and the wind is howling. The mountain top, at two thousand feet higher, should be a load of fun.
While I am packing up, a chipmunk darts out of the underbrush several times to grab any morsels I may have dropped. The lid is off my bear canister and the critter almost gets inside before I shoo it off. It returns a moment later and tries to nibble on a bag of snacks that I set out for my hike today. I finish packing while watching the little guy zoom back and forth before setting out to tackle the Mahoosuc Arm.
The hike up in the Mahoosuc Arm is intimidating. The profile says I will gain 1,500 feet over just one mile, making it one of the steeper ascents of the trail. Indeed it's not easy, but I don't think It's harder than any other climb I've done so far; it's just longer. I'm working my arms hard because I use them a lot to pull myself up and over the big rocks.
I crest the top of Mahoosuc Arm and it is socked in by fog and the wind is whipping. On the summit I put on my rain jacket as a wind layer, careful to hold on to it tightly so it doesn't blow away in the stiff wind.
Clouds are moving across the bare rock of the summit. I'm sure the view would be gorgeous, but I don't think I will see much today. I'm very fortunate that I've had a lot of views since starting New England, so I have to take the bad with the good.
As I descend the back side of Mahoosuc Arm the leeward side is much clearer and I have a nice little view of the mountains to the east, although the summits are cloaked in misty clouds.
A short time after leaving Mahoosuc Arm I arrive at Speck Pond. Although there's nothing short about this hike. The demanding ascent and the rocky descent makes me move at a snail's pace. Most of the comments in the app mention 60 minutes per mile and my pace is right on target.
At Speck Pond I stop to admire the view and collect some water. When I dip my frozen hands into the bog water I find It's surprisingly warm. I have a snack and then head around the pond to start the climb up Old Speck Mountain. I can see the trail up the side from here and It looks terrifying from this vantage; the trail appears to go straight up, almost vertical.
When I start up I realize it's not as bad as it looks. I mean it is as bad as it looks, but the rocks are rather easy to scramble up. I can't imagine a south bounder going down this with a full pack, though.
I summit Old Speck, which doesn't offer any views, but I had plenty of excellent views on the way up.
The trail starts downhill right away. I really hope the descent is nothing like the climb up, or this will take a while. The elevation profile isn't that bad - I will lose 3,300 feet over the next three and a half miles, so one thousand feet per mile is rather steep, but the comments say that it's not too bad.
The descent is quite easy for the first two miles; it's not too steep and much of it is on groomed dirt trail interspersed with rock ledges and some boulders, but nothing crazy. I'm actually enjoying the descent thus far.
Just as I'm getting complacent, the trail gets much more steep, and takes longer to hike. This continues for about a mile, until I am a mile from Grafton Notch. The trail runs along a beautiful creek. The creek is barely flowing but still pretty, moss covering the bare stream bed. The trail becomes a series stone blocks at awkward angles that require some really big steps down. My poor knees!!
On the way down I meet A southbounder who is hiking up the mountain without his shirt! Oh, if only I could have that metabolism, where I could be warm all the time, even in cold weather. He is really enthusiastic and he is loving his hike. He congratulates me on being so close to the end and tell him I'm having fun but I'm doing much fewer miles as a result of the terrain.
I reach the bottom of Grafton Notch at 3 p.m. to find Dad waiting for me in the parking lot. My knees are really beat up, even though I have never had problems with them before. I also keep getting a sharp pain in my left Achilles; I will have to baby it in the coming days. I pop 800 MG of ibuprofen and down it with a cold soda from the cooler.
We head to the motel where Dad booked us rooms tonight. It's not fancy but there's not much to choose from around here. As long as it's clean I will be happy. The rooms are recently updated and we are both happy.
I shower and we go to dinner at a diner down the street, where we have the most delicious lobster chowder I have ever tasted.
We will return to the hotel and I am in bed at 8:30.
Today's Stats: 7.1 miles, 2,612 feet gain
Trail Stats: 1,931 miles, 395K feet gain
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