Mahoosac Arm & Notch, Maine




"I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy. From the very core of our being, we desire contentment. In my own limited experience I have found that the more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being."  Dalai Lama

This post card was sent to Priscilla and shows life along
the trail between the Mahoosacs, ME to the NH border.

 At the end of July I was closing in on completing my first state!  Oh,  beautiful Maine! I had arrived at the part of the trail called the Mahoosuc Range.  I was sitting by SPECK POND, having lunch with the campground caretaker, Steve.  We were talking about the birds and animals around Speck Pond.  Steve is a musician and has a fine ear for recognizing bird call.  He was working to learn the different Thrush species.  We were both stumped over a certain sound coming from the leafy woods.  It was certainly a bird but neither one of us recognized the call or could place it exactly on my IPOD.  This bird needed some patient stalking and observing.  Steve suggested that I stay at the Speck Pond shelter because a severe storm had been forcasted for the afternoon.  But the sky was clear and sunny.  I decided to hike on. 

The Mahoosuc Arm and Notch were coming up next.  The Arm starts at 3,720' and drops rapidly, down a long rock slab trail, to 2,150', where the Notch begins.  The arm offers very little in the way of hand holds for the hiker except trees and tree roots.  The rock slab can be very slippery when wet so going up or down can be treacherous in the rain.  The notch is infamous among hikers for being a boulder playground.  The length of the arm is only 1/2 mile(?) but can take 2 hours or more to cross because the hiker must figure out how to climb over, under, around or through giant rocks. This takes time.  Sometimes going through small rock caves, a hiker must remove a backpack in order to squeeze through.   There is ice in many of the caves year round.

As I hiked around Speck Pond and began my descent down the arm a little, dark, chicken like bird appeared on the trail coming toward me.  I noticed that it was a grouse .  Its dark feathers were tipped with white.  It had a red eyebrow.  This was one of my most sought after trip birds, and a LIFER!  I heard a group of hikers coming up the arm toward me and the grouse.  I called out for them to, "HOLD UP, Important bird specie here!"  They did hold up and inquired.  The Spruce Grouse was most cooperative.  It turned around, giving excellent view to the hikers (a group of 12 boys with the camp counselors) as I explained the difference between it and the more common, Ruffed Grouse.  I overheard one of the boys saying, "The Spruce Grouse must be a RARE BIRD," as they hiked away. 

Hiking down the ARM was tricky.  I could see storm clouds building so I tried to hike quickly.  I held on to the tree branches and swung around and down by the tree trunks.  I called the trees, "MY Gentleman,"  because it reminded me of how partners are swung during ballroom dancing.  Also, I would of been in serious trouble without trees to hold on to.  I would say, "Thank you, sir, for your assistance."  Talking to the trees?  Too much time on my hands!  I had heard of a camp site between the arm and the notch.  I had not yet finished climbing down the Arm before a huge storm burst out.  In torrents of rain I slowly made my way.  I was lucky to see the campsite aways off the trail behind the shrubs in the dark, rainy gloom.  I made my way over through streams of water coming off the trail.  Sitting on a boulder, under my umbrella, with huge sheets of rain coming down , I tried to motivate myself to set up my tent .  It would require speed, especially transferring my sleeping bag from pack to tent, in order to keep everything dry.  I also was looking to see which place at the camp had the smallest pool of water to put down the ground cloth.  It  looked dismal. 

With great speed and the help of my umbrella I set up my tent and put in my sleeping gear.  The storm was increasing and branches were coming down here and there.  My dear little Henry Shires Tarp Tent kept me nearly dry.  It was towards morning she began to take in a little water in the front.  But my Thermarest Air Mattress kept my sleeping bag dry because it was up off the ground.  Another group of hikers came in later in the night.  They had seen my tent lines reflecting from their head lamps thus finding the camp site.  In our little camp we rode out the storm and awoke the next day to a beautiful, clear morning. I packed up all my wet gear and headed back to the trail.  Now for the NOTCH. 

I began to weave through this interesting trail of boulders, looking into the caves and crevices, as I went.  After I sat down to make a sketch, two hikers appeared around the bend.  It was the SOBO BROS!  I had met them in Monson, Maine.  They said that I had some friends coming up behind them.  I guessed LUCKY AND CHARM.  And it was!  We hadn't seen one another for a couple of weeks so it was a great Reunion.  Also, Charm had found my blue and yellow bandanna.....which he had been carrying back to me.  He has done this several times more on the course of my through hike.  Charm is all sweetness.  Together we hiked through them arm.  As we were finishing I noticed that my tent was missing from the bottom of my pack.  I had been having problems with the pack straps loosening now and then so it was no surprise.

Lucky and Charm headed to Full Goose Pond.  I left my pack at the side of the trail and back tracked to look for my tent. It was in a stuff sack about a foot and a half long.  The sack was held together with strip after strip of grey duct tape.  Rocky Maine had been rough on my tent sack!  I had my fingers crossed that my tent could be found and had not rolled into a crevice or cave.

Climbing back through the Mahoosuc notch was a blast without a heavy pack to carry.  You can easily climb up, under over or through any situation.  After about 15 minutes of backtracking north I saw my worn out tent back resting safely on a rock. It was in plain sight....if only I had heard it drop.  I was happy to have it back again.  I made my way back to my pack and rejoined Lucky, Charm, Cloud, the SOBO Bros and a new acquaintance, Speaker at Full Goose Pond Shelter.  I swear I only hiked only 2 miles that day but it was fun to slack off with the other Southbounders.