Carlo Col Shelter, ME to Frye Notch Lean-To, ME: Daily miles 19.9, Total miles 1917.8
Went through the legendary Mahousic Notch today. It was tough but didn’t live up to it’s reputation. We started at a good hour of the morning and were psyching ourselves up for “the hardest mile of the AT”. We rested at Full Goose Shelter right before entering the Notch. The Notch is a narrow valley filled with giant boulders that looks like a game of Tetris gone wrong. You climb over, around and even under these huge obstructions following the white blazes. At some point a moose fell into the notch and it was too difficult to get out and it died in the bottom leaving it’s bones in the middle of the trail. Some Tibetan prayer flags hang over the remains. It was fun climbing through the boulders and crawling through the shoulder width holes pushing my pack in front of me. It was tough, but it didn’t compare to the climbs in the Whites. The climb out of the Notch on the other hand was insane. One of the toughest climbs yet, but Crazy Legs and I handled it well. The rest of the day was a series of ups and downs but nothing too hard. We got into the shelter to find a group from Outward Bound camped out there. The shelter only had one other person but there were about 30 preteens running around. They kept pretty quiet and were real respectful of us so it was no big deal. Dinner on the other hand was a big deal. I tipped my dinner off my stove not once, but twice. Only two times it happened the entire trip. I felt like an idiot. Luckily I had some extra food and the Outward Bound guides gave me some left over red beans and rice. Not a bad day and it feels good to be going through some of the most legendary parts of the trail.
