Mr. Clean
08-26-2004, 08:19
I decided to get back to the AT for the weekend and wanted to continue my hikes in the Mahoosucs so I decided on this one. Hobbit and his brother downhill went with me.
We got a bit of a late start on the trail after meeting "Monk". He was on Success Pond road and had a long walk out, and since he was out of food and very cold, we gave him a ride into Berlin. The trip up the Notch trail from Success Pond road was pretty easy, and joins the AT right at Mahoosuc Notch. We would do this the next day, and turned uphill for the steep climb out of the Notch towards the summit of South Fulling Mill mtn. The top is a nice alpine meadow/bog with puncheons to walk on, and the summit has great views of all surrounding peaks such as the Presidentials, Old Speck and Baldpate, and of Goose Eye. Now for the first downhill of the day toward the shelter, which we reached shortly.
They say the shelter holds twelve, which I would've liked to have seen, because by dark, we had ten and we were all hip to hip. Some SOBO's, some NOBO's, and some sectioners as well as the three of us. Met Uncle Kodak, Grass, Toke, and Terrapin Flyer, the only names that I caught. Terrapin did 17 miles that day - incredible girl!
The next day, we ascended South Fulling Mill mtn again and were rewarded by a beautiful undercast of the clouds; the mtns poking through looked like islands in a sea of clouds. Met some day hikers on the top and were passed by Toke and Grass on the way down the steeps into the Notch. We ditched our packs for the Notch, and should've left our poles behind as well.
Our plan was to do about half of the Notch and then turn around for the trip back to the Jeep, which we did. I suffered from a fall on a large piece of slick granite and now have a nice temporary badge from the trip to remember it by, and only had a minor kilt mishap.
The Notch is awesome. Thats all. Huge boulders covered with moss, and mist rising from crevasses between them from ice and snow down in there, even in August. The temp dropped 15 degrees as soon as we entered the Notch, and we were disappointed by the heat when we left. As we turned around, Grass, Toke, and their companion (didn't get his name - nice guy) passed us again and continued on. We headed back, surprised at how different it looked from the opposite direction. It would have been much tougher with a full pack, and was tough as it was without one. I hear the hardest part was at the other end...
Back down Notch trail, swam in the river to cool off and clean up from the hike. Met a fellow at the trailhead who was taking his dogs ashes to the summit - they hiked up there many times and he wanted his dog up there forever.
An awesome overnighter, good company, beautiful scenery, and in the mtns again. Sweet. Life is good.
We got a bit of a late start on the trail after meeting "Monk". He was on Success Pond road and had a long walk out, and since he was out of food and very cold, we gave him a ride into Berlin. The trip up the Notch trail from Success Pond road was pretty easy, and joins the AT right at Mahoosuc Notch. We would do this the next day, and turned uphill for the steep climb out of the Notch towards the summit of South Fulling Mill mtn. The top is a nice alpine meadow/bog with puncheons to walk on, and the summit has great views of all surrounding peaks such as the Presidentials, Old Speck and Baldpate, and of Goose Eye. Now for the first downhill of the day toward the shelter, which we reached shortly.
They say the shelter holds twelve, which I would've liked to have seen, because by dark, we had ten and we were all hip to hip. Some SOBO's, some NOBO's, and some sectioners as well as the three of us. Met Uncle Kodak, Grass, Toke, and Terrapin Flyer, the only names that I caught. Terrapin did 17 miles that day - incredible girl!
The next day, we ascended South Fulling Mill mtn again and were rewarded by a beautiful undercast of the clouds; the mtns poking through looked like islands in a sea of clouds. Met some day hikers on the top and were passed by Toke and Grass on the way down the steeps into the Notch. We ditched our packs for the Notch, and should've left our poles behind as well.
Our plan was to do about half of the Notch and then turn around for the trip back to the Jeep, which we did. I suffered from a fall on a large piece of slick granite and now have a nice temporary badge from the trip to remember it by, and only had a minor kilt mishap.
The Notch is awesome. Thats all. Huge boulders covered with moss, and mist rising from crevasses between them from ice and snow down in there, even in August. The temp dropped 15 degrees as soon as we entered the Notch, and we were disappointed by the heat when we left. As we turned around, Grass, Toke, and their companion (didn't get his name - nice guy) passed us again and continued on. We headed back, surprised at how different it looked from the opposite direction. It would have been much tougher with a full pack, and was tough as it was without one. I hear the hardest part was at the other end...
Back down Notch trail, swam in the river to cool off and clean up from the hike. Met a fellow at the trailhead who was taking his dogs ashes to the summit - they hiked up there many times and he wanted his dog up there forever.
An awesome overnighter, good company, beautiful scenery, and in the mtns again. Sweet. Life is good.