attroll
10-10-2004, 22:24
Saturday morning started off about 15 minutes late due to me. I got stuck in traffic heading to Grafton Notch. So I arrived 15 minutes late. We left Poison Ivy’s car at Grafton notch as planned. Then fallowed Walkin’ Wally to the Speck Pond trail head and left his truck there. Then we went to our meeting point for Frosty which was the Notch trail road. But he was not there. So we drove up the road to see if he was there. But he was not. So we headed back out at the entrance to the road to wait for him. He was waiting there when we got back. So we drove back up in and dropped his truck off and then drove to The Carlo Col trail head.
There was a group of Canadians getting read to hike up the trail also. They said they were heading to Carlo Col Shelter for the night. We had them take our picture with Frosty’s camera. We all put our packs on and Walkin’ Wally, Frosty and Poison Ivy headed up the trail while I tided up and locked the truck. We split up as we hiked. We each had our own hiking paces. But every once and awhile we would all stop and wait for each other and take a break. We did this trough most of the trip. We all met a Carlo Col Shelter. There were three people already set up in there for the night. After a short break and conversation we all headed out again. We pretty much would all meet up at the good views every time one came.
Shortly before Goose Eye Mountain we met before the open area we had to cross and agreed to blue blaze to the summit of Goose Eye. We got part way up Goose Eye before we hit the ladder that is well known for this part of the trail. The ladder is over 30 feet tall and the side polls are almost the size of telephone polls. At the blue blaze to Goose Eye we dropped out packs and grabbed our cameras and head to the summit. At the summit of Goose Eye we took the usual pictures and Frosty set his camera up with timer and took a group shot. Then we went back to our packs. Walkin’ Wally headed out right away because he was worried about securing space at Full Goose Shelter. So we never talked to him again until we reached the shelter. We saw him one last time as we were ascending the east peak of Goose Eye going across the open bog between the east and north peak.
As we reach the north side of the north peak of Goose Eye I ran into a husband and wife team with there 22 year old son that had already set their tent up at Full Goose and had just climbed the peak for the evening view. We arrived at Full Goose shelter with only a Canadian couple there with their 7 month old son. Yes I said that right. They had their 7 month old son. They were heading through Mahoosuc Notch and up to Speck Pond on Sunday. I set my hammock up over one of the larger tent platforms and the other three set up to stay in the lean-to for the night. Then we cooked our meals and just sat around talking. I think Poison Ivy was falling asleep while the three of us were talking because she stayed pretty quite in the back of the shelter. Then groups of people started rolling in. The first group was the six Canadians that were going to stay at Carlo Col shelter but decided to move on when they saw the other three had taken over the shelter. Then another group of 4 arrived. Then we lost count because they kept coming. They were all Canadians and none of the groups knew each other. But we ended up with a large group for the night. If I were to guess I would say there were between 20 and 25 people there for the night. I was glad I had not set up in the shelter. But after it was dark and I looked over at my hammock I realized that two people had set up a tent on my platform. I was not too happy but all the platforms were being used and I could have set my hammock up somewhere else so I dealt wiht it. I carried in a lot of extra gear because I was worried about it being to cold in my hammock Saturday night. I had carried a down vest and a small down throw blanket with me. I laid on top of the down throw blanket but never used the vest. I probably could have gone without the throw blanket too. But I was worried. I stayed warm all night. In fact when I got up in the middle of the night it was so warm I could have walked around naked, but I didn’t. LOL.
Sunday started out great we all got up and cooked breakfast and Poison Ivy headed out first about 25 minutes ahead of us. She said it would be better because she was a little slower. So we let her. Then Frosty left about 10 minutes later and then Walkin’ Wally and I left. I never saw Poison Ivy again until ¼ of the way through the notch. She must have kept a pretty good pace. Walkin’ Wally and I passed Frosty climbing Fulling Mill Mountain. When we got to the top we waited for Frosty and took some pictures. The new head out with Walkin’ Wally in the lead and then me and Frosty stayed in the rear. I never saw anyone again until I got to the Notch entrance and the Notch trail where I thought we had all agreed to wait for each other. But I guess I misunderstood or they did not want to wait. I waited for Frosty to come down of Fulling Mill Mountain so I could say good bye because he was leaving us here and heading out the Notch trail and going home. After the good byes I picked up my pace and headed into the Notch. I was probably going too fast but I was concerned with catching up with Walkin’ Wally and Poison Ivy because they were my ride back to my truck. I had told them earlier that my left knee was bothering me and I might go out with Frosty and have him take me to my truck and head home. But I babied my knee coming down of the mountain so I decided to go through the notch. So I had to catch them at least once to let them know I was going with them as I said I picked up pace and had a couple of close hopping some of the large boulders. But I finally caught them. Boy was I relieved. I could not slow down and enjoy myself. Walkin’ Wally went head and I went in front of Poison Ivy through the Notch. We did not see Walkin’ Wally again until close to the end of the Notch. I stayed pretty much with Poison Ivy through the Notch. After the Notch we stuck together until we reached the next water source right before our climb up Mahoosuc Notch #2. The water source was a nice place to stop. It was one slab of granite going down off the mountain with running down the whole slab with little pools every so often. You had to see it to understand.
At the water source we filled out bottles and bladders and had something to eat. Poison Ivy left about 25 minutes ahead of us again while Walkin’ Wally and I just sat around talking. We all agreed to meet at the Speck Pond trail junction. Little did we know this would be the last we would see of Poison Ivy. We headed up through Notch #2. This was not anything like the Main Notch. It was a rock scramble climb up the side of the mountain. Then came Mahoosuc Arm. This was the part I was dreading. I had done this once before and it kicked my butt. So I was not looking forward to it again. But I took it slow and easy and took my time. Walkin’ Wally and I made it up and over the Arm with little problems. It was a lot easier this time for me. It might have something to do with me being overweight last time I did the climb. I am now 25 pound lighter. While doing the ascent on the Arm I was working up a small sweat and every time I stopped the wind would go right to the bone and was pretty darn cold. So I was afraid to stop for to long. Just before we got near the top of the Arm Walkin’ Wally yelled “Ivy” and she yelled back “Yeah” and he yelled “Hi”. Then we headed up and peaked and reached the junction trail but she was not there. She had forgotten or thought we were supposed to meet her at the other junction trail at Speck Pond. We contemplated on going to Speck Pond in case that was what she thought. But we decided that she was either worried about getting down to Grafton Notch or she would figure out that we were not coming after she waited there for about 15 minute. I hope we were right.
The accent down the Speck Pond trail was gradual for the whole 3 miles. This did not break our hearts after climbing the Arm. About one tenth of a mile into the descent we stopped to eat something thinking this was why we might be getting cold and drained. After a quick bite to eat and shortly after walking a bit we warmed right and felt a lot better. After getting to Walkin’ Wally’s truck and jump starting another hikers SUV we went and picked up my truck and head to Grafton Notch where we left a not on Poison Ivy’s car, then a quick trip to McDonalds. LOL
This was a great trip with Walkin’ Wally, Poison Ivy and Frosty. It turned out better that I had even thought it would. I would love to get together and do another hike with any one of these people. I just wish we had time to do another backpacking trip on the AT this year. But now it is getting colder and I have to start splitting wood for winter which means I will not have time. I have put that off way to long.
There was a group of Canadians getting read to hike up the trail also. They said they were heading to Carlo Col Shelter for the night. We had them take our picture with Frosty’s camera. We all put our packs on and Walkin’ Wally, Frosty and Poison Ivy headed up the trail while I tided up and locked the truck. We split up as we hiked. We each had our own hiking paces. But every once and awhile we would all stop and wait for each other and take a break. We did this trough most of the trip. We all met a Carlo Col Shelter. There were three people already set up in there for the night. After a short break and conversation we all headed out again. We pretty much would all meet up at the good views every time one came.
Shortly before Goose Eye Mountain we met before the open area we had to cross and agreed to blue blaze to the summit of Goose Eye. We got part way up Goose Eye before we hit the ladder that is well known for this part of the trail. The ladder is over 30 feet tall and the side polls are almost the size of telephone polls. At the blue blaze to Goose Eye we dropped out packs and grabbed our cameras and head to the summit. At the summit of Goose Eye we took the usual pictures and Frosty set his camera up with timer and took a group shot. Then we went back to our packs. Walkin’ Wally headed out right away because he was worried about securing space at Full Goose Shelter. So we never talked to him again until we reached the shelter. We saw him one last time as we were ascending the east peak of Goose Eye going across the open bog between the east and north peak.
As we reach the north side of the north peak of Goose Eye I ran into a husband and wife team with there 22 year old son that had already set their tent up at Full Goose and had just climbed the peak for the evening view. We arrived at Full Goose shelter with only a Canadian couple there with their 7 month old son. Yes I said that right. They had their 7 month old son. They were heading through Mahoosuc Notch and up to Speck Pond on Sunday. I set my hammock up over one of the larger tent platforms and the other three set up to stay in the lean-to for the night. Then we cooked our meals and just sat around talking. I think Poison Ivy was falling asleep while the three of us were talking because she stayed pretty quite in the back of the shelter. Then groups of people started rolling in. The first group was the six Canadians that were going to stay at Carlo Col shelter but decided to move on when they saw the other three had taken over the shelter. Then another group of 4 arrived. Then we lost count because they kept coming. They were all Canadians and none of the groups knew each other. But we ended up with a large group for the night. If I were to guess I would say there were between 20 and 25 people there for the night. I was glad I had not set up in the shelter. But after it was dark and I looked over at my hammock I realized that two people had set up a tent on my platform. I was not too happy but all the platforms were being used and I could have set my hammock up somewhere else so I dealt wiht it. I carried in a lot of extra gear because I was worried about it being to cold in my hammock Saturday night. I had carried a down vest and a small down throw blanket with me. I laid on top of the down throw blanket but never used the vest. I probably could have gone without the throw blanket too. But I was worried. I stayed warm all night. In fact when I got up in the middle of the night it was so warm I could have walked around naked, but I didn’t. LOL.
Sunday started out great we all got up and cooked breakfast and Poison Ivy headed out first about 25 minutes ahead of us. She said it would be better because she was a little slower. So we let her. Then Frosty left about 10 minutes later and then Walkin’ Wally and I left. I never saw Poison Ivy again until ¼ of the way through the notch. She must have kept a pretty good pace. Walkin’ Wally and I passed Frosty climbing Fulling Mill Mountain. When we got to the top we waited for Frosty and took some pictures. The new head out with Walkin’ Wally in the lead and then me and Frosty stayed in the rear. I never saw anyone again until I got to the Notch entrance and the Notch trail where I thought we had all agreed to wait for each other. But I guess I misunderstood or they did not want to wait. I waited for Frosty to come down of Fulling Mill Mountain so I could say good bye because he was leaving us here and heading out the Notch trail and going home. After the good byes I picked up my pace and headed into the Notch. I was probably going too fast but I was concerned with catching up with Walkin’ Wally and Poison Ivy because they were my ride back to my truck. I had told them earlier that my left knee was bothering me and I might go out with Frosty and have him take me to my truck and head home. But I babied my knee coming down of the mountain so I decided to go through the notch. So I had to catch them at least once to let them know I was going with them as I said I picked up pace and had a couple of close hopping some of the large boulders. But I finally caught them. Boy was I relieved. I could not slow down and enjoy myself. Walkin’ Wally went head and I went in front of Poison Ivy through the Notch. We did not see Walkin’ Wally again until close to the end of the Notch. I stayed pretty much with Poison Ivy through the Notch. After the Notch we stuck together until we reached the next water source right before our climb up Mahoosuc Notch #2. The water source was a nice place to stop. It was one slab of granite going down off the mountain with running down the whole slab with little pools every so often. You had to see it to understand.
At the water source we filled out bottles and bladders and had something to eat. Poison Ivy left about 25 minutes ahead of us again while Walkin’ Wally and I just sat around talking. We all agreed to meet at the Speck Pond trail junction. Little did we know this would be the last we would see of Poison Ivy. We headed up through Notch #2. This was not anything like the Main Notch. It was a rock scramble climb up the side of the mountain. Then came Mahoosuc Arm. This was the part I was dreading. I had done this once before and it kicked my butt. So I was not looking forward to it again. But I took it slow and easy and took my time. Walkin’ Wally and I made it up and over the Arm with little problems. It was a lot easier this time for me. It might have something to do with me being overweight last time I did the climb. I am now 25 pound lighter. While doing the ascent on the Arm I was working up a small sweat and every time I stopped the wind would go right to the bone and was pretty darn cold. So I was afraid to stop for to long. Just before we got near the top of the Arm Walkin’ Wally yelled “Ivy” and she yelled back “Yeah” and he yelled “Hi”. Then we headed up and peaked and reached the junction trail but she was not there. She had forgotten or thought we were supposed to meet her at the other junction trail at Speck Pond. We contemplated on going to Speck Pond in case that was what she thought. But we decided that she was either worried about getting down to Grafton Notch or she would figure out that we were not coming after she waited there for about 15 minute. I hope we were right.
The accent down the Speck Pond trail was gradual for the whole 3 miles. This did not break our hearts after climbing the Arm. About one tenth of a mile into the descent we stopped to eat something thinking this was why we might be getting cold and drained. After a quick bite to eat and shortly after walking a bit we warmed right and felt a lot better. After getting to Walkin’ Wally’s truck and jump starting another hikers SUV we went and picked up my truck and head to Grafton Notch where we left a not on Poison Ivy’s car, then a quick trip to McDonalds. LOL
This was a great trip with Walkin’ Wally, Poison Ivy and Frosty. It turned out better that I had even thought it would. I would love to get together and do another hike with any one of these people. I just wish we had time to do another backpacking trip on the AT this year. But now it is getting colder and I have to start splitting wood for winter which means I will not have time. I have put that off way to long.