View Full Version : Mahoosuc Notch Section
A friend and I are planning on doing the section between US 2 and Grafton Notch starting early this Friday morning and finishing Sunday evening. I know that Mahoosuc Notch is slow going, but what about the rest of that section? Any input on the water situation or stealth camp sites would be appreciated. We're in good shape and I have done all of NH south of there. Thanks, Iceman
Mahoosuc Arm is a beast in the rain or when wet...dry is just a scramble. Water in the Notch is good.
The whole area is typical White Mountain difficulty...which is to say tough, but I'm sure you're tougher.
Slo-go'en
09-07-2015, 15:42
It's doable in 3 days, but it will kick your butt.
The only practical "stealth" spot is about 1/8th mile north of the notch, just before the climb up south arm. This is a very rugged section of trail with steep climbs, dense forest, scrub and some above tree line sections. Really. Please use designated campsites and stay on the trail through here to protect our fragile alpine tundra.
A typical itinerary is Gentain pond for day 1, Full Goose shelter for day 2 and through the notch and out for day 3. Day 3 will be really long and hard.
Slo-go'en
09-07-2015, 15:46
PS plan on doing not much more then 1 mph through this whole section. With sunset about 7 pm, make sure you have spare batteries for your headlamp.
It's doable in 3 days, but it will kick your butt.
The only practical "stealth" spot is about 1/8th mile north of the notch, just before the climb up south arm. This is a very rugged section of trail with steep climbs, dense forest, scrub and some above tree line sections. Really. Please use designated campsites and stay on the trail through here to protect our fragile alpine tundra.
A typical itinerary is Gentain pond for day 1, Full Goose shelter for day 2 and through the notch and out for day 3. Day 3 will be really long and hard.
Thanks for the input guys. Hope to make it to the Bull Branch camp site if possible, but will stop at Full Goose if bad weather or there isn't at least 4.5 hrs of daylight left.
joshuasdad
09-07-2015, 16:31
Consider starting late on Thursday and making it a 3.5 day. I camped after about 5-7 relatively easy miles (for NH) in the first half day (got a late start doing a bit of trail magic), and then Carlo Col shelter was a full day's hike for me over pretty rough terrain, especially as you approach the NH/ME border. I got washed off the trail then by 6 inches of rain...
If you spend a night at Carlo Col (a nice site BTW), that would leave you one 10 mile day and one 6 mile day -- you can pick your punishment based on trail conditions.
Ideal for me (and I like to do 15-20 mile days...) would be 1.5 days to Carlo Col, easy day to Full Goose (just before the notch), "fun" day to Speck Pond, then a nice stroll to the end.
Note: if you do the 10 mile day last...a long day...the descent into Grafton Notch can be a bit dangerous to night hike...I almost slid down some slickrock over a 20 ft. ledge.
Have fun!
It's a tough section but I enjoyed the heck out of it. South Arm is seriously steep, one of the steepest climbs on the AT. There are good camping spots north of Mahoosuc Notch (between the Notch and the climb up South Arm.)
BirdBrain
09-07-2015, 20:22
SoBo is preferable (in my opinion). The Arm is best done in the early afternoon in direct sunlight. It is much easier to predict weather 1 day out than 3 or 4 days out. If you go SoBo and do it in direct sunlight, the Arm is a piece of cake. If you go NoBo and end up not lucking out on weather, the Arm will be very memorable. Of course the Arm in the rain SoBo is even worse. But ya', the Arm is the main obstacle no matter what you have heard about the Notch. The Notch is slow, but not the big bad monster that many make it out to be.
Trip Report
My friend and I left the R. 2 parking lot at 7:15 Friday morning in a light rain which lasted a couple of hrs. Got to the side trail to the Gentian Pond shelter at 3:10 and decided to head for Carlo Col. Got there at 7:30 for a long day but it wasn't to bad considering Gene hadn't hiked since May. Slept in and left Carl Col around 8:30 and had a lunch break at Full Goose. Got to the Notch at 2:05 and were about 3/4 of the way through when Gene dislocated his shoulder. With help from two other hikers we made it to Bulls Run campsite for the night. It started raining before midnight which made for a tough climb up the Arm in the morning. With the help of two hikers that were slack packing and carried around 10 lbs. of my gear and two that helped fashioned a sling out of 6 bandanas we made it to the May cutoff and down the Speck Pond trail where we got a ride to the hospital. I agree with BirdBrain that the Arm is a tough climb especially when wet and carrying two packs. I thank God for his help in getting out and look forward to continuing North sometime in the next few weeks. Iceman
peakbagger
09-16-2015, 08:58
Bummer on the injury. Wow for going up the Arm with only one arm.
Too bad you didn't know that rescue crews will evacuate folks via a short walk through the woods along the brook that drains the notch to the old Bull Branch logging road that eventually runs into the Sunday River Road.
Bummer on the injury. Wow for going up the Arm with only one arm.
Too bad you didn't know that rescue crews will evacuate folks via a short walk through the woods along the brook that drains the notch to the old Bull Branch logging road that eventually runs into the Sunday River Road.
Wish we would have been aware of that. Seems that would be good information for AWOL to have in his guide.