I'm doing a section backpack from Killington to just before 100 mile wilderness in Maine. Just wondering about the best use of energy while going through the Mahoosac Notch, is it advised to just leave your backpack on or take it on and off throughout the entire MN stretch?
i've done the notch a buncha times. always kept my pack on. there's no set route
There were a few spots I had to remove my pack to pass. My youngest son, 11 at the time, had to remove his for one spot.
It was a fun hike. We just did an overnight trip through the notch and ended at Grafton State park parking area.
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First time through, northbound, I recalled a tiny bit of crawling under boulders pushing my pack ahead of me. Years later, northbound, I managed to avoid that. Like LW says, there's no set path. I found myself stopping often trying to figure out just how to move "forward" through that jumble.
The notch is a puzzle. You figure it out as you go.
Some of the whiteblazes are set up to point a hiker to the fun spots rather than the easiest way through. You will have plenty of opportunities to practice boulder scrambling on your hike east across the whites. The spots where you take your pack off are pretty obvious.
We followed those and had a blast. I'm sure there are easier routes but what would be the fun in that.Quote:
Originally Posted by peakbagger
When I have taken others through the notch, on occasion some folks suddenly decide half way through that they have had enough "fun" and I end up having to direct them around the fun stuff. There is a far easier to access day hike in the whites called Ice Gulch a few miles north of Mt Adams, it has similar terrain as Mahoosuc Notch, when folks ask me to take them through Mahoosuc Notch, I take them through Ice Gulch, if they like the gulch they will like the Notch , but if they don't like it I skip the notch.
It depends on how wide your pack is. And how wide you are.
It's fun figuring it out.