Hiking was slow but we made it up the first few bumps before the fog & rain showed up. We had our last view of the White Mountains from a shelter we stopped at to get water.
Looking back on where we had come from.
Lilly pad pond
Our last view of the Whites.
PaddyCakes enjoying the view from the shelter.
While we were stopped to get water we saw our first moose of the trip. We heard some grunting & splashing so we headed to the water & saw a cow moose.
Not a great picture but we were about to watch her for a while.
Shortly after the rain came in harder so we pushed to stay warm & get to our camp before dinner. We hit Success Mountain, the last mountain in New Hampshire before crossing into Maine. Didn't get a view from the fog but it felt good knowing New Hampshire was behind us. Another state under our belt.
PaddyCakes & Spanky looking determined to get into Maine.
WE MADE IT TO MAINE!
We stayed in the shelter shortly after the state line & got out of the rain only to wake up to it again. We had a big day planned, we had to make it through the "Mahoosuc Notch". It is written in the guide that it is "the most difficult or fun mile on the AT." Even though it was raining, we needed to make some miles so we went for it.
A brief relief from the rain just in time for a view.
PaddyCakes & Sleeping Beauty enjoying a brief happy moment without rain.
Could this really be the trail with water running through it? Yep. It's the trail!
PaddyCakes after he fell in one of the many bogs of Maine.
So the Mahoosuc Notch was in fact fun! But it was SUPER HARD! It took us 1 & 1/2 hours to do that one mile. It was a jumbled pit of boulders that we had to climb over & under & even had to take our packs off a few times to make it through. Here are a few pics of the Mahoosuc Mile.
Trying to find the best path.
Rock jumping.
Between these boulders is a river of ice water 10 feet down.
This picture gives you a little perspective on how high some of the boulders are.
Sleeping Beauty hiding in a hole.
After that mile we were so tired & cold & wet from all day of rain that we decided that 8 miles was enough for the day. So we set up tents at 2:30 & called it a day.
The next morning we were so happy the rain had past but everything we owned was muddy & wet so we decided to push an 18 to Andover to get cleaned up & resupply. So we push on.
PaddyCakes & me enjoying the lakes
There was so much rain that it was overflowing out of the lake.
A nice waterfall.
PaddyCakes loving the AT.
Our last climb of the day was over Baldpate mountain. We finally had a wonderful view & a great sunny day.
Coming down the bald was a bit tricky. I even fell a few times on the slick wet slabs but didn't kill myself thankfully.
We past a few more waterfalls then drug ourselves to the road where we got picked up by a hostel called The Cabin. They fed us homemade spaghetti & meatballs, fresh beans, wonderful salad & homemade blueberry cake. Ummm ummm good! We head back out tomorrow to try & hike more of southern Maine. This state is turning out to be harder than we though. But, as always "just keep hiking, just keep hiking!"
Puddin'
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