Mile 1927.2Baldpate Lean-To
Soooooo. A whole bunch of tents sqieezed into fhat stealth–not stealth site between the Notch and the Arm. I found out later that one of them was Siren! Remember Siren? She shared a tentsite with ne after Trail Days. We had a quick catchup when she passed me this afternoon, and it was magic. I also ran into Reno today! He’s here at the shelter now, in fact. I haven’t seen bim since that same post–Trail Days shakeup. Er… no. Since fhe Half-Gallon Challenge. Reno saw a moose a couple of days ago! It was quick and in the trees, so he’s not sure yet if he’s going to count it.
Oh! Speaking of counting things… frogs +1! 😁
It rained last night. Like… hard. I packed up the tent from inside while it rained, then I started climbing to do the Mahoosuc Arm—in the rain. The Arm took 2 hours. If anybody reading this is thinking about sectioning Maine (I’m looking at you, Doug), NOBO is the safest way to do this whole section.
Worse than the arm was that bit of rock-climbing misery at the top of Old Speck. Vomitously vertical and high, high, high. I lost a little more skin, but I made it. I have a few things to say about fear of heights, but I’ll save them for a zero. I can’t believe I did that SOBO. That or the Arm.
And that was today! Tomorrow are the Baldpates, which I loved last time, but somebody told me it’s supposed to rain again, and that descent is supposed to be hellish in the rain. I hope all those opinions are exaggerated. I’ll get started an hour early, though, and take it one step at a time. I have a shuttle picking me up 8 miles from here at 4 tomorrow, and I’m not sure I can get there in time. How Maine is that?
Speaking of which, the rock climbs and descents in Maine come in two flavors: ‘Maine, you crazy kid’ and ‘Fuck you, Maine, you fucking fuck.’ The Notch was FYMYFF. The Arm was mostly FYMYFF. Old Speck was definitely FYMYFF. Actually, pretty much everything from the border to Grafton Notch was FYMYFF.
Karma AT2019 
I’m awestruck. These are breathtaking pictures, of the variety only found in places few people ever go. And once again I find myself impressed with how you know some things (most in this part, apparently) are going to be physically and mentally taxing – even fear inducing – yet you put your shoulder into it, concentrate, and do what you have to do!
It also occurs to me that in some sections “trail” is an overly generous term…
LikeLike
“Trail” is SOOOO overly generous! lol
LikeLike
Glad my memory was accurate. Off to do trail work for a week. I’ll catch as catch can your stories. Good luck.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for doing trail work!
LikeLike
Thanks for the tip! Holy $#&$! I’ve been in VA. Long comment coming! So glad u didn’t quit!!!
LikeLike