August 4 – Mahoosuc Arm

Post date: Aug 7, 2012 3:55:18 AM

The first step out of camp this morning was up... up the 1600 foot steep rock face of the Mahoosuc Arm. The morning was quite warm but the good news was there was no rain which would have made the little over a mile climb on the uphill rock slab much more treacherous. As the climb continued, "Dos" began to fall behind and as "Five Pair" approached the summit "Dos" waived "Five Pair" forward and indicated that she would catch up.

After the rocky summit of the Arm, the hike took "Five Pair" to the 4000' Old Speck Mountain and then down a rocky 2500 foot descent to the Grafton Notch. As is the norm for the Appalachian Trail, as soon as the hike made it to the bottom of the notch, the trail had to turn up again and it did to the tune of 2150 feet to the summit of Baldpate west peak and then traveled further upward to the 3800 foot east peak of Baldpate. At the top of Baldpate, cell service was available and while readying to touch base with "Ground Control", "Five Pair" received a text message from "Dos" that her day ended four miles earlier. "Five Pair", hiking alone again, continued on to Frye Notch Lean-to and set up tent for the night with "Metric" and "Johnny Rocket" in the area.

1922.9 miles complete/261.3 miles to go