Mahoosuc Traverse-

Grafton Notch, Maine To Gorham, NH

PHOTO: The Mahoosuc Notch is often referred to as “the longest mile on the Appalachian Trail” and is considered the most difficult. Here Bria has just exited one of the boulder caves. Note the white arrow pointing down into the dark under the big rock. To go end to end of the Notch took us just under two hours. We crawled up and down, we took our backpacks off and pushed and pulled them through the boulder caves and did whatever we had to do to keep following the white blazes and arrows.

by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer

Bria asked me if I wanted to backpack the Mahoosuc Range on the Appalachian Trail (AT). I quickly said yes because I had great memories from when I backpacked the Mahoosuc Trail ten years ago.
My husband Charlie is a champ. After leaving Bria’s car at the end of Hogan Road in Gorham, Charlie drove us to the height-of-land in Grafton Notch to the beginning of the Old Speck Trail and we started our backpack at 8 am.
Right away we started meeting North Bound (NoBo) Appalachian Trail thru-hikers. We pointed out that they needed to hike behind the Kiosk where the AT continued and to where a Trail Angel had left a cooler filled with cold sodas. They could barely hide their excitement for a cold soda. August is prime time for the bubble of NoBos crossing into Maine.

It is a big climb to get to the top of Old Speck Mountain, almost 4 miles and 2,850 vertical feet to reach its summit at elevation 4,180 feet. On top there is a lookout tower with a scary vertical metal ladder. A group of camper kids were hanging out and some were up in the tower. Bria and I both have been up to it before so we were happy to skip it. Besides, we had enjoyed hazy views of the Baldpates from some of the ledges on the way up.
We headed Sobo and back into the trees over a knob before we popped out onto open ledges and we slowly worked our way down. This was just our first taste of the rugged Mahoosuc Trail.
The good news: the ledges were dry. The bad news: we already knew water on the trail is scarce, but with this dry summer most all the small streams had dried up.
We hiked to Speak Pond and ate an early lunch on the shore behind the Shelter. We each had started the day carrying 3 liters of water; that’s 6.6 pounds and it feels extra heavy on a hot day.

We each had a bottle left so we decided not to filter the pond water and wait until we found a running stream. I recalled previously getting water in the Notch.
The climb up the Mahoosuc Arm felt good and the climb down to the Mahoosuc Notch is steep but it didn’t seem so bad this trip. I had been dreading it because it was not a good memory from my previous trip. I recall slipping all the way down and being scared when we found a thru-hiker who had passed out in the middle of the trail (he was okay, he was just sleeping). This time it was dry and we were able to get down without taking a slide. We met maybe a dozen thru-hikers of all ages, children to men with long gray beards climbing NoBo.
As we were about to start the toughest mile of the AT, the rocky maze of boulders and caves that cover the floor of the narrow Mahoosuc Notch, I spied a man with blood all over his shirt.
He moved rapidly towards us. I offered my first aid kit. He said he had stopped the bleeding. He rapidly told us that he was SoBo and going back to give up his thru-hike. He had slipped and smashed his head and broke a tooth just shy of getting out of the Notch and he took off up the trail.
Bria and I felt horrible and worried if he could climb the Arm and Old Speck to get back to Grafton Notch. If he had only known that he could have escaped the AT if he had continued and taken the gentle Notch Trail down to Success Pond Road, less than 3 miles, and he wouldn’t have had to go back through the Notch again.
Almost all thru-hikers don’t carry maps. They just follow the white blazes or have a computer app that doesn’t show the side trails/roads and being a weekend there would have been traffic on that back road.
We tackled the rock obstacle course as carefully as we could do it. We had to remove our packs and either push them or pull them through the boulder caves. Somewhere in the middle of the Notch we found a spring where the water was cold and clear. We filtered water and filled our bottles. We met more NoBos as we made our way through the rocks. One mentioned they passed by a lot of blood. Later we too saw the scene of the accident.

At Full Goose Shelter we nabbed the last tent platform just before 5 pm. There were several NoBos aready set up inside the shelter. We discussed water and yes the Notch is difficult but do-able. Take your time and remove your backpack to get through the tight boulder caves we advised.
Camp was quiet, everyone climbed into their sleeping bags before it got dark.
We were back on the trail early. We filled all three of our water bottles at the small spring that provides water for the campsite. Thankfully it was still flowing.
Up and over Goose Eye Mountain we went through low humid clouds. At least the mud pits in the trail were mostly dried up. We went out and back to the summit of Goose Eye but the clouds didn’t lift.
But by the time we hit Mount Carlo the clouds had lifted and we passed by a group of campers resting on its highpoint. We enjoyed the view back at Old Speck from its long flat summit. Just past Carlo Col we crossed the State Line into New Hampshire sometime after 10 am.
Just a couple weeks ago Bria and her husband hiked Mount Success via the Success Trail from Success Pond Road. We crossed over its fine bare summit and past a dozen NoBos taking a break and we continued on to the herd path to the plane crash site. Since she had just been here, Bria elected to take a break on the open granite slabs while I went down to see it.
The herd path was much more worn than I remembered but the wreckage looked much the same.
It was hot but not unbearable. The green tunnel formed by the thick trees kept us out of the sun. We were wowed by the view of North Bald Cap’s bare ledges as we descended Success.

We pushed through brushy and swampy trail and we both felt embarrassed for the condition of the AT here in our home state. We both do volunteer trail work and the AT needs attention.
On the fly we modified our plans. Since it was only mid afternoon when we came to the spur path to the Gentian Pond Shelter we decided to stealth camp somewhere near Dream Lake instead. We knew we could get water there.
The next couple miles had plenty of ups and downs that seemed to feel longer as the end of the day neared. We found a good enough place to set up our tents and we had water to filter.
We were in paradise. The loud bullfrog chorus lulled us to sleep, once again before darkness fell.
As we made our coffee we discussed the past two days. Bria thought yesterday was more difficult than the first. I agreed with her. The first day it was cooler, we had fresh legs and in the Notch we had some restful moments. The second day we did almost three more miles with less vertical but it was hotter.

We left no trace where we had camped and we headed back out on the trail. We carried only one bottle of water because we planned to fill our bottles at the next campsite.
At the spur for the Trident Col Campsite we dumped our packs and carried our bottles and filters in our hands. No one was around. We found the spring and the flow was so low that someone made a leaf spigot–a leaf held in place by a rock to form a spout for water flow – so we could hold our bottles beneath it to fill them. The water was clear and cold.
From this point just two thousand foot mountains stood between us and Bria’s car. Through the now mostly hardwood forest we hiked. Cascade Mountain’s open ledges provided a fine vista and a great place to have our second breakfast.
As we hiked up towards Mt. Hayes we passed at least a dozen NoBos. We figured they all must leave Gorham around 8 or 9 o’clock.
The Mahoosuc Trail runs between the summit of Old Speck and leaves the AT to go over Mount Hayes down to the Androscoggin River. The AT route misses the summit of Hayes and then continues down the Centennial Trail and from there thru hikers head to Rattle River Trail.

Bria and I dropped our packs at the trail split and we hiked out and back a couple of tenths to Mt. Hayes highpoint.
Then down the Centennial Trail we went and we passed by the burnt trees left behind from a forest fire that was burning here just this past Spring. We both agreed people shouldn’t build fires in the forest. We use a little gas canister stove to heat water for our coffee.
It was so hot we looked to see if there were any paths to the river to a good swimming spot.
We followed one but it led to a place where it looked like a bad idea to climb down to the water.
We arrived at the car just past Noon. Nearby a group of campers were stretched out under the shade of the trees. They were from the Merrowvista Camp in Tuftonboro and had just hiked the Mahoosuc Range and were headed to the Rattle River. When we told them that there was most likely plenty of water in the River and that it would be a better place to cool off they jumped to their feet. I think their leaders appreciated our motivation.
We cleaned up the best we could and we headed to Gorham to Road Hawg BBQ for some ribs and a cold brew.
I bet there is a good chance we smelled like thru-hikers.
Have Fun.