This shelter was just rebuilt in 2017
Mile 1,920.0
Elevation 3,429 feet
Miles Hiked 4.9
This is going to be a tough day. I woke up early, skipped breakfast and was able to get away before 7:00 AM. Today, I hop and crawl through Mahoosuc Notch. The AT Guide describes it this way, “Most difficult or fun mile of the AT.” The notch is a spot between two mountains where an avalanche of huge boulders occurred creating nature’s own obstacle course. A woman hiker told me it took her five hours to get through the one mile of boulders. This is not something I would characterize as “fun.”
The passage through involved jumping from boulder to boulder, climbing up vertical rock faces and crawling through small cave-like passages between boulders. A few times I had to take off my backpack in order to squeeze through or under boulders. Anyone with claustrophobia would have been in serious trouble.
Not me but you get the idea
Watch the video at the above link for a real life look at what it takes to get through the notch. No, I didn’t take the video. At the time I was more interested in surviving the traversal rather than documenting it.
This part of the hike took some serious time. I reached the Notch about 10 AM and exited at 2 PM. I took me four hours to go the one mile.
After exiting the Notch obstacle course, I wasn’t finished. The elevation was 2,116 feet and a very steep climb to 3,770 feet and the summit of Mahoosuc Arm began. Another hike described the climb as “brutal” and I couldn’t agree more.
I reached the campsite about 7:30 PM. All the tent sites were taken, so I ended up staying by myself in the shelter. It was a long hard day.
