Bull Branch Campsite to Grafton Notch

Day Twenty-Six
Sunday, June 23 2019
Bull Branch Campsite to Grafton Notch
7 miles

First thing we faced was Mahoosuc Arm.  It was a long steep one a  half mile up, I’m so glad it didn’t rain to make it slippery.  We stopped at Speck Pond Shelter for an early lunch. Speck Pond is a beautiful fishing pond. 

Then came Old Speck Mountain, the south side of which is a lot of rock face walking.  Wait-up fell twice in the same spot.  His feet slipped out from under him and down he went on the same hip both times.  He had a pretty back bruise from it. 

Above treeline on Old Speck it was very windy and hard to walk upright.  We were hanging on to trees on the sides of the rockface, when along came a mother and daughter duo walking right up the middle of the steep, bare rockface.  They were use to it obviously and knew where they could step or how to step on it. 

On the top of Old Speck at 12:30, we called for a shuttle to meet us at the bottom at 3:30.  Right on the dot, we came out at Grafton Notch.  The walk down was long but pretty normal.  It was a well-used trail, obviously popular with local day hikers. 

We were picked up by a lady shuttle driver from Pine Ellis Hostel and she had cold lemonade!  So good!

When we pulled in to Pine Ellis Hostel, Brenda (trail name Daisy, from Indiana) was sitting at a table outside enjoying the sunshine.  They had been picked up a short time before we were.  Her husband was gone to buy a new camera after having broken theirs when he fell. We met Lee (Blue Feather) later and made plans to slackpack with them tomorrow out of Pine Ellis.   It’s always a good idea to share a shuttle ride with others if you can to share the expense. 

We had a short walk across of a few blocks one street over to find a couple of restaurants to choose from.  The food was good and very reasonable.

Pine Ellis Hostel is a multi-bedroom home used as a hostel.  The home is an older one, but comfortable enough, with the hostel bedrooms upstairs. No air conditioning so we slept with the screened window open and were just right.   Breakfast of muffins and coffee was provided.   

Bull Branch Campsite to Grafton Notch

https://youtu.be/-YXC0joyIME

Carlo Col Shelter to Bull Branch Campsite (Mahoosuc Notch)

Day Twenty-five
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Carlo Col Shelter to Bull Branch Campsite
7.1 Miles

Goose Eye Mountain West Peak, Goose Eye Mountain, East Peak, Goose Eye Mountain North Peak, Fulling Mill  Mountain South Peak, THEN Mahoosuc Notch– Gosh!  We had used up all our energy before we got to the dreaded hardest mile on the trail.  We reached it at 2:45 and finished at 6:45.  Not the best idea to start the notch that late in the day.  Stopping short yesterday set us up for this. 

But we were finally here.  With much trepidation we stood at the entrance to the Notch, which looked like a war zone with downed trees, boulders and snow  as far as the eye could see.  We prayed that it wouldn’t rain because it sure looked like it  wanted to.  Up north of  us, we could see rain and later found out that it hailed at Speck Pond Shelter up ahead.   But we only got sprinkles a few times in the Notch. 

Before  we got started good, we came across a flock of baby ducks trying to get out of the snow.  We watched them and videoed for 20 or 30 minutes before going on, so not counting that time, we actually did the notch in 3.5 hours.  I asked the question later on a Facebook group how long it took other section hikers to complete the notch and  found out 3.5 hours is not too bad. 

The Notch is unbelievable.  Hard!  Big boulders to go over and  under, no way to go around. Tunnels to go through.  Big expanses to jump over.  Several times Wait-up stopped in front of me and said, “Ain’t no way I’m gonna do that!”  But he did, because he had too.  And then I did it too. 

Once we were down between the boulders trying to figure out a way to get through and three young people came through above us on top of the boulders jumping from one to the other.  Going fast.  They’ve done it a time or two and were trying to beat their time, they said.  We were in awe.  So we lumbered on.

We finally came upon a beautiful path going out of the gorge the left and we thought were were finished.  But Guthooks said we had .5 to go.  We thought it would go on forever – it looked like it did, we could see no end in sight. 

But suddenly it was over and we walked up a slight hill to find Bull Branch Campsite.  It was a steep downhill to a creek to get water, not something you look forward to  at the end of a long hard day.  After that chore and setting up our tent and cooking our meal, we fell into bed that night, exhausted. 

We were the only ones  around.  We met a couple later about our age (Lee and Brenda) who went through the notch his morning after staying at Full Goose last night.  They are at Speck Pond Shelter tonight.  If we had not stopped early yesterday, we would have had company going through the  notch this morning.  We caught up with them in Andover and hiked with them for several days.  

YouTube of Goose Eye Mountain and Mahoosuc Notch