8-12-12

AT miles hiked today: 2.8
Total AT miles hiked: 1029.4

I hiked from Full Goose Shelter to the campsite by the water between Mahoosuc Notch and Mahoosuc Arm. It took from 8:15am to 4pm because I am slow and cautious on the rocks and they were wet because it rained a little this morning but we hiked out anyway. No more waiting, it was time to go.

Toe Knee and Dame Quixote headed out together and I waited for Eagle Eye just where the Notch started, so we all had somebody to hike with. That worked out and I just took my time in there. I took off my pack and handed it ahead to Eagle Eye a few times, to get through some tight spots or to make it easier to pull myself up, and it was really helpful to have that option.

I had some moments of fear and confusion, but I found the right path eventually. We finally decided to eat at 2pm, because we were dragging and needed the fuel. Then we hiked out and realized we had only been a few minutes from the end. We passed some women going southbound who started the notch at 3pm and a group of young teens with a couple of young guides.

The boulders were massive and there was a river running under the rocks, which kind of freaked me out. Not only could I fall and die, then I could get trapped in the water and drown or get hypothermia and die. Funny how all my scenarios involve dying.

Anyway, we started hiking up the Arm at 4pm and I freaked out and started crying. I just knew we were going to get caught in the dark on that climb, and I was still upset over the process of getting to the Full Goose Shelter and I just wanted to go back and camp at that site we had passed. So Eagle Eye agreed to go back and camp with me and we lost our Runaway Train again.

It was a lovely site by the water and we set up camp, washed our stuff and hung it out to dry, got ready to eat and the rain and thunder started about 6pm. I was nearly crying again, but this time with relief that I wasn't out there on Mahoosuc Arm in the rain. It was a good decision to stop and camp. Hopefully we catch the others quickly.