We slackpacked from Grafton Notch ten miles over Baldpate mountain. It was a clear day and perfect for hiking. The south section was nicely stair stepped by the MATC. We stopped for a bit to look forward to the east peak, which is open rock, hence 'bald'. The trail drops a couple hundred feet, crosses a ew bogs and climbs up the east peak. The trail is nicely marked and easy to follow. We spoke to some weekend hikers for a bit and they pointed out that they had been up last year and couldn't see twenty feet. Today we could see all the way into New Hampshire.
The north descent got a bit scary, there were some slick steep plates but we got past them okay. There were also several sections of fantastically easy trail. Towards the end we passed Dunn Cascades on Dunn Brook, where there are several waterfalls into pools. It would have been nice to stop and swim but we pressed on. We made the road before three and got picked up and take back to the hostel, then walked downtown and ate supper at the General Store. I had a very nice lobster roll that was huge and a Coke float. Yum!
9/17/15 - Pine Ellis Third night
Mac and Pace, Freestyle and I slacked from East B Hill road to South Arm road today, ten miles over Wyman and Moody mountains. The first six miles went fast, we covered two and a half miles in the first hour. Going uphill. At Surplus Pond we caught some hikers breaking camp. It was Scout and Tumbles, Toasty, Deja Vu, and Downhill. Tumbles said they got to watch a moose at the pond last night. Lucky!
I reached the Hall Mountain Leanto shelter a bit after eleven, Scout and I had charged up the hill. I left after lunch, and Mac and Pace and I dropped the 1600ft, 1.4 mile descent to Sawyer Brook in about 45 minutes. The 1400ft, 1.3 mile climb up Moody went about as fast. Then it was a quick thirty minute jaunt down to the road with only a couple of slick spots. The temp was in the low eighties, hard sunshine with a light breeze. What a nice day!
Hiker Uncle Tim had found a section hiker's wallet in the Notch the other day, the sectioner's wife is at Pine Ellis waiting on Uncle Tim, who's due in today. She's going to meet her husband and son in Gorham; we advised her to stay at White Mountain Lodge.
9/18/15 - The Farmhouse hostel
David with Pine Ellis hostel drove us out to the South Arm trailhead this morning. Just before we got there a young bull moose ran out onto the road and started trotting down it in front of the van. He wouldn't leave the road, even after David and the logging truck behind us honked his horn. After we pulled over at the trailhead, we could hear the truck honking for a good quarter mile down the road. Very funny!
We started off with a steep climb up Old Blue Mt, but nothing really bad. In fact, the whole day went well despite being a 13 mile day. The peak of Old Blue was covered by scrubby spruce, but there was a small rock we could stand on. The view was nice, there was still fog in a lot of the valleys. Only a couple spots were slabby downs and they weren't too slick. The second peak of Bemis Mt was mostly open rock faces and scrub, really easy to hike over, and we made almost two mph, speed we haven't been able to do since before the Whites. We got to ME17 at four thirty, about eight hours for the day. Hiker Marching Band, who's doing work for stay long term, picked us up and drove us to the hostel.
There are a lot of nonhikers staying here tonight and we were invited to join in on a donation steak dinner that one of them cooked. A big steak, baked potato and a big salad for dinner went down well. Tomorrow we'll stay for a French toast breakfast and then do another thirteen.
9/19/15 - The Farmhouse Hostel
I woke up tired, yesterday evening was too disorganized and ran late. I also need a day off the trail. That won'tt happen for another three days. Ugh.
Marching Band drove us back to ME17. There was fog on the lake and with the morning sun, it was very pretty.
The rest of the day went well. The trail was only moderately rooty and rocky, and the elevation stayed pretty constant. We passed several ponds which were quite pretty. We made the road at four, right on time.
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