Mahoosuc Trip - Day 1

My friend, Jon, and I have been planning a multi-day backpacking trip for this weekend for several months and we ended up getting a great weather forecast!  I had about 30 miles to hike in the Mahoosuc Range (along the NH/ME border) and wanted to hike with someone over this remote (and technically challenging) section.  Jon was happy to oblige and we spent the last few weeks prepping for the famous "Mahoosuc Traverse", which is best known for "the toughest mile of the AT" (Mahoosuc Notch).  This morning, our departure day finally arrived!  We left Hanover at around 0800 and drove (via I-91, VT/NH-25, River Road, NH-10, US-302, NH-116 and US-2) to Gorham.  Along the way, we stopped for lunch at the Road Hawg BBQ (started eating at 1020 and finished at 1130).  We then drove to the AT Parking Lot at Rattle River and waited for our shuttle driver.  While we were there, we encountered a Flip-Flopper named "Shaggy" who told us harrowing tales of his hike through the Presidentials.  Our driver (Don from Trail Angels) showed up just after noon and drove us (via US-2 and ME-26) to the AT Parking Lot in Grafton Notch State Park.  We got there at about 1255 and were soon hiking (SOBO) up the Old Speck Trail (AKA AT).  It wasn't too hot but the trail was quite steep.  Because of this, we were treated to some amazing views very quickly! We passed lots of day hikers; young ones told us we were going to need ibuprofen for our hike and one old guy scolded us for getting such a late start.  Jon seemed quite at home with his 65L backpack and the hiking poles (that I found in the woods about a month ago) I'd given him.  Meanwhile, it didn't take long for me to realize that I'd overpacked my own (50L) backpack - this made each step more difficult than a lot of my normal hikes.  Still, I managed to keep going and we finally made it to the intersection for the Mahoosuc Trail (AKA AT), just below the summit for Old Speck.  By this point, we'd already been walking for over three hours - this was a very slow pace and made me wonder how long this whole trip might take.  As a result, we decided to skip the additional climb to the fire tower and continued south.  We started to encounter Thru Hikers (both NOBO and SOBO) in this area but we had to start concentrating even harder on the trail itself - it got VERY steep on the way down to Speck Pond.  At one level-off, we talked to some other section hikers who were trying to finish their traverse and their account did not provide a lot of encouragement - apparently, the conditions between the NH border and Old Speck were "nasty."  Jon and I had planned to only hike to the Speck Pond Shelter on the first day (so that we would avoid any overconfidence) and this now seemed like a smart decision.  At the tail end of the hike, we both tried very hard to figure out how there could be a pond anywhere nearby - there were plenty of peaks visible but no water.  Suddenly, though, we found ourselves above a large pond - it looked so inviting after our 4.6 mile walk!  It took a little longer to get down to the water (I found out later it was at 3.4K feet!) and then we then had to travel a bit farther to the shelter area but we were very happy to finally reach our stopping point (1830).  The area was monitored by an AMC Caretaker and we had to pay money for a tent platform.  However, this was well worth the cost!  There were few bugs, there was a cool breeze coming off the water, there was water close by and there were plenty of friendly folks to talk to about our hike.  We'd previously passed a LASHer named "Slayer" who was trying to "enjoy all the miles" - she had tried a Thru hike previously and said she had come to "hate hiking after all the self imposed deadlines to log miles."  In her opinion, the slower approach was much more rewarding - I can't disagree.  Jon was very energized by our day and told me he wished we could stay at the Speck Pond for a few days.  Overall, he was very helpful and encouraging to me after the rather rotten day I'd just had.  His tent provided some frustrations because it wasn't free standing but I found some bungie chords in my backpack that finally helped secure it to the platform.  Jon rewarded me with some homemade jerky (good!).  We ate some of our dehydrated meals in a special eating area and then filtered as much water as we could.  By 2000, we retired to our tents and I read until around 2100.  This was a tough day but we are on our way!  AT Today = 4.6 miles / Grand Total AT = 1960.7 miles / AT Left = 225.1 miles