Mahoosuc Trip - Day 2

I was awakened by the sun at around 0415 and realized I'd slept pretty well in the complete darkness and deep silence.  Actually, it was so peaceful that I really didn't want to get out of the tent - but warm weather was expected and we wanted to make sure we weren't trapped in the Mahoosuc Notch (our toughest obstacle) in the blazing hot sun.  Jon heard me stirring and was soon packed up too - we then ate some breakfast and filtered some more water.  We were still the first hikers out of the camp (0620) and started our long climb up the Mahoosuc Arm (~3.8K feet).  The weather was very nice and we got some amazing views when we reached the top.  We felt like the only people alive!  At this point, we started to meet NOBO Thru hikers (mostly women, it seemed).  They had already been out as long as we had and were trying to reach Grafton Notch before the heat of the day.  We got intel from them about the Notch and opinions varied between "it was really hard" to "it was really fun" - tough to tell what to expect from that kind of info...  After those conversations, we began a STEEP descent off The Arm - yikes!  It seemed like it went on forever and required an extreme amount of concentration and sure footedness.  Eventually, we made it to the bottom.  We stopped for some water and a snack at a pretty stream and enjoyed some shade there.  We were looking for a primitive campsite in the area - or, at least, a sign - that indicated the start of the Mahoosuc Notch but we didn't see anything to note commencement.  Instead, we actually learned we were in the Notch when we passed a young lady who asked "did I make it out?"  We told her we didn't know we were "in" so she must have finished.  It was only a bit later that we found obvious signs of the famous challenge - it looked like someone had dumped the biggest glacial rocks I'd ever seen into a low lying crevasse and someone else had decided to route the AT through there...  Fortunately, I was still not tired and felt energized with my second (of three) Tootsie Blow Pops because I needed every ounce of strength, brain-power and will to make it through the worst "Boulder Scramble" or "Devil's Racecourse" I've ever seen in my life.  At this point, Jon started to have fun - he was quite intrigued by the many places we found where there was a white blaze but no real indication of how to reach it.  Do you climb over or under the rocks?  Mostly, he led the way and chose routes that took us steadily into the Notch.  In some cases, though, I didn't want to jump or climb like he did and I took what appeared to be an easier path.  I don't recall reaching any dead ends, so it was clear that AT Hikers could "choose their poison" on how hard or easy to make the traverse.  We ended up crawling through a few tunnels and found solid ice (and a bit of snow!) in the caves.  This created some strange temperature inversions - stifling warm and breezy cold in different places.  In a few spots, we had to take off our backpacks and hand them to each other so we could squeeze through the small openings.  Some of the youngsters we'd seen at the camp site caught up with us and merrily "skipped" on their way past us, hooting and crowing at every tough obstacle.  Meanwhile, we just kept plodding.  We did get a nice break: ice cold water from a spring.  A bit later, Jon asked how far I thought we had come and I estimated we were 50% of the way.  Just after that, though, we met a NOBO Thru Hiker who swore that we were over an hour and a half from the other end (this ultimately turned out to be about half way).  This was probably the first psychological mind-f*ck of the day and truly showed how the same thing can be hard or easy, depending on mood or attitude...  From there, the Notch seemed to get harder, with more climbing, scrambling and falling.  Just as we thought we were finished (we could see blue sky through some trees), we met a middle aged woman (and her younger niece) who told us we had "three mikes left."  Since the whole thing was only one mile, it was easy to discount what she said - when she started bossing us around ("go this way") after that, we just got annoyed...  Just after that, the trail started going into actual trees and we realized we had finished when we reached a sign for the Notch Trail.  We took another break and congratulated ourselves for getting through in under three hours.  What I hadn't expected, though, was how taxed all of my muscles were after the arduous activity.  This became apparent after we started our next climb to the South Peak of Fulling Hill Mountain - I quickly lost steam as we climbed the steep and seemingly interminable hill.  Like yesterday, Jon was very encouraging and waited patiently for me in a few places.  We kept slogging uphill until we finally reached another amazing view where we could see everything we'd crossed to the north of our location.  From there, we had to descend into a valley where the Full Goose Shelter was.  Our original plan had been to stop there to consider our progress and condition.  Just before we got there, I fell pretty hard on a slippery rock.  At that point, I was mentally finished.  As I lay panting in the shelter (1345), surrounded by biting flies and baking in the hot sun, I told Jon I was done.  I don't think he was too happy but, as he did throughout the trip, he agreed to set up camp for the night.  Once we had our tents in place on the (smaller) platforms, we each took a long nap.  Later (1600), other hikers (mostly NOBO Thrus) started arriving and filled up the shelter and tent sites quickly.  We were scrutinized a bit for having claimed spots so early (and "passed out") but I was glad we weren't short a spot to camp.  And, when the Thru hikers started telling us about a 50ish year old guy they had just encountered who was experiencing a heart-related event and/or dehydration/heatstroke condition, I didn't feel bad at all about quitting early.  The spring was quite far from our campsite and Jon graciously made several trips to fill our water bottles while I was still sore/tired.  We ate a filling dinner (more dehydrated meals) at about 1800 and chatted with other folks nearby (including "Slayer" who had also stopped there for the night).  Surprisingly, we both were ready for bed just before dark and, because it was so buggy, retired again to our tents.  I read for a while and tried to dry my clothes (tough because there was plenty of condensation at the higher elevations) but was asleep before 2100.  This was, by far, the most challenging day I've ever had on the AT and I'm VERY glad that I wasn't doing it alone.  Hoping that I'll recover enough to log many more miles tomorrow...  AT Today = 5.1 miles / Grand Total AT = 1965.3 miles / AT Left = 220.0 miles