I'd decided last night that I should start working on finishing the rest of the Mahoosuc Traverse - it will take a while... Woke up in my campsite (car) by 0500, packed up and then drove north (NH-16) to Errol. Nothing was open there yet so continued to Umbagog Lake State Park (NH/ME-26). Could have gotten a shower there but decided to try to get to the trailhead before the parking lot was full. Continuing deeper into Maine, I entered a complex system of dirt/gravel roads (North Road, Pond Road and Success Pond Road), mostly used by OHRVs, to find the parking lot for the Carlo Col Trail. One drawback to choosing this hike was that any starting point required a minimum of three miles to hike in before any AT miles could be logged... Still, rising early and the short drive had me hiking by 0630 - beating the heat on a Summer morning is always a good thing! I actually used a trailhead that offered a loop with an initial climb up Goose Eye Mountain and a descent from the Carlo Col area. This also got me as close I could get to my previous “bailout” point (North Wright Trail, AKA “Abandoned Trail”) in June... The climb wasn’t too bad at first but got much steeper towards the summit of Goose Eye (3870’). The weather was tremendous and I got a 360 vista of lots of familiar landmarks, including the Presidentials, Berlin, the Androscoggin and the northern end of the Mahoosuc Range. Goose Eye (West Peak) isn’t actually on the AT so I had the odd experience of descending onto White Blazes from above! As I continued (NOBO) towards the place where I could stitch this section to the last, I could see two small figures (likely NOBO Thru Hikers) on top of the East Peak (3790’). Since I had to go there myself, I watched how they departed the summit so I’d know the way down. After that, I descended into a notch between the Goose Eye peaks and found the junction for South Wright Trail. Already, I was seeing a lot more of the frustrating trail conditions that Jon and I encountered in June - long, slanted, slippery granite slabs with few handholds. This could explain some colorful (read = vulgar) graffiti on one of the trail signs I passed - my photo doesn’t show the full context but my friend, Sean R, had previously showed me a version before the words were removed… Somehow, I managed to scramble up the steep incline of the East Peak and then started down in search of the North Wright Trail. On this side of the hill, the AMC had added a long, complex series of planks and stairs - about 90% was pretty easy to hike. But the remaining 10%? Grrrrr... As soon as I found the place where we departed the AT and bushwhacked towards Sunday River, I started my backtrack. With morning energy (and a much lighter pack), I retraced my steps to where I’d joined the AT (roughly 0.7 miles) and was able to avoid falling in the tough spots. On the southbound descent from Goose Eye, though, the trail was nearly vertical. The AMC had added some rebar handles and stairs but not nearly enough… Consequently, I got quite dirty from all the crab walking and butt sliding I had to do. At the bottom of this ravine, I got a few more good views and transited an alpine bog before commencing my climb up Mount Carlo (3565’). By this point, I was running out of steam - the seemingly constant roller-coaster of the peaks was tiring. Also, the temps had risen into the mid-80s, making me a bit nervous about overexertion. Aside: VERY glad I didn’t try this on the last day I was here. Ultimately, I decided against trying to reach the NH/ME border sign and just complete the loop I’d planned. This turned out to be a good idea because I encountered four NOBO Thrus who griped about the footing in that area. One of the Thrus, a young lady, did a double take of recognition when she saw me - we eventually deduced we’d been traveling in the same “Bubble” back when we hiked the Smokies in late March. It’s always great to meet Trail Buddies again during the same year! After chatting with the group, who said they were trying to reach Grafton Notch by sunset (yikes), I left the AT and descended via the Carlo Col Trail. On the way, I checked out the Shelter (in case I need to use it next time). By the time I was back at my car again (1230, after just under 11 miles), the little parking lot was full and the sun was blazing hot. Felt VERY glad to have connected the dots on this short section - it’s always hard to predict whether a bailout makes it impossible to return easily and it’s good to know this one wasn’t too bad. After getting myself cleaned up, I drove into Berlin (Success Pond Road) and got on NH-16. Stopped for gas at Irving in Gorham (1310) and then drove west on US-2. Used NH-116 all the way to Littleton and then took US-302, NH-10, River Road and NH/VT-25 to reach I-91. From there, had a good Interstate ride to Norwich/Hanover and arrived home just after 1500. After the aborted Mahoosuc Traverse in June, it seems like I was successful in making lemonade from life's lemons this weekend. Not extremely excited about what I’ll have to do to get more AT miles next time but that’s a problem for another day! AT Today = 2.5 miles / Grand Total AT = 1972.7 miles
