After about six weeks of trying, I finally finished the Mahoosuc Traverse! My initial plan was to hike it all in a four day backpacking trip but that fizzled... Ultimately, I hiked many, many more miles (mostly access trails) as a result. Regardless, it’s done! My day began a bit later than I’d expected because I slept so well in the campground but, after getting some breakfast sandwiches at L. L. Cote in Errol (0700) and driving south (back to Berlin on NH-16 and then Success Pond Road), I reached the parking area for the Success Trail and started uphill (0800). My plan was to try to hike the western side of the section I had left - it included summiting Mount Success (3565’), descending to Gentian Pond and then backtracking. I expected that the multiple crossings of the steep mountain would wear me out and that I’d just retrace my steps to the car - but I held out hope that I could somehow also hike the remaining 1.7 miles to complete the Traverse. With nice temps (50s) and a light overcast, the initial climb went well and I was standing at the top of the mountain after only an hour and a half. During this time, I encountered a dozen NOBO Thru hikers - they’d likely stayed at Gentian Pond and were trying to get close to the Mahoosuc Notch… I continued SOBO, reveling in some great views. On my way downhill, however, I lost the trail - there were no white blazes and very few cairns. As a result, I found myself on a yellow blazed trail that seemed to parallel my intended route. I kept looking for a connecting trail but soon gave up and cursed my luck in getting sidetracked on a day when I really couldn’t afford it. I was about to start back uphill when I heard the sound of metal striking rock - a quick investigation revealed that I’d stumbled across an airplane accident site! I learned later that it was a DC-3 that crashed in 1954. Other hikers were there and they had better maps, which helped us get back to the AT again. These hikers (along with two others we met shortly afterwards) ended up being the only SOBO Thrus I saw all day. As I’d feared, the descent down the west side of Mount Success was REALLY steep... I kept plodding along, trying to meter out my energy in a smart way, and concentrated on reaching Gentian Pond. I was distracted, briefly, when I encountered the older couple (John and Sue, with Corgi, Dillon) I’d seen a few weeks before when I hiked the southern end of the Mahoosuc Range. They thanked me for some advice I’d given them and told me they were about to finish the AT in New Hampshire. I congratulated them and then continued on my way. After reaching my turnaround point, I immediately began my backtrack. By now, the temps had risen into the high 70s and the skies were clear. Even though I wanted to get back up the hill as quickly as I could, I stopped a few times to charge up on sugar and electrolytes - in this way, I avoided hitting a wall and made it up the HUGE climb with energy to spare. I stopped at the summit of Mount Success and talked to a local family of four about the section and other landmarks they could identify in Berlin (easily visible in the vista below). I then realized I was wasting valuable daylight and started NOBO again… When I reached the junction for the Success Trail again, I decided I had enough juice to try to reach the Carlo Col Trail and finish the Mahoosuc Trail. This would help me to avoid yet another trip to the area and another long side trail climb. I’m confident now that this was a good idea but there were several places along the way where the Trail tried to take more blood, sweat and tears… In two places, I felt like I was crossing the Mahoosuc Notch again and wondered how to get through the areas. I didn’t fall down but I felt out of balance for a lot of the last few miles - I’d already concluded that this is the hardest 30 miles of the AT but the Great Trail Designer didn’t want me to forget! Highlight: I passed a sign for the NH/ME border (appropriately, the last such border crossing I have left). As I finished a steep rock scramble (in the last 100 yards) called “The Ledges”, I decided to bail out of my hike (it was, after all, complete) and hike down to Success Pond Road. This was a calculated risk because it was already 5:00 and I was extending the hike by over a mile to get a guaranteed downhill. Still, I made great time to the road, walked a bit on the mostly flat Success Pond Road and then scored big time when a local guy (Craig) offered me a ride for the last 1.5 miles. At my car (1845), I tried to figure out how far I’d walked and determined that the low estimate was 16 miles. My pedometer showed 18 but I’m pretty sure I didn’t hike that far. I did hike more new AT (5.2 miles) than the record suggests, possibly because of trail re-routes since 2014 or some kind of rounding error on a previous hike… Regardless, the long nightmare of the Mahoosucs is over. Not sure I’ll ever come back to hike any of it again but it does feel good to only have 13ish miles of AT left in NH. Before leaving the trailhead, I changed my clothes and got ready for the drive. Used the "normal" route (NH-16, US-2, NH-116, US-302, NH-10, River Road, NH/VT-25, I-91) and arrived home by 2115. Glad I was able to persevere through the adversity this weekend. Now need to finish the Carter-Moriah ridge! AT Today = 4.4 miles / Grand Total AT = 2010.2 miles
