Flip Flop Hikers: boulders

Friday, July 29, 2016

Sprout Day 124 (Friday, July 29th, 2016)

We woke up early and hiked Mahoosuc Notch today. It's said to be the toughest mile on the AT and we can see why! Boulder after boulder and root after root, hand over hand was the only way through it. It was a tough mile but it was fun and no one got hurt. The whole experience was unique and I'm happy we were all together for the experience.

There were some spots we had to climb up over boulders and other spots we had to climb under huge boulders. We had to take our packs off for one section that went under and into a tight space. When we first walked into the notch we walked down and immediately felt a temperature change. Some spots were cold enough to still have snow and ice, it was crazy! Then, all of a sudden, you'd walk up and it'd be warm again.

We hiked to a campsite right after the notch and decided to stay and call it an early day. There was rain in the forecast for most of the afternoon and the next part of the trail is difficult. We're going to go up 1500 feet in less than a mile and is mostly rocks and crazy climbs. The rocks get slippery in the rain and a southbounder told us to forget about hiking it if it's raining. We're going to bed early and getting up early and hiking Mahoosuc arm. It's so quiet in the woods here, Maine is peaceful.

Trail before we got to Mahoosuc Notch

Bubbles climbing down

Almost to the Notch!

Smudgy Cheeks starting the Mahoosuc Notch

Snow on July 29th!

Bubbles climbing

Bubbles climbing through boulders

Smudgy Cheeks climbing up boulders

Smudgy Cheeks being a hero

Smudgy Cheeks telling Bubbles how to get through this spot

Smudgy Cheeks taking a short break

Bubbles on the trail

View of where we need to go!

Smudgy Cheeks traversing the trail

Bubbles coming down the trail

Sprout with the trial behind me

Bubbles and Sprout loving life on the trail together!

Here comes Bubbles

White blazes turning into arrows to help get through the Notch

Bubbles hanging on!

Bubbles

Smudgy Cheeks and Bubbles figuring out the way to go

View of our trail today

Bubbles carefully stepping through roots

Mushrooms in the notch

Tree growing on boulders

This rock formation looks like an animals head

Roots

Day: 124

Miles hiked: 2.5

Total Miles hiked on the trail: 1053.4

Bears: 0

Bluegill: 2

Butterflies: 8

Chipmunks: 3

Cows: 24

Crawfish: 1

Deer: 20

Donkeys: 2

Grouse: 1

Horses: 12

Hummingbird: 1

Inchworm: 1

Really Big Dog: 1

Mice: 2

Nest of bugs: 2

Newts: 2

Owl: 1

Rabbit: 1

Skunk: 1

Snail: 1

Snake: 2

Squirrels: 11

Toads: 3

Trout: 2

Turkeys: 4

Turtles: 107

Vultures: 6

Woodpecker: 1

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Sprout Day 55 (Saturday, May 21st, 2016)

We had another huge milestone today as we crossed into a new state, New York! It's an amazing feeling to cross a state line and know you've walked into the new state! I'm excited for New York. I've heard it's a beautiful part of the trail and I'm excited to see what it has to offer. So far we’ve hiked over giant rocks and we eventually could see a faint view of the New York City skyline off in the distance! It's so crazy to be able to see the city from here on top of a mountain. We came across an American flag and it was placed perfectly to where we could see the city right behind the flag. I felt thankful to be an American and to be able to experience all the feelings and emotions the trail gives you.

The rocks in New York are different than the rocks in Pennsylvania or New Jersey. There's still a lot of rocks but they're bigger boulder type rocks. There were a couple of spots today that were straight up, we were basically rock climbing to the next blaze! It was scary and tough but so much fun. This has been one of my favorite parts of the trail.

We knew we were crossing a spot where there was a hot dog stand and an ice cream shop and we were pretty excited about that. We got to the road and started walking on the side. It's a busy road but the hotdog stand is super close. The guy didn't take cards so we had to go to the ice cream shop first, I don't have problem eating dessert first! The ice cream was made on the spot and was really good. I got a twixmix on the bottom and strawberry on top, it was exactly what I needed! The hot dogs were some of the best I've ever had! The guy was funny and very confident in his product. Bubbles asked him what his favorite hot dog was and in his deep voice he said, “It doesn't matter what dog you get, any dog out of here will be the best dog you've ever had.” I was sold and got two with everything on them, slaw, coney sauce, onions, cheese, and mustard. He was right he has a good coney dog and it definitely hit the spot.

After filling our bellies we only had a couple of miles to hike to camp. We made it there, set up, and relaxed. We didn't have to cook too much. We were full and happy!