![\"image\"](\"http:\/\/hnatow.com\/happytrails\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/wpid-20140825_091809_richtonehdr.jpg\" "\\"20140825_091809_Richtone(HDR).jpg\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nAfter a morning snack at Full Goose Shelter, we made our way over Fulling Mill Mountain and then descended down to the pit of boulders known as the Mahoosuc Notch. We entered the Notch at 12:05pm and exited it at 1:25pm, so we moved at only 1 mph through it. It was cool at first, but got tiring as we went along. We had to jump between huge boulders, shimmy between them, go under some, go through some small cracks that required taking our packs off, climb up the sides of some, etc. <\/p>\n
<\/a>Pile of boulders in the Notch <\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>One of numerous boulders to climb under<\/p><\/div>\n
Once we completed that, the trail immediately starts climbing up the Mahoosuc Arm. This is notorious for being one of the most wicked climbs on the AT and it did not disappoint. It was 1.5 miles of insanely gnarly and difficult terrain and it did not relent for any period of time. We again moved at almost no faster than 1 mph. We originally planned to stop and stay at the shelter less than a mile beyond the summit of the Arm, but it was a bit early, so we pushed on. The next climb up over Old Speck (so many cool mountain names here in Maine) was a shorter one, but also crazy steep and precariously rocky. It was vertigo inducing, but the views were amazing. <\/p>\n