Rock Sprite Kitty Myers first learned about the Mahoosuc Notch some 50 years ago as a teenager while she was perusing Appalachian Trail literature. Touted as the “Toughest Mile on the AT” by many who traversed it, the Notch serves as the only viable entryway from New Hampshire into the Maine wilderness. Cut in between two rocky prominences – Mahoosuc Mountain and Fulling Mill Mountain – the Gap (what we’d call it in the Southern Appalachians) is a jungle gym of house-size boulders, cracks, and granite obstacles.
Thomas Mabry and Kitty Myers
According to the 1921 edition of the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Notch, as a part of the Mahoosuc Range Trail, was cleared by the Maine Department of Trails in the years 1918-1921. “Cleared” is not exactly the correct word for the Notch traverse; it’s more of what Badger would charitably term a “route” as there’s not much of a path through the mile-long boulder field. White blazes on rocks serve as markers for the trail.
Rock Sprite and Badger have tackled some wild adventures across the Southern Appalachians and beyond, but nothing quite like this challenge. Imagine a narrow gorge filled with a jumbled chaos of massive boulders, some as big as houses, tumbled together by ancient glaciers. Hikers don’t just walk through it – they scramble, squeeze, crawl, and contort their way over, under, and between these granite behemoths, often in dim light under a canopy of evergreens and hardwoods. It’s part boulder field, part natural obstacle course, with tight crevices that feel like caving and slippery rocks that demand every ounce of balance and grit. Add in potential ice pockets that linger even in summer, and you’ve got a section that can take hours to conquer, testing both body and spirit.
Rock Sprite Kitty Myers
Honey Badger Thomas Mabry
Our journey began on Success Pond Road, starting on the suitably named Notch Trail, which took approximately two hours to complete. When Kitty planned the trip, she realized that the only viable way for us to cross the Notch was an out-and-back track, which meant that we would take on the “longest mile on the 2190-mile AT” twice.
Oh, joy, thought Badger. Having a history of 22 orthopedic surgeries, an artificial hip and a fused right ankle, the bouldering seemed more like lumbering through the maze. Out and back. Twice was not easy by any means, but the course seemed less daunting for the nimble ballet-trained Rock Sprite. She moved with the grace of someone who’s danced across countless rocky ledges, but even she admitted the physicality: “It’s like the trail is alive, daring you to find the path.”
As usual, she was correct. Where the four miles of the Notch Trail took us a bit over two hours total, the two miles of the Mahoosuc Notch itself took us almost six hours to complete. We made it out and back unscathed with the only significant difficulty for Badger being an encounter with a sloping rock to climb, which had remnants of blood and the scratching of countless hiking poles across its granite surface. A rope made it possible for me to climb that slippery rock surface to make the way back to the actual winding Notch Trail – through a mixed forest with the leaves turning brilliant shades of gold and red and a creek running alongside – a New England autumn spectacle that rivaled anything back home.
Rock Sprite Kitty Myers
The beauty of Mahoosuc Notch isn’t just in the challenge – it’s in the solitude and raw power of nature. We only saw one other hiker that whole day, and not for very long.
If you’re inspired to tackle this beast (and you should be, if you’re fit and adventurous), pack sturdy shoes, gloves for gripping rocks, and plenty of water. Go in dry weather to avoid the slick surfaces, and remember: it’s not for beginners. You might even plan your jaunt to traverse the Mahoosuc Notch either southbound or northbound on the AT, but not necessarily “bothbound.” For us, it was a reminder that the best hikes blend grit with dexterity and awe, much like our favorites in the Smokies, Pisgah, Nantahala, and the Linville Gorge. For Kitty, her dream hike, 50 years in the making, was finally achieved.
Honey Badger Images Many of the HoneyBadgerImages are on display at instagram.com/honeybadgerimages.
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Thanks for your comment, Barbara. The only “scary” moment we had wasn’t a fall but my climb up that one section. There’s definitely the chance of falling. Most of the rock was “grippy” but at times was not. I was probably more cautious than usual because a fall and injury could ruin a vacay quickly, as I found when I shattered my right tibia skiing a bump run in Sun Valley years ago. The photography slowed us down too as we wanted to document the journey. Hiking the Notch NOBO and SOBO presented different challenges. The joy of completing the Notch and Kitty’s 50 year dream made the effort well worth it. You DO have to look out for one another in there.
Like the Article Badger. When I thru hiked the AT in 2012 I did the Notch in a little over two hours. Hiking with three other women we were slower as each one helped the other when needed and some of use taking a different route. I stayed as high on the boulders as possible as climbing walls in canyon country had taught me lessons that helped. One gal fell backward off one of the boulders and just by an inch missed hitting her head on a boulder below. Scary moment. Love your adventures. We probably have a lot of stories to tell.