I started this morning August 6 at 7:20 AM in the parking lot for Old Speck in Grafton notch, Maine. At about 1/10 of a mile in the trail joins the Appalachian Trail. It’s steady and steep climb. The trail was quite wet from the heavy rains that we got on Tuesday. This made the climbing a little bit more difficult. Stream crossings were also a little more challenging. The climbing is steep and relentless but I felt great on the climb up. At a little over 3 miles there was a trail Junction. I went left on the blue blaze side trail of the Appalachian Trail to reach the summit of Old Speck Mountain. At the summit there is a fire tower. After about three minutes spent on the summit I turned around and headed back down. The trip down was a lot slower than I had hoped for because it was just so wet and slippery. Finding the right footing so I wouldn’t fall was a challenge.
I reached the parking lot at just over 7 miles. I was a little tired but still felt great overall. I carried all my own supplies and had no one with me.