Hiking the Appalachian Trail: Baxter State Park and Mt. Katahdin

October 2

Hiked 10 miles.

Hiked an easy but beautiful 10 miles through Baxter State Park. Leaves were at their peak and it was wonderful to leisurely walk through the forest. I camped at the last lean-to on the Appalachian Trail, the Birches.

Fall leaves accentuate Mt. Katahdin

October 3

Another warm crystal clear day. It will be the last of the Indian Summer we’ve been experiencing. A perfect day for summitting Kahtadin. 5.2 miles up, then 5.2 miles down. Left my large backpack at the Ranger Station, borrowed a small backpack filled with a few essentials and headed up. It was sooooo easy hiking without my fully loaded backpack. As I hiked I was so light it almost felt like I was floating up the trail. In spite of the steep climb on rocks and roots I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Today it was actually fun to hike. As I climbed higher and higher, hundreds of miles of Maine wilderness, in all its fall glory, unfolded in front of me. I’m not going to say how magnificent it was because I’ve said it too many times in the last week of my journal. Lets just say I had a great time.

When I arrived back at the Ranger station, I waited for a van which would bring all the AT hikers into Millinocket, a town 25 miles away. I got a great room in the hostel (bunkhouse) all to myself. I totally lucked out.

John atop Katahdin

John points out the most photographed sign on the Appalachian Trail

October 4 – 5

Hiked 0 miles.

I waited out two days of stormy weather. I mostly sat around with other hikers reminiscing about adventures of the trail and what we’ll do when it’s all over. Most of the hikers were young (in their 20′s) and had no idea what they were going to do next.

Celebrating my second summit of Katahdin. I climbed with the four people in the foreground (the older man is the hostel owner and the other one is doing trail magic). City Slicker (the guy with the finger and from South Boston) is probably the craziest person I met on the trail.

October 6

It was a beautiful day and I was getting bored and maybe had a mild case of cabin fever, so I re-climbed Katahdin again with all the hikers I met. Had another great day. Was fun watching more than 30 AT hikers complete their 2,185 miles from Georgia to the summit of Katahdin. Some wild & crazy things took place here. Many lugged up beer and champagne, and of course the pungent smell of marijuana was there. It was sunny out, but with the cold and wind, the wind chill was definitely below freezing.

Had a celebratory party in the campground when we got down. I crawled into my tent around 9:00 PM and passed out. Had a wonderful, restful sleep curled up in my sleeping bag in all my clothes.

The AT near the top of Katahdin

October 7

Hiked 2 1/2 miles.

This morning was a great disappointment. Tomorrow is the day Karen, Missy & I planned to climb Katahdin. I was really looking forward to it. The weather forecast was posted in the Ranger Station so before I headed off to Daicey Pond campground I wandered over there to check it out. The forecast for tomorrow read:

100% chance of rain.
Good chance of thunder and lightning.
Wind gusts of up to 35 MPH

This was the forecast for the campground; up on the summit it would be much worse.

My heart sank down to my aching knees. I thought maybe they were wrong and it would turn out to be partly cloudy. But there was no sense n fooling myself, there is no way we’ll climb this year.

I checked into the cabin, split some firewood and started a fire in the wood stove. By the time Karen and Missy (Beth had to work) got here it was pouring rain.

October 8

Got up at dawn and drove over to the trail head hoping the weather report was wrong. Maybe the predictions of heavy rain wouldn’t materialize and it would just sprinkle. With only today for Karen & Missy to summit we had no choice: go for it and hope for the best!

We started out in light rain. I could deal with that and just be careful of slippery rocks and roots. After a short time the rain became heavier and heavier until it was pouring. Missy and I were making pretty good time despite the lousy conditions. I can’t speak for Missy, but I think we were both going for the summit. We were making pretty good time until “BOOM, CRACKLE, BOOM!!!” Lightning struck very close to us.

The trail had become a raging river and we were walking in the middle of it which is a VERY dangerous thing to do in a thunder storm. Verbal communication was unnecessary, we both immediately turned around and headed back to the trailhead. Missy took off like a bat out of Hell, I was a bit more careful because of the slippery rocks. After a little while I caught up with Karen who was drenched and slowly heading down. We walked together down toward the trailhead.

But it wasn’t all bad. While Karen & I were walking down, out of nowhere the sun came out and we saw patches of blue in the sky. The storm passed but it was way too late to turn around and climb the mountain. We were just high enough in elevation to see the spectacular scenery around us. Sweeping vistas of the forest and mountains appeared before us, fall colors sparkling in the sun took our minds off our completely soaked bodies.

Back in the cabin we started a roaring fire in the wood stove and hung our wet clothes on a makeshift clothesline hung across the living room area. For the rest of the night we played hearts and Scrabble.

Karen soaked by the rain on her summit attempt

While we were hiking down the mountain, it cleared up unveiling the colorful valley below us. It was way too late to turn around and climb Katahdin.

October 9

We woke up to a bright sunny day. We went outside for a look at Daisy Lake and were taken aback by the stark beauty that lay before us. The lake was like a mirror in the absence of wind. It perfectly reflected all the trees that lined the shore, with fall colors and mist evaporating from the water. But wait, what’s that I see reflected in the lake? It can’t be, but sure enough it was. Katahdin. The massive mountain was so close to us it towered above the lake shore dominating the horizon.

Unfortunately we had to be on the road by 11:00 am so we only had time for a short hike down the AT to view some waterfalls.