September 29 - Mount Katahdin – Baxter Peak – Baxter State Park, Maine (Day 194 – milepoint 2,160.2)

I slept surprisingly well despite the excitement of finally arriving at the base of THE final climb on the Northern route of the Appalachian Trail.

Redwood, Achilles, Chewy, and I walked over to the Ranger Station and emptied our packs of everything but a little bit of food and some warm clothing. Mahatma (Achilles‘ Dad) arrived from New York to join us for the climb. Great to see him again.

Cosmo, Spice, Paka, and Easy Walker actually arrived from Daicey Pond Campground a little after 7 a.m. We were worried we might not see them this morning after leaving them at Abol Bridge yesterday.

Cosmo: “Well, we bought some beer and started drinking before noon for no good reason…again.”

Needless to say, we were happy to see them.

Weather forecast: 100% chance of showers. High 40-45 degrees.

“Maybe it’ll hold off,” pined Easy Walker.

A little over 5 miles to Baxter Peak, Mt Katahdin and the official end of this six-month rollercoaster ride. The toughest climb on the entire Trail in my opinion. Steep UP the whole way requiring all four limbs; climbing, scrambling, stumbling…

The high winds started as soon as we ascended above tree-line. At times, the gusts were so strong you could only hope to stand your ground. But I was knocked to the ground several times despite my efforts to the contrary. Rain and fog soon arrived to join us for the rest of the day.

We reached the 5,267 foot summit cold and wet with, at best, about ten feet of visibility. Fortunately, the accomplishment of reaching the summit temporarily overshadowed the danger we were in, and the celebration was free of worry and full of joy.

Then, Chewy spoke: “Ok, Congratulations and everything guys. Now hurry up and take a picture so we can get the f#ck off this mountain!”

No irony or humor was lost on the fact that we spent over six months trying to get to this point and the weather allowed us to enjoy it for only a few very intense minutes. I suppose we were lucky to enjoy it at all.

Despite periodically being blown to the ground by the wind, everyone got their shot next to the sign. True to form, Paka arrived last, but with news that Achilles and Mahatma had turned around due to the poor conditions, about which I was extremely bummed. (We would later find out, however, that they quickly changed their minds and summited about 15 minutes after we headed down.)

Chewie had been informed of an alternate route down the mountain following a blue-blaze trail called the Saddle Trail, which takes you over the back side. At this point, we were looking for the “safest” route, which we defined as the route that took us below treeline the fastest, and we understood that to be the Saddle Trail.

Easy Walker and I stayed up for a few extra minutes to help Paka get his pictures while the rest of the gang started down. (It is very possible that, due to the fog, none of our pictures will turn out.)

Initially, the descent was reasonably easy with only intermittent gusts knocking us off balance, but after about a half-mile, the trail fell into a very steep, very narrow valley with winds we estimated to be around 70 mph or more, blowing UP the mountain. Rain turned to ice in the cold wind tunnel. My hands were as busy as my feet: one on the ground as a third point of balance, the other holding the hood of my jacket down to keep the ice from hitting my face. Wearing shorts, my legs were exposed to the elements, numb from the cold and a deep shade of pink and stinging from the icy rain. Thankfully, I was able to enjoy the experience despite the intensity of the conditions, and we made it down to treeline in about 45 minutes where the wind ceased and the ice turned back to rain.

Our destination was Roaring Brook Campground on the North side of Baxter State Park. We encountered a large Moose on the way down, which passed only a few feet away from us near Chimney Pond. Also encountered some weekenders who congratulated us with shots of Rum “to warm the insides.”

We arrived at Roaring Brook without further incident and quickly caught a ride in the back of a pick-up truck 16 slow miles around the mountain and back to Katahdin Stream Campground. In the early stages of hypothermia, I was happy to be out of the back of the truck.

We all grabbed our gear from the Ranger Station and signed-OUT!

Achilles and Mahatma made it safely coming back down on the AT about the same time we arrived and I hopped in with them for the ride into Millinocket, Maine. Others rode with well known Trail Angel, Kampfire, whose objective is to “give every Thru-hiker a ride out of Baxter State Park who needs one.”

I was dropped off at the Appalachian Trail Lodge where I was greeted by Lodge owner, Don, and shown to my room. Few places on the Trail have I felt so welcome and acknowledged. A long, happy, hot shower was followed by dinner with Chewy and his brother, Dean, Spice, Cosmo, Paka, Redwood, Easy Walker, Achilles, Mahatma, Baltimore Jack (finished on the 28th), Meant-2-B (also finished on the 28th), and Trail Angels Dizzy B & Kampfire.

We then made our way over to the bar at Pamola Hotel where the final celebration ensued…

As it happens, the Appalachian Trail Lodge has a stiff 11:00 p.m. curfew, which Paka and I missed by about five hours. We made sure Achilles got back to his room safely, and, for some reason, still chose to walk across town back to the AT Lodge. After unsuccessfully trying to wake up Redwood and Chewie by throwing rocks at their windows (we would later learn that young Redwood was passed out next to the toilet. Chewy, on the other hand, probably heard us, saw us, had a good chuckle, and went back to sleep…), we walked over and found cover in a small storage shed located in a neighboring back yard. Paka found the ground pretty easily and I ended up on an old wooden box in which we found a couple of blankets and some old clothes for warmth, thank you.

A rather fitting end to this long, strange, wonderful trip.

Aquaholic