Katahdin (both peaks) 13 Aug. 2015

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Joined
Jan 15, 2013
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Location
Vernon, Conn.
I took a zero day on Wednesday because it was supposed to rain. It didn't, as it turned out, so I spent my time sitting by a pond reading a book and listening to the loons.

On Thursday, though, I climbed Katahdin with Trail Trotter and her boyfriend Doug. We went up and down Hunt Trail, which is the Appalachian Trail, with a side trip to Hamlin Peak, the other 4K on Katahdin (besides Baxter Peak, which is the state highpoint and the end of the Appalachian Trail).

We were in and out of the clouds most of the day. There were a few times when we couldn't see anything, but most of the time we had great views. It got a little chilly above the treeline when we were in a cloud, but nothing a jacket didn't take care of. There were lots of people on the trail when we were on the AT, and a few also when we were on side trails.

We started at Katahdin Stream Campground, the final camping place for northbound AT through hikers. Although it's on the early side, a lot of throughs finished that day. Fellow basher Karen started with us, but since she has a slower pace and had different goals for the day she didn't hike with us.

Hunt Trail starts out gently, with several sections with extensive trail work in the form of stone steps, following Katahdin Stream, and passing Katahdin Stream Falls. Then it starts having some tricky sections, including one where I got a nasty scrape on my elbow, resulting in a lot of blood, but not much pain.

After a while it passes the tree line, and proceeds up a steep ridge. This section has a lot of tricky parts, and some metal hand and foot holds to help hikers past them. It also is the beginning of the great views to the west, including the Owl, Barren Mountain, and the Brothers Range.

Then the trail gets to the Tablelands and suddenly gets much easier. It's a mostly flat alpine hike (maybe a mile and a half?) to Baxter Peak, the highest point in Maine and the northern terminus of the AT. There were lots and lots of people there, including a lot of through hikers who were celebrating the end of a task which had been their life for five or six months. I had brought some cookies up, and I took them to some through hikers and said, "Here's your final trail magic". Our time on Baxter was one of the times when it was clear, and we could plainly see the Knife Edge, Chimney Pond, the Brothers, Hamlin Peak, and much of northern Maine.

From there we went to Hamlin Peak, the other Katahdin Peak on the North East 111 list. This section is entirely in the alpine zone, and for us was in and out of the clouds.

When we got to Hamlin Peak, it wasn't clear at first where the true peak was. There were two spots each of which looked higher from the other. We then noticed that the sign on one said, "Hamlin Peak", and that was the one which looked more higher anyway, so I'm sure that's it.

On the way back we took the Baxter Peak Cutoff Trail to get back to Hunt Trail without having to climb Baxter Peak again. We rejoined Hunt Trail in the Tablelands, and then we sent back down the tricky, rocky ridge part, and then down through the woods to the trailhead, where we saw that Karen had signed out ahead of us.

That was my last hike for this Baxter Bash, since on Friday I had to drive from Foster Field to Southbury Conn., with a stopoff at my house, to make the first dinner for the Himes family reunion. It was totally worth the trip, though. I'd been away too long.

Baxter Peak is on the New England Fifty Finest list, but it's a repeat, so it doesn't change my count there. However, I've been redoing the Northeast 111 in my 60s, having done them previously in my 50s, and Baxter and Hamlin Peaks were numbers 21 and 22 in that effort. I didn't get North Brother, though, so I'll have to come back before I'm 70.

Here are the pictures.

--

Cumulus

NE111 in my 50s: 115/115 (67/67, 46/46, 2/2)
NE111 in my 60s: 22/115 (17/67, 5/46, 0/2)
NEFF: 49/50; Cat35: 36/39; WNH4K: 36/48; NEHH 81/100
LT NB 2009

"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
 
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