Evening star., 1940-01-07
THE FIRST DAY.


break in the cold, misty clouds that
whirled about us. Henry wanted to
race for it, but shook my head.
Those last hundred yards were heavy
ones and, in spite of the stiff, rocky
climb. was cold and shivery.
just as we reached the summit, the
mist closed in around us and shut
off our view of the mountain below.
I was disappointed. Who wouldn't
be, after such climb? We waited,
shivering in the icy blasts that swept
around us, for another break in the
clouds. Dimly, just like a ghost, we
saw a man standing over to the
right, on a spur leading to what is
called the Knife Edge. He saw us,
too, and waved to us, then started
toward us.
(The man the boys saw was the
Rev Charles Austin. Church of All
Nations. New York City. The Knife
Edge, along the sides of which dan
gerously sheer drops of 1,500 feet are
not uncommon. is a curving granite
wall. connecting Baxter Peak and
Pamola)
Henry Son of Guide.
Henry is the son of guide and he
seemed pleased. Lets wait here
until he comes over" he said, then
we can start back ogether-that's
the best thing to do"
But I was cold and shivery. I
never was good at standing cold.
anyway. Nights, when Ryan and
Tom slept with only sheet over
them, Dad always came in with a
blanket for me. I thought of that,
and of Dad somewhere back on the
trail behind us.
(Donn's party-including his IA
ther. his two brothers, Tom and
Ryan; Henry Condor and Fred
Eaton-left the Katahdin Stream
campsite on the Millinocket-Gre
vile tote road about / o'clock in the
afternoon of Monday. July II, to
make the Hunt Trail clinbD
Lets get out of here now" said
I remember that my teeth were
chattering as I said it, but Henry
shook his head. He wanted to wait
for the man.
Eve Were Nervous"
/ think Henry was just a little bit
nervous and who wouldn't be, with
all that big cloud-covered mountain
below us and clouds rolling like
smoke around us? But Henry was
wise. I can see that now. He knew
Katahdin.
was nervous, too. and maybe that
Is why decided to go right back
and join Dad and the boys. Maybe
I was sorry that I had gone on ahead
of them. Maybe that had been a
foolish thing to do Such thoughts
run through a fellows head at a
time like that. Anyway. they ran
through mine and made me more
and more anxious to get back to the
folks below.
I had on a sweatshirt under my
feece-lined jacket. When I made
up my mind to start back. I peeled
off the jacket and gave the sweat
shirt to Henry. "ThatIl keep you
warm while you're waiting I said.
"But I'm going back, right now. I'll
tell Dad you and the man are COM
ing down soon."
Henry said I was foolish and tried
to stop me, but I knew I was all
right. I guess I thought knew more
than he did, for only shrugged my
shoulders and laughed at him. Just
then, an extra heavy cloud rolled in
around us. I thought of people be-
Ing lost in clouds and getting off the
trail-and maybe that hurried me
little. as pulled up my fleece lined
REFER about my neck and started
down. Boy. can see now what
mistake that was! A fellow is just
plain dumb who laughs at people
who know more than he does.
Clouds Like Gray Smoke.
The clouds were like gray smoke
and shut Henry from me before I
had gone dozen yards. The going
was very rough and the trail wound
in and around huge rocks. 1t hadn't
seemed so awfully rough on the way
up-I mean the last hundred yards,
but then you climbed slowly-while
going down. you could make better
time. 1 hadn't gone far before / no.
ticed that the trail led me up to
rocks that I had to climb over like
q squirrel. That seemed funny to
me, but I went on just the same, be-
cause fellow forgets easily, and I
figured going down was different,
anyway.
Nobody can really understand how
rough the going is. up there, until he
has tried that Hunt Trail in a mist.
suppose Henry would laugh at me
for saying so. He's been over the
trail so often. However, I wasn't
worried-not just then. I kept look
ing ahead, expecting to see Dad and
the boys break through the cloud at
any moment.
Everything looks different in the
clouds. You think you see a man
nd he turns out to be only a rock.
It kind of scares fellow, especially
when you are alone and awfully
cold.
Loses Track OF 1rau.
When had gone quite a distance
over the rocks - far enough, !
thought, to be down on the plateau
Il stopped and looked around. !
couldn't see anything that looked
like a trail I couldn't find a single
spot of white paint
Gn hiking language, a "trail' does
not necessarily mean path. The
Hunt Trail. for instance. is marked
by daubs of white paint on trees and
rocks. Where the markings take
the form of arrows, their tops point
In the direction of the summit OF
Mt. Katahdin, Baxter Peak
I though I must be down on the
plateau, but could not be sure
There are plenty of huge rocks on
the plateau. but the trail winds in
and out around them. The going is
fairly level and the rocks don't
bother as long as you are on the
trail, but I was in the middle Of the