Date: 2006-10-03
From: Katahdin Stream campground, shelter

To: Katahdin!
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Elation! The adventure is over! Today we summited Katahdin, reaching the end of the Appalachian Trail at about 11:30am.I slept fitfully at first last night, finally falling soundly asleep after my second bathroom visit at 11pm. That's not surprising, as we were all in the sack at 6:30pm after a relatively short and easy hike. Reveille was at 6am. We were up, packed, and eating breakfast when the ranger came by to confirm yesterday's weather forecast, calling for clear weather with a chance of rain in the afternoon. The ranger doubted that the rain would be an issue.We lugged our packs over to the ranger station and unloaded almost everything. I used my heavy duty garbage bag pack liner to hold it all, taking only the day's lunch, my first aid kit, extra clothes, and water. My pack felt light as a feather as we (the Four Dirty Old Men) set out on the trail.GreyGoose took the lead today, followed by BigFoot, Veto and then me. Veto and I had decided to restrain ourselves so we'd all reach the summit together. The trail started up gently, then we began climbing steeply up rock staircases built by trail crew. After that we clambered over rocks, occasionally aided by rebar drilled into the rock. This required climbing with hands and feet, so the trekking poles were pretty much useless. We emerged over a ridge above treeline, and could see the trail continuing up toward a plateau area. This section was still difficult climbing, but required fewer contortions than the one we had just left. I fell behind the group while taking a picture and changing to a blank memory stick. I didn't take many pictures on the way up because I hoped for sunny skies on the way down. As the day progressed, however, it was becoming more cloudy, not less, and it appeared the forecast showers would indeed arrive.By the time we reached the long plateau area, just before a short final climb to the peak, I had caught up with the group. We could see many others on the peak up above, and met LoneStar and Blacksnake coming down and congratulated them. We finally made the summit by 11:45am. We waited a few minutes for our turn at pictures. The first set was FDOM and Jambalaya&Pepperoni, who we'd stayed with through the 100-mile wilderness. Then pictures with FDOM alone, then individual pictures of each of us. As I was posing for my individual picture, young folks CatchUp and BrightEyes reached the summit. I'd first caught up with CatchUp at Walnut Mtn. in NC, and had seen him off and on several times through the hike. They asked me to snap their summit shots, as it started to rain pretty hard right around 12:15pm.The wind was strong, driving the cold rain, a byproduct of a hurricane in Nova Scotia, so we headed back down. This time, Veto led and I followed second. We knew GreyGoose and BigFoot would be going slowly on the descent. There were still groups going up as we descended, some having started far enough back to be doing a 20-mile day. As we reached the end of the plateau area, we collapsed our poles for the steep sections, knowing they'd be in the way. It turned out one pole came in handy. The descent wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but there were several sections of sliding down on my butt.As we reached the less steep part of the trail, the rain stopped and we stopped briefly for snacks. I must have floated up this section, as there were long parts I didn't remember climbing. After snacks, I took the lead, as it was about 2pm, and I had told Carol we'd be finishing about 4pm. The rest of the trail was easy, and I was anticipating the reunion with Carol, a hot shower, clean clothes, and eventual return home.At about 4:25pm we emerged from the woods. I saw Carol's car right away. She ran up to me and we hugged. Then I loaded up the stuff on the ranger's porch back into my pack, and put it in the car trunk. By then Veto, GreyGoose then BigFoot emerged from the woods. Carol had pepsi's and home-made chocolate chip cookies for the conquering heroes. Our packs fit into the trunk, and we all climbed into the car for the ride to our motel in Millinocket. Baxter State Park sure was remote! As I write this entry, we're on the way south in the car. I don't think I've yet comprehended the full nature of this accomplishment. Georgia to Maine, Springer Mountain to Katahdin, March 15 to October 3.Q.E.D.Done!