Date: 2017-08-24
From: Katahdin Stream Campground

To: Baxter Peak
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: few clouds

I started to break camp around 5:30 a.m., so anxious was I to get this day going.  The weather was fine, ideal for summiting.  Soon, I heard MacGyver and Trinity disassembling their tent and Shop Teacher his hammock. As Shop and I walked to the trailhead, the only word that came to mind was surreal. Was this really the last day of the thru-hike? My left shin ached as we walked, and I recalled the hard knock from two days ago. I lowered my sock to look at it and noticed a considerable bruise. No matter. I can worry about this bruise tomorrow.The climb up Mt. Katahdin started easily enough, but soon it turned into a steep ascent. Once above tree line, the climb became technical, requiring much hand-over-hand scrambling and the clutching of rebar to get over and through boulders. Despite the ache in my shin, I climbed energetically. I surprised myself with the vigor with which I raised myself over some of the rocks. Pure adrenaline at this point, of this I am sure.The steepest section of the climb led to the Gateway, beyond which the terrain leveled off at a region called the Tableland. While on the Tableland, off in the distance, I could see the Katahdin sign on the summit, shrouded in fog. I then moved like a man inspired. When I reached the sign, I patted it several times, as though to convince myself it was real and to signify to myself that I had in fact reached the end. What surprised me though was my stoicism. Last night I half expected to be emotionally overcome when I reached the sign, but to my surprise I was all business. The job was done; time now for picture taking. Perhaps, though, in the back of my mind the job was not yet done - there was still the business of getting down, and I was a bit worried about this getting down business, since it was especially difficult going up. Perhaps I was bottling my emotions until I arrived safely back at the campground.A mob scene greeted us on the summit. I¢d not seen so many people on any given peak since Moosilauke (or perhaps Mt. Washington). All of the thru-hikers currently on the summit, Outsource, Sir Linear, MacGyver, Trinity, Fireball, Shop Teacher, and I, gathered for a joint photo at the sign. Then we each had our photos taken individually, and in groups. On the peak, the wind blew cold and steady. I had to put on a third layer, my trusty Marmot rain jacket, which I relied upon throughout the hike.  Clouds appeared and dissipated, revealing magnificent views of the surrounding mountains, of Knife¢s Edge, and of the trail leading back down.The descent was hair-raising. Not once did I pull my poles from the backpack, rendered useless by the rough, steep terrain, using instead my hands and the strength of my arms to steady, lift, and lower myself down the precipitous boulders I not too long ago clambered up and over. My aching shin throbbed now, making the downward trip feel like an eternity. Eventually we reached the Katahdin Stream Campground to find Outsource, Sue his wife, MacGyver, Trinity, Fireball, and Scarecrow waiting for us to go into town. Katahdin proved a fitting finish to an epic journey. I would not have had it any other way.Sue drove us to the AT Lodge in Millinocket, where we inquired about available rooms. After being told only bunks in the bunkhouse remained, I bristled. A bunkhouse was not to be the final note of this opus. So we signed up for the shuttle to Medway in the morning, where I planned to catch a bus to Bangor to meet Diane, and returned to the van, asking Sue to bring us to the Katahdin Inn. Shop Teacher and I split a room, and then we wandered about Millinocket seeking sustenance, which I found in the form of burgers at McDonald¢s and a foot-long sub at Subway. I guess I¢m not entirely through with life on the trail.