Date: 2021-07-20
From: The Birches campsite 

To: Mt. Katahdin 
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: fog

Many hikers report that the night before they summit Katahdin they are unable to sleep due to the anticipation of the climb. I was out like a burned out light bulb by 8:30 and slept like I meant it until my alarm went off at 3:30. Iceberg had been up since just after two and Quiksilver and Lamb¢s Ear were up already as well. We wanted to be out of camp by 4:30 so as to get off the mountain before possible afternoon thunderstorms.  I was also surprised to see Short Shorts and Nines up and packed, as they are later risers then we folks with a few more years under our belts and weaker bladders under our shirts. So headlamps lit (Iceberg¢s last day on trail and his first swing at night hiking!), we walked the quarter mile back to the campground to drop off all the unneeded gear from our packs for the day hike up the mountain. I choose to use my regular backpack instead of borrowing a daypack from the ranger station, as I wanted my phone/camera to be easily accessible from its shoulder hosted and not in my pocket where it might fall out. I was packing a jacket, a little food, incidentals, and a liter and a half of water. The AT follows the Hunt Trail up the mountain and is just over 5 miles. The first 3 miles or so is below tree line as it moves up 2300 feet. The last 2000 feet above tree line covers the last two miles and change. Iceberg and I reached tree line first and spent a few minutes talking with Shorts and Nines before they continued up. We waited for Quiksilver and Lamb¢s Ear so we could go together up the boulder climbs and summit at the same time. We all stowed away our trekking poles and got ready to move up.Immediately above the trees the trail turns nearly vertical at times.  It was hand over hand work and at times there were pieces of rebar embedded in rocks that you had to grab and pull up, then put your foot on the same rebar to push up.  It was like a vertical Mahoosuc Notch with the added adrenaline boost that comes from realizing falling would be a bit more ouchey in this instance.We had a blast.After three quarters of a mile of climbing, we reached The Gateway where the terrain flattens out into what is called the Tablelands (pic above), a relatively flat section on the ridge. From here we could see the peak in the distance about a mile and a half away. Iceberg¢s anticipation was growing, he had less than 45 minutes left to go in his 2193.1 mile hike that covered five months over two years. From half a mile away we could make out the rock cairns and the silhouette of the Mt Katahdin sign.  Then we had one last 300 feet of ¢up¢ to cover.Popping over the last ridge I could see the sign just 150 feet away. I have to say - as this wasn¢t the end of my hike - that up to this point I had thought of this as just another mountain climb.  But seeing the terminus of the trail right in front of me and knowing what this has meant to so many hikers over so many years¢¦I got chills. We had Lamb¢s Ear go up first followed by Quiksilver and I so we could all watch Iceberg finish his hike. To put it simply, he was ECSTATIC.  Two years of dedication and dealing with injuries, Covid, and not really liking to camp had paid off and he was achieving his goal. We took a lot of pictures, celebrated with a waiting Shorts and Nines, took some more pictures, and generally enjoyed being in the moment. We had great views only slightly obscured by smoke from Canadian wildfires drifting through the area. Then it was time to go.  We decided to take the shorter, steeper, but less potentially deadly Abol trail down the mountain to our shuttle pick up. On the way down we bumped into Pep who was a half mile from summiting and ending his hike. We congratulated him and wished him well as he takes his 19 year old self off to college on New York.  Then it was a three and half hour boulder/rock/scree/gravel slide down the mountain. It seemed to take twice as long as the climb up.  Iceberg and I had pushed our little group hard to hike through the 100 mile wilderness to get a summit day free of rain and it paid off as we had a dry and safe day.  I¢ll sing the praises of Lamb¢s Ear once more as she covered all those miles with out having first tucked a 1000 miles under her belt. And she did so with some blister issues too.It was special to be able to share Iceberg¢s moment of accomplishment and I¢m glad I bumped into him and Quiksilver on a rainy afternoon in Vermont at the Kid Gore Shelter.  Just an awesome day.We¢re in Millinocket, Maine right now and getting ready to go to dinner and then make plans for the next few days.  Quiksilver and Lamb¢s Ear are flying out and I¢ll be waiting for my friend Jason to come out on Friday from Pennsylvania for the return trip there on Saturday. This was fine.