Date: 2008-07-02
From: Monson, Maine

To: Mt. Katahdin!!!
Miles today: 114.0
Weather: broken clouds

We summitted Mt. Katahdin at 8:35am on July 2nd, 114 days after leaving Springer Mt., Georgia at 10:00am on March 10th. It was a beautiful day with incredible views and we had the summit to ourselves for a good hour before deciding to head back down. On the way down we met an older guy, Francis, who said Mt. Katahdin was his cathedral and he had been hiking it for 52 years. He offered us a ride to Bangor and we eagerly accepted so we descended down the Abol Trail to where his car was parked. On the way down we met a guy coming up with his two sons and he informed us the Abol Trail was not recommended for descent because of the steep slope made up of loose scree. Oops. It was slow going but we made it down alive without kicking rocks on anybody else either. We felt happy and relieved to make it to the summit. We were lucky not to have had any serious injuries along the way and to have such wonderful weather to finish with. We met some wonderful people along the way like Francis. On the other hand though, we were sick sick sick of the rain, the bugs, and being treated like filthy, lazy bums when we went to town.According to the ranger station at Katahdin Stream Campground, Aaron and I were thru-hikers number 11 and 12 to finish the trail and I believe I was the first woman to finish. We never imagined we would finish the trail in 3 3/4 months, but the crowds, bad weather and bugs propelled us forward. For us, the trail was not as difficult as many people made it out to be. Before starting the trail I had worries about having enough time to finish because it took us 5 and a quarter months to finish the PCT and I struggled with the miles out there. Everyone said how much tougher the AT was and gave me serious looks of doubt when we said we wanted to thru-hike it. The only thing I can come up with is that whatever a person's first thru-hike is, it will be their hardest thru-hike. Most people on the PCT have already hiked the AT, so the PCT is their second thru hike and they have all the experience from the AT. For me it is the opposite, so we flew down the AT. I didn't feel as tired at the end of the day as I did on the PCT, maybe because my pack fit better and it was lighter and maybe because my body remembered what it was we were doing. At the end of this trail my body doesn't hurt nearly as much. We ended up hiking a record mile day on the AT at 40 miles when our record on the PCT was only 31 or 32. We only hiked a few 30-mile days on the PCT and hiked at least a dozen 30-mile days on the AT. We averaged 19 miles a day overall on the AT and only 18 on the PCT. As far as the terrain is concerned, no the AT does not have the switchbacks like the PCT, but from about Waynesboro, Virginia all the way to New York is easier than any terrain you will find on the PCT. North Carolina/Tennessee as well as the White Mountains and southern Maine is tougher than anything you will find on the PCT, and the rest of the trail is similar. Therefore, it just about averages out to be about the same if you look at it that way. The fords were a piece of cake on the AT when I feared for my life on the PCT in the Sierra. No snow to worry about out east. We were able to go to town about every 3 days. The shelters boost morale when it rains and there are hostels in most of the trail towns. I mention these things because many if not most people we met along the way did not believe we were thru-hikers or assumed we were slackpackers or blue blazers or that we were just lying. We really did hike the whole trail with our packs and stayed true to the white blazes, all the way to the summit of Katahdin. It hurts a little when we tell people about our hike and see that in their minds, what we did never really happened. That is why I am writing this here. I suppose that is all I can do, and you can take it or leave it.In summing up the trail, it was worth it, but we probably will not hike the AT again. We met some very wonderful people and experienced two very different seasons in the hardwood forests. We saw bear, marten, bobcat, moose, brightly-colored birds and lots of new-born wildlife. We also had a wet spring and met some incredibly rude people. It was a mixed bag. Our tent, stove and steripen failed us on several occasions which lowered morale and didn't help to make the trail fun, but really as I look back on the memories, I remember the good ones more than I do the bad.