Date: 2009-09-26
From: Millinocket, Maine

To: Katahdin
Miles today: 5.3
Weather: clear sky

5:15 came really early this morning but it was necessary to make the 6 AM shuttle to Baxter State Park. We had a quick breakfast and loaded into the truck. On the drive over, as the sun's coming up, we can tell the weather is going to absolutely amazing and the Maine woods looked really beautiful with all of the fall colors. The air was crisp but the perfect temperature for hiking. As we pull into the park, we see a line a cars backed up well beyond the gate. Paul, our driver, immediately turns into quite the Debbie Downer claiming we'd never get in and all but started turning the truck around. Baxter state park has VERY limited parking and once the spaces in the park are full, they stop letting in cars. Since it was a perfect day and a Saturday, everyone in New England showed up to climb the mountain. The 9 hikers in the truck got out and walked past the 30 or so cars in front of us to the gatehouse to get the scoop. We were greeted by an angry woman telling us it was full, that we weren't getting in, and that if we tried to circumvent the gate, we'd be arrested and fined heavily. She said they'd be turning cars around any minute so we should show up tomorrow morning at 3 AM to make sure we get in. We walk back to the truck and begin to seriously consider what to do if we can't climb. Trey and Chelsea flew up just to climb with me and we all had plane tickets booked for tomorrow. Not to mention the fact that the forecast is calling for wet weather for the next week. I start to suggest we could drive to the coast, see some lighthouses and get some lobster; enjoy a great day in Maine and then I could summit the next day and try and change my flight. We decide to wait in line until she orders us to leave and to our surprise, we get to the gate before we see any cars turned around. I guess most of them had reservations. A different girl comes up to the window and tells us to drive in and go see the Ranger at one of the campgrounds in the park, but no guarantees we could climb. Looks like someone showed some mercy on a car full of thru-hikers eager to finish. Someone probably got in trouble and people definitely weren't happy about it but we could climb! We got started later than expected after all of the shenanigans. The first couple of miles are nice and gentle, a pretty easy grade and a nice waterfall. Then it gets tough. Really tough. The trail rises about treeline and the soft dirt becomes hard rock and the nice grade becomes all but straight up. Chelsea and Trey, novice hikers as they are, rocked it. Once above treeline, the views were really amazing. The fall colors were really impressive and you could easily distinguish where glaciers had carved out the mountains ages ago, leaving sharp rock faces and ponds in its path. After 4 hours or so of climbing, we could see the crowd of people standing on the summit. Trey walked ahead Chelsea and I to video us reaching the end of the trail. Other thru-hikers cheered for me as the famous sign grew closer. The next hour or so consisted of much celebrating, picture taking, hugging and some shots of jager. Especially with having Trey and Chelsea there, I couldn't have asked for a better summit experience. Next was the climb back down, AKA the destruction of the knees. We made it back down and were utterly exhausted. We missed the shuttle back to Millinocket so we had to hitch a ride. Given the time of day, most people were leaving the park and everyone had to go through town so it was an easy hitch. The first SUV to drive by pulled over and we loaded into the back. I immediately began to feel a little off. Lack of enough water consumed, combined with the physical exhaustion, combined with shots on the summit rendered myself dehydrated and nauseous. Before we made it back to town, we were pulled off the road while I ralphed (Chelsea likes the word Ralph)into a ditch. Thru-hiking; It's not all glitz and glamor folks. And just like that, the story is over. Tomorrow will be very different: rental car, flights, a big city and most drastic of all, no more white blazes to follow.