Date: 2016-08-25
From: The Birches Lean-to and Campsite

To: Katahdin / Millinocket, ME
Miles today: 5.2

Aug 25, 2016 - As I mentioned, I just couldn't sleep last night. I tossed and turned until 1:30 am when I got up to relieve myself in the privy. When I returned to the lean-to, I expected to find a groggy Peach and Goat slowly packing up. Instead, they were both completely animated and ready to go. I played Mother, We Just Can't Get Enough and was so jacked up, I felt like I would explode. The three of us filled up on water, dropped our trekking poles off at the ranger station (the poles would just hinder us while Rick scrambling) and commenced our night hike at 2:19 am. The hike up Katahdin consisted of almost 4,300 feet of elevation gain spread over 5.2 miles - that's intense. The beginning of the trail consisted of mostly stone steps, but it evolved into what was described to me as a vertical Mahoosuc Notch - I found that to be extremely accurate. The only real flat section was the last mile above tree line, but there, the nearly vertical ascent was replaced with high winds and cold temperatures, which always feel exaggerated at 3 in the morning. The rock scrambling was an incredibly fun time, with the darkness adding a whole new, challenging twist. Even though I furnished my headlamp with 3 brand new batteries just yesterday, the light failed me about halfway up and I had to rely on my friends' headlamps and the third quarter moon that was trying to peek through the layer of cloud cover. The three of us filled up at the Henry David Thoreau spring conveniently located a mile from the summit. The excitement coursing through my body at this point is tough to describe. Standing there, body aching, and shivering as the wind howled past me, I should have been pretty miserable, but this nervous energy made me want to run towards the summit. My mind kept trying to grasp the enormity of what I've nearly accomplished, while it no doubt failed, my body responded accordingly. We crested the final hill and there was the characteristic sign silhouetted against a cloud covered night sky just a few hundred yards away. All of us saw it, but all of us were lost in our own thoughts. I silently raised my arms to the sky and kept moving. At 4:55 am, I stood in front of the sign at the summit of Katahdin, having completed my 2,189.1 mile thru hike, with my arms raised up as I let out a loud roar of triumph. I kissed the sign and, honestly, despite the adrenaline pumping through my body, threw down my pack and put some layers on - it was freaking cold. Once we were layered up, we took our summit photos in the dark. In addition to the classic photo, I also took a few of me hoisting my pack above my head like the Stanley Cup - "It weighs almost 35 lbs except when you're lifting it". I couldn't resist. Our plan was to wait up there for about 4 hours so that the rest of Super 8 could join us for a picture with the sign. In the meantime, we took cover from the wind under a large rock and made one of the better cups of coffee I've ever had. It would be the last coffee I'd be sharing with Mr. Princess Peach after hiking about 2,145 miles with him since Low Gap Shelter just after Neel Gap. Again, it was a triumphantly bittersweet moment. As we sat there bundled up and hiding from the wind, the sun started to rise and shed some light on our surroundings. At least 20 lakes stretched away to the south, Knife's Edge stood out starkly to the east and a startlingly steep ravine plummeted from the summit to the north. I could see the last mile of the trail and continually watched expectantly for the approach of my friends.Once the sun was up (the sunrise was blocked by cloud cover, but an hour later, the sun shone through and it turned into a gorgeous morning), the three of us slackpacked the mile out on the Knife's Edge trail Pamola peak. Pamola peak actually used to be taller than Katahdin, but a large section of rock broke off and tumbled down the side of the mountain. Pamola is the Penobscot Native American tribe's God of Thunder and protector of the mountain. This God causes cold weather and has the head of a moose, the body of a man and the wings and feet of an eagle. They call it Knife's Edge because the trail is 3 feet in some sections with literally nothing but sheer cliffs falling away on either side. One misstep and you'd fall for 4,000 feet. From a distance, the trail actually looks like a serrated knife balanced so that the edge is pointing up. Peach literally jogged the trail so he was watching me on the last descent from Pomola. The only way I could get down was to jump down about 8 feet to the next landing. I knew something was wrong and Peach confirmed my suspicions by saying I was at least 30 yards off trail literally trying to descend a cliff face. This trail was easily the most fun, most tiring and most dangerous thing I've ever done. If the rocks had been wet, the trail would have been completely impassable. Anyway, we returned to Katahdin by around 8 am and still had to wait about an hour for Sweets, Jingle, Legs, Verge, and Training Wheels to arrive. The three of us sat on a rock and watched as everyone approached the summit with smiling faces and loud cheers, each taking their turns in touching the sign to signal their accomplishment. There were a lot of hugs, congratulations, pictures and ridiculous poses with the sign (which is brand new this year, by the way). My favorite picture is a tie between the one with Peach and the group picture with all the friends that made this experience the best and most rewarding of my short life.Except for the initial excitement at reaching the summit, it honestly didn't feel like my thru hike was over. It just felt like we conquered yet another mountain and were casually enjoying the view like we always do. It's a little cliche, but it just goes to show you that nearly everything worth remembering about this trip happened during the walk to Katahdin rather than when I actually reached the summit. Katahdin definitely lived up to its potential and all the hype surrounding it. I couldn't help feeling the journey was over - the journey, despite all the good and bad experiences, was perfect while the ending will always be bittersweet. That's true for all of my life's important moments and my graduations from high school and college stick out most prominently in my mind. I'll no doubt have too much time for reflection in the coming days to process all this, but I've been more emotional writing this than I've been since that dog died in I Am Legend. Our thru hike might have been over, but we still had a 5 mile descent back to the campground. Since we were no longer obliged to follow the white blazes, Peach, Goat and I took the Abol Trail down. Well, about three quarters of the way down, we realized we had somehow lost the trail as we stumbled down a steep trench filled with loose dirt and large rocks. It was unnecessarily dangerous - we were about 90% sure this old, disused trail would come out near the trailhead for the Abol Trail. However, I was out of water, we were all short on food and a thunderstorm was forecast for later that afternoon. Furthermore, this is the Maine wilderness in the middle of nowhere so after some deliberation, we made the difficult decision to turn around and hike back up about half a mile as the sun beat down on us. We had to stagger our positions to avoid sending large rocks tumbling into each other as they cascaded down the mountainside. This course correction sapped all my remaining energy. When we rejoined the Abol Trail, we realized all 3 of us stupidly walked right past a sign that pointed directly to the trail. It turns out that the wrong trail would indeed have popped out where we had thought it would, but we still made the right decision by turning around. I've read enough true stories to realize that it's those simple types of decisions which often make the difference between life and death. That may sound extreme, but in the wilderness, it's really not. Some day hikers were kind enough to give us a ride back to the ranger station so we could gather our things. Then, we hitched a ride to nearby Millinocket, ME where I would stay the night at the AT Lodge. I was tired, but it was finally time to celebrate with the people I'd soon have to say goodbye to. We had some lunch at the AT Cafe and signed the ceiling as part of the thru hiker class of 2016. Later that night, everyone gathered at the saloon down the street and had a final rambunctious night together. Beers and shots were poured and, oddly enough, baby powder was sprayed nearly everywhere (rest in piece, chalkboob). I introduced everyone to grenades, which is easily the best shot to celebrate something. By the time I went to bed, it was past 3 in the morning. I had been up for almost 26 hours. It literally felt like I summited 3 days ago. Another cool factoid was that I summited on the 100th anniversary of the national park system. The land just east of BSP was actually designated a new national park today. The next morning, Super 8 met at the AT Cafe for one last breakfast together. Peach was taking a bus back to Jersey, Training Wheels and Sweets were taking a private plane to Bangor (talk about badass), Legs, Verge, Goat and I were getting picked up by our parents and Jingle was actually hiking Katahdin again with his friends from home. I don't know when I'll see any of them again, but I'm sure we'll get together and surprise some thru hiker hopefuls with Trail Magic in the future. I don't know if they're reading, but I want to thank them for making my adventure what it was - nature and the AT alone would've provided for an incredible trip, but it's the people that throw it into overdrive. I really cherish their friendships and, as I write this, it's already killing me knowing I won't see them for a while. Thanks to everyone who followed me and supported me - I'll post all of the statistics and information I kept track of. Now, it's time to figure out the rest of my life, or at the very least, my next adventure. I have a feeling I've opened a can of worms - I'll always be drawn to the mountains for new adventures and because, frankly, there's nothing more satisfying or rewarding. I'll be back once I have an opportunity to process exactly what my AT thru hike means to me, but for now, I'm out. -Mountain Goat, Hakuna Matata