Date: 2009-09-25
To: Katahdin Summit!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

It rained pretty steadily all throughout the night before our summit day. Morning still maintained a mild drizzle with partly cloudy skies and some heavy wind gusts. The weather had been almost perfect since September started but now, on the morning of my planned ascent, the weather forcast at the ranger station read: Rain in morning, 10-15 mph winds with 30-40 mph gusts, ice on the summit, possible chance for sunny skies in afternoon. It was a Class III day, one class away from not being able to summit, and we were all feeling a little uneasy. Once we got all our stuff packed up and walked to the main area of the campsite, the previous view of Katahdin the day before had been replaced with a dark, angry cloud and the wind had picked up so much that it had blown the campsite sign off it's hinges! Contemplation amongst each other continued. Should we just wait for tomorrow when it's 'supposed' to be sunny out but it could be 20 degrees colder, or just say eff it and go?? I was highly bent on delaying my departure date until I remembered what I told my mom a week ago, "If I get a chance to climb that mountain, I'm gonna take it because it could be my only one." Decision made: let's hike!The krewe of hikers that spent the day at Hot Chocolate's lake house a month before were all there: The Hiking Poles, Duckman, Dragon Breath, Hot Chocolate and even HC's his parents. We've been hiking on and off with each other since then and I was ecstatic we were all there together on the last day. Struggling to cook breakfast and arrange my pack due to the heavy winds made me the last to depart. Nevertheless, as soon as I was ready to go, my adrenaline boosted into overdrive and I started to charge up Katahdin. On my way up the winds were so bad that even before breaking treeline I passed a few groups who were turning around out of fear. Nevertheless, the intense wind gusts that were strong enough to periodically push me off balance only provoked my energy surge and invigorated me with life. I finally caught the krewe as I broke treeline and the winds picked up even more without the shelter of the trees. We had to yell to each other just to communicate over the screaming wind. I was so jazzed that I practically ran up the rock scrambles. Out of pure excitement I couldn't help but scream, "Today is always the best day of your life!" The sun was out and the views were endless. Only the summit was being periodically coated with cloud cover but it was crystal clear where we stood. It was obvious that we made the right decision. The morning was simply a test, and we passed.The climb up Katahdin was terribly fun, full of boulder scrambles and rock slabs, truly a kick ass mountain. Once you reached the final one mile, you start traversing an icy tundra field, frost coating the ground and glistened from the sun's rays. I felt as though I had just warped to a completely different world. The summit was becoming clearer and clearer and with higher frequency and I slowly fell back and became silent. The end was near.A slew of hugs and congrats were exchanged at the top. We waited around for pictures and got a couple spurts of sunshine during the shoot but the northside was still mostly invisible with cloudcover. There weren't too many people on top due to the weather, and many soon left from the overwhelming cold anyway. Since I had decided to hike up my sleeping bag I was able to comfortably gaze into the distance snuggled warm inside my bag as my fellow hikers one by one slowly departed for the bottom. Eventually I was one of the only few remaining on Katahdin, and as a final gift, the skies opened up fully, the sun came out, and the winds calmed down to a gentle breeze. I was finally able to see the entirety of Katahdin and my heart burst with amazement. As I marveled at the sight, Hot Chocolate returned from his extra credit hike and it was just him and I on the summit together. We exchanged a few words and gazed out over the vast land for a while. Eventually Hot Chocolate managed to take his steps off the mountain and I soon followed.