Date: 2005-10-10
From: Katahdin Stream Campground

To: The Big K !!!! Baxter Peak
Miles today: 5.2

Mamma Toes: We awoke to rain once again. But BT and RH didn't want to wait around for the momentous occasion. When we arrived at the park, it was a Class III day, but the decision had been made to go for it.This was the day that Pixie and Pine Dragon were going to summit and they were nowhere to be seen. But when I climbed out of the car at the parking lot whom should I see but Van Beers!!! I don't think I could have picked a better thru hiker to summit with. He has been a good friend who I have had some great times with since I met him way back in Dalton.We registered with the rangers; Rawhide was number 458 and I was number 459. Then the three of us set off up the wet mountain. The beginning is really easy. The fact that we¢re walking up a stream with waterfalls did slow me a little though. All of a sudden we weren't walking up but climbing up. The trail makers here don't give you any more help than what is absolutely needed. Climbing the middle section was hard, really hard. I don't know how south bounders start here. If I hadn't had so much practice with rough trail and steep mountains in southern Maine, I honestly don't know if I could have made it. By the end I kind of thought of it as the Mahoosuc Notch turned vertically. The higher we climbed the stronger the wind got and of course the nonexistent view got even more nonexistent. Nothing new but I would have really liked to have seen Katahdin close up at least once. (Momma Toes says that this is a great excuse to come back, and go up again, on an easier trail of course.)While the three of us were the only thrus, there were 4 other hikers going up - a couple and a dad & daughter. As we climbed we passed the dad & daughter. Then we met the couple on their way back DOWN. They had gotten to the tablelands and the wind was just too much for them. I had a moment of fear, panic, and frustration with the rocks. "I can't not do this!" I yelled. The moment passed and I did what I always do, just kept hiking. Reaching the tablelands was like getting off of I-95 onto a quiet side street. The trail was a fast moving delight after the struggle of the steep rocks I had just climbed. And yeah, it was windy but I've hiked in much worse. Those poor people who had conquered the hard part and then turned back just short of the top. The wind never did get any worse. There was so much water at the top I couldn't tell what was Thoreau Spring and what was runoff. The trail started to climb again but was still easily walkable. Because of the cloud surrounding me there was false summit after false summit. So, when I saw that famous sign, I didn't let myself really believe it. Neither of us spoke, but both of our paces picked up. Van Beers was waiting at the top, already having had his emotional moment and McDonald¢s sandwich. Rawhide headed straight for the sign while I pulled off to the side just to take it all in and make sure it was real. Yep, that was the sign for the end of the AT, the sign for the end of my journey. There were no tears (no really, I didn't cry - no one is more shocked than I), just a smile that was so big it hurt my face and wouldn't stop. Well not until I had to climb back down those stupid rocks. Quick pictures that we all prayed would come out. It was no longer raining but the mist was blowing and swirling around us. Rawhide had carried up champagne but the weather being what it was, we decided to save it for the bottom were we could be warm and dry while celebrating. As it turns out, we did not get to toast with Van Beers as he beat us to the bottom. But his mom did leave us some of the best tasting hot chocolate. Dry clothes and bubbly finished off my last moments standing at the foot of Katahdin. The best part was being able to give trail magic to our companions of the last few weeks - Yukon Jack, Captain Morgan, and Reality Check. The focus of the end of my journey was just like the rest of my trip. It has never been about reaching Katahdin to prove I did it (making it was just a huge bonus) but about the new people and towns. About sharing my life with great friends and letting them know that I love them. Was I always able to do this? No, sometimes I failed and got too wrapped up in others' opinions or blinded by my own momentary misery. But I tried. "Dream big and dare to fail. If you don't try to accomplish your dream, you fail before you start."- Col. Norman Vaughan, an extraordinary explorer who is going climbing in Antarctica for his 100th birthday. May I be so lucky as to be half that brave in the way I live my life after the AT.