Date: 2009-09-28
From: The Birches Campsite

To: Baxter Peak, Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Glorious day on the Appalachian Trail!! 5 am: Cell phone alarm goes off. Want to be up and going at first light. It rained most of the night as the weatherman predicted. It's drizzling out right now, but the surprising thing is that it is relatively warm .... 55 degrees. It's pretty windy right now. I hope it dies down as the day progresses.I've downed 2 packages of Pop-Tarts and a Gatorade. The only food I'll take with me is a powerbar and 3 candy bars. I'm taking my entire pack with me .... it's the right thing for me to do. I expect to wear my long sleeve capilene 1 undershirt under my normal hiking shirt. I put the leg bottoms on my pants for the first time since the extremely bad bug day back in Connecticut. I'll also have my anorack on. I expect to be dressed like that until I hit the tablelands, exposed rocky area above treeline. I learned early in the hike (North Carolina) from Greaser that this is the time to layer up .... PRIOR to getting cold. I'll put my fleece on at that point .... unless the sun miraculously shows up .... hint, hint to God! Itinerary: On the Trail at 6:30; summit between 10 and 10:30; off summit by noon; back at the Ranger station no later than 3:30. Now I sit here and wait for first light!! I signed out on the Hiker's Log to start my summit at 7:00 am sharp! The name of the trail that the A.T. follows up Mt Katahdin to Baxter Peak is called The Hunt Trail. A measely 5.2 miles to finish this journey.I try to take it easy and just enjoy the hike but the first mile is so easy that I can't hold back and am flying down the Trail. I'm 1+ miles into it, to Katahdin Stream Falls, in less than 30 minutes. I stop, take pictures of the falls, take the bottom of my pant legs off, and take off the anaorack .... it's warm, plus the tree cover is protecting me from the light rain.The next mile goes almost as quickly but the climbing has begun. There are even some big rocks to scale toward the end of that mile. Now I'm getting near treeline, exposed, and the light rain is hitting me, so back on with the pant's legs and the anorack .... too warm for the fleece.At this point I'm confident as can be and loving every second of the hike, thinking I'm gonna knock this out in no time. I am slowing down now as there are more and more rocks, slippery from the rain, so I'm taking careful steps.Now I come across a couple of good rock scrambles .... one that's a tight squeeze for my pack .... one requiring rock scaling with rock climbing handholds hoisting myself up .... and a climb with rebar handholds. All of a sudden I realize that the "final exam" has really begun. My pace has slowed significantly! At this point, I'm on totally exposed rock above treeline, in the rain and wind, and still loving every minute of it. It's about at this point that I realize that this day is perfect to me and Katahdin is the perfect mountain to finish on! (more on this thought later) The rock scrambling and actual rock climbing (just a big boulder or two) continues for a while! There is some nervousness developing because I can't see more than 30-50 feet at a time, so I have no idea how long this "hard part" is going to last. And I can't judge my pace very well at all. There are many places where I have to take a minute to figure out how to get up the next rock!I'm still climbing rock when I get to a flat rock with "2M" painted on it. Two miles to go. Wow! I look at my watch ..... that last mile took me about 90 minutes. And I'm still doing some tough climbing! After a bit, I see a sign up ahead .... way too early for summit. It's just a sign asking hikers to stay on the Trail so as not to harm the alpine vegetation in the Katahdin Tablelands (and area of relatively flat land leading up to the peak).Now I'm really excited. The hard part is over and I'm cruising again. I'm yelling out loud a little and singing a bit .... mostly "Here Comes the Sun", with no hope of it actually happening! I still can't see more than 100 feet.I see another sign ahead .... Thoreau Spring .... yee-haw .... 1 mile to go!! That last mile from the "2M" to Thoreau Spring took about an hour .... it's 10:30 now. Now I'm just relaxed enjoying the last mile, but cruising along.Of course the last 30 minutes (what I expect it to take me to cover the last mile) takes forever! I just want to be there already!The whole time I know I'm basically not going to be able to see the summit sign until I'm there! Finally, there it is, "The Sign" indicating the summit of Katahdin, Baxter Peak, Northern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail ..... 2178.3 miles to Springer Mountain, Georgia!! Lunch Box is already there as he passed me back around the half-way point. I start yelling at the top of my lungs as I approach .... he yells back .... and we continue some "just plain yelling!" We congratulate each other and shake hands.11 am sharp. Four hours exactly!Lunch Box and I have hiked together since Vermont. It was very cool and fitting to summit with him, on this day, with this weather .... socked in with minimal visibility, wind ripping, and not so much raining as simply being in a cloud of rain. Perfect ending to our hike this year. We both commented on how we liked it this way and it seemed "right".I took a moment to soak in where I was. Amazing feeling .... a little proud, a little humbled, and very grateful!Time for photos .... some more yelling .... and a final handshake before beginning the descent. "What" you ask? Not going to stay here a while and just hang out? "No way" is my reply. I'm very wet and it's cold! Time-to-go!! I take off back the way I came! Lunch Box decided he'll hang out for a while. I find out later that he left just minutes after I did when he lit his cigar, was smoking it, and the wind blew the embers off the end and the cigar went out! Now I can definitely feel that I am cold .... now that the excitement is over and the adrenaline has wore off. C'mon feet .... get me below treeline fast!As I'm descending, I pass the other 10 thru-hikers that summited today .... making it an even dozen .... Ketchup, Creep, Hot Feet, Goose, Chewy, Holdout, Hatchet, Wood Smoke, Pyro Fly and Lucky Star.Getting down the mountain was a lot easier than I expected it to be. Getting to treeline was a great relief as the natural wind block made it feel like an instant 30 degree climb in temperature.Signed out on the Hiker's Log at 3:00 pm sharp!Katahdin, meaning "greatest mountain" to the local indians, was the perfect ending to this great adventure!