Date: 2014-10-01
From: Katahdin Stream Campground

To: Mt. Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2

I woke up at 4:30, I couldn't sleep so I finally got up at 5:00. Carson was awake so we packed everything up in the dark. I made coffee and we tried to eat something for breakfast. We said our good-byes to the other hikers and wished them well as they finish today. We had a short walk down to the parking area where we would meet up with Meghan, No Rush, and Dean. We left at 7:15, I had predicted a 4 hour hike up and 2 hours going back down. I was going to be off just a little on that prediction. It started out pretty easy with some rocks. We passed a beautiful waterfall and then the last privy on the Appalachian Trail. It was a little foggy down low and it was making the rocks wet and slippery. As you got above treeline it became very difficult and we would be challenged the rest of the day. We had some places where there were bars to help you climb up and it was going to take some upper body strength to get us up on top. It seemed to take forever to finish the last 2 miles of our 5.2 mile hike. 5268 feet seemed like a lot more and some hikers even turned around and went back down the mountain. Meghan, Carson, and I worked together to get us up on top of some of the climbs and we all agreed that it was strenous. It ended up taking us 6 hours to get to the Katahdin sign on top and begin our celebration. Lots of hikers were up there already so you had to wait for your turn to take pictures by the sign. We spent about an hour on top taking pictures, eating Kentucky Fried Chicken that Meghan brought to the park, and talking to other hikers. It was sunny and warm on top and we had great looks at other mountains and the Knifes Edge. The fog never did leave below so we didn't get to look at the trees, ponds, and streams. We were anxious to start back down so we wouldn't be hiking in the dark so we left the summit about 2:00. I have been talking to SOBO's for about a month as we met on the trail and nobody prepared me for today. Having family with me was great but also made me worry for their safety so I couldn't wait to get back down off of these big rocks and get down to the trees. We ended up getting back to the parking lot about 6:00 and we were 3 pretty tired hikers. This day seemed a lot more like mountain climbing than hiking but it was part of the trail so I had to get up there. We gave 2 hikers, Catfish and Old Blue a ride to Millinocket where they were staying. The shuttle went back to town and left them in the park. We dropped them off and stopped at McDonald's for dinner. Not a great finish to a long walk but we would celebrate better in a couple of days. Right now we just wanted to get to the cabin where my wife Paige, son-in-law Kurt, and my grand daughters Rhain and Ember were staying. We had one last bit of excitement on the way home, a huge moose walked across the interstate in front of us and we got a great view of a massive animal. It was the first live moose that I have seen on the entire trip and put an exclamation point on the day! It seemed like one more example of Trail Magic. We are staying in a cabin on Beech Hill Pond for a few days thanks to the generosity of Scott and Jil Crislip. It is a great place to end a journey that took me half of a calender year to complete. Having my wife and some of the family there made it even more special. I will post a journal later to finish up my thoughts from the trip but right now I need to try and get back to a normal life. I will also be reviewing my gear and do my best to respond to people that posted on my journal.