Date: 2008-08-15
From: The Birches

To: Summit of Mt. Katahdin
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: light rain

[This is the first half of my journal entry for today. It covers the climb to the top of Katahdin. I wrote it while on the summit. The second half of the journal entry covers my descent and remainder of the day. I¢ll post it later.]I was up at 5:30am. Surprisingly I slept really well last night. Packed everything up and ate my regular breakfast of oatmeal and pop tarts at one of the nearby picnic tables. It was exactly 6:30am when I signed in at the trailhead. There were already 17 hikers already signed in. No idea of the number of others climbing who had not signed in.Keep in mind that if you start early enough in the morning, the rangers have yet to post the day¢s weather report and classification for climbing. I think they do this around 7am. So if you start prior to 7am, you are allowed to climb based upon the prior day¢s weather classification. That means you need to be aware of the upcoming weather and be cautious.It had been gradually getting light for the past 30 minutes. I had planned on waiting until it was totally light before starting the trail through the woods where it was possible to trip over something. I began to hear the roaring water of Katahdin Stream and the water cascading from above. Crossed the bridge there and took a picture or two.Above the falls the trail started to become more steep. But I could still make good use of my hiking poles. Then I came up on what looked like large ropes wrapped around a couple of trees. These ropes were hooked to pulleys. There was a maintenance crew already at work. They were using the ropes and pulleys to maneuver large boulders out of an area. One of the crew told me that the trail in this area is constantly being re-routed in small portions to deal with the heavy impact from all the hikers.I¢m carrying two-liters of water. I topped off one of my water bottles at the falls. I¢d usually carry more water but the climbers from yesterday said that Thoreau Spring has plenty of water. As I climbed higher and higher the trees started to thin out and the rocks on the sides of the trail got larger. And it began to get brighter. I was approaching the tree line.The tree line can serve as a refuge in a thunderstorm. Thunderstorms can often appear ¢ even on what looks like a clear day. Often you can see a thunderstorm cloud approaching from the distance. Or you can hear the thunder from way off. If you get caught in a thunderstorm on Katahdin, there are several options. First, if you are close to the tree line, stay down in the trees. Second, if they are near, get under or between the large boulders that are present prior to the Tableland. If you are any further up the summit you won¢t have any boulders available ¢ except maybe some near the peak. Third, toss your poles aside and get scrunched down on your knees as low as possible. Make sure you aren¢t squatting in any water. I¢ve been told that you don¢t want to lay down on the ground because you make a larger target for a lightening strike.Climbing Katahdin, in a way, is like climbing up Mt. Everest. You do it in stages. Base camp is the Katahdin Stream Campground. Katahdin Stream Falls marks the first 500 feet elevation gain, and where the trail gets steeper. The boulder rock formation and the tree line are close to one another and are an elevation gain of 2400 feet, about halfway up to the summit. This is the suggested point of turning back, and where trail closures are in bad weather.Hunt Spur is just above tree line and is nearly vertical. That is where I pulled myself up over boulders using the implanted iron rungs. If you¢re short like me you really have to reach out for the next hand or foothold. This section is even worse descending because sometimes you can¢t even see or feel what toehold comes next.From Hunt Spur to the top of the Gateway is, I think, the most difficult section of the climb. First, you are on a completely exposed ridge climbing very steeply up to the Tableland plateau. I don¢t like heights and I never, ever look down while in this section. I know that it will be even scarier coming down later because then you do have to look down to see where you are going. This section rises nearly 1,000 feet and has sharp, jagged boulders to be climbed over, go around, and fit between. On a clear day you can easily see the white blazes ahead of you (usually) but on a foggy/cloudy/rainy day it can really be rough.Above The Gateway is the Tableland plateau. This is tundra of small rock, moss and grass which steepens somewhat near the actual summit. I saw a number of signs asking hikers to stay on the trail to prevent damaging the fragile environment. In sections there are markers placed in the ground to show where to walk. While on the Tableland some of the other trails that come up to the summit join the Hunt Trail. I didn¢t see a lot of hikers on those trails. Those trails go down to parking areas many miles from Katahdin Stream Campground. You would need a car to get to them. I had taken a snack break at Hunt Spur. Going above the tree line you begin to feel the winds. It was supposed to get up to 80 degrees today (and I believe it did). But the winds can cool you off a bit. So I got under one of the boulders for my snack.When you leave the Spur you have a great view ahead of the ridgeline and the boulders of the Gateway. But you can¢t see the summit from here. You have to get above the Gateway first. Climbing the boulders in the Gateway took me a lot of time. There are sections that you could fall and seriously injure yourself. Hell, let¢s not beat around the bush ¢ you could possibly be killed. Strong winds can affect your climb. Wet boulders would have been really bad for me since my boot soles were in bad shape. You just have to be patient and be careful and take your time. Keep track of how long it takes to climb this section. It will probably take you longer to come down it. You will then have a sense of how much time you need to descend back down.Other hikers were passing me like crazy on the boulders. There are sections where there is not much room for someone to pass you. You just do the best you can. Everyone needs to be patient, but not all are. Eventually, though, I did make it to the top and the plateau. There, at last, I could see the summit. It took about 45 minutes to hike along this flat section. Along the way was Thoreau Spring. Again I topped off my water bottles and took a quick break for some more photos. Because of all the recent rain, the Spring had plenty of water. But in the past it was dry and you have to be careful because there is no other water source above the tree line.The final section involved climbing up rocks and boulders of medium size. It seemed to take a long time to climb them but I think it was mostly the anticipation of getting on top. In this section there are a ton of white blazes, every few feet in some places. I think these are due to the heavy fog and clouds that can, at times, make visibility very poor.Reached the top, where I viewed the somewhat worn-out summit sign and a rock cairn that must have been over 10 feet tall. Took a number of photos, got my picture taken, and took pictures of several hikers with their own cameras. I would guess there were over 50 hikers around me. Most were in small groups seated on the rocks. I only recognized a few of them. There were a few who were openly crying. Many were impacted by their emotions ¢ especially the finishing thru-hikers.There was a family of husband, wife, and a boy around 10 years old. A 10-year old would not have been able to reach the iron rungs below ¢ his father or mother would have had to help him. I¢ve heard (don¢t know if it is true) that a family once climbed up here with a four-year old child.And there were some ¢old-timers¢ also. The oldest was a woman and she looked to be in her late 70¢s. Kudos to her! I saw maybe five or six hikers (I¢m guessing thru-hikers) who had climbed Katahdin with their own, large backpack and gear. I assume they had not left anything behind. Maybe in the past I would have given that a shot, but not on this day ¢ no way.I walked over to the edge where you could look down on the ¢Knife Edge¢ trail. Got a picture and met a group of hikers who were getting ready to go down that route. In the past I would have NOT tried that route down ¢ and I still felt the same way today.Then I pulled out the can of Miller Lite (warm by now) and opened it. Some of the beer spewed out and soaked my face and hair. It felt great. Then I offered a swallow to the nearest hiker, and she gulped some down. With the remaining beer I toasted Trail Boss, all those who supported me, Katahdin, the climb up, and the completion of my elusive northbound thru-hike. What a trip it has been. What a trip.Altogether I spent about an hour on the peak. Mostly just sitting off to one side, away from others, and thinking about the last six months and three weeks on the trail. Wrote down this journal entry. I don¢t think I could absorb everything at this time. I will have to compose my thoughts and put them down in a later journal entry.The Very Last White Blaze On The Trail