Date: 2023-07-24
From: Katahdin Stream Campground, ME (2193.2)

To: Mt Katahdin, ME (2198.4)
Miles today: 5.2

Well, the weather gods finally played fair. After all of the rain in the past 5 weeks, summit day dawned clear and blue, with hardly a cloud in the sky, and it was a balmy 60 degrees at the top. Park entry (because we had exited the park and not stayed at the Birches) was a bit of an effort: 2 weeks in advance we needed to reserve day passes for Katahdin Stream Campground and, because we weren¢t sure that early exactly when we would summit, needed to get them for multiple days (you are allowed up to 3 per month). We left Millinocket at 5:30am, got to the park and waited 30 minutes to work through the entry gate, then finally got on trail by 7am. We were rested, hardened by NH and Maine, and the rocks were dry, so we made great time (7 hours round trip, including a lunch break at the summit). The AT proceeds from Katahdin Stream Campground up the Hunt Trail, passing by the lovely Katahdin Stream Falls. Once you get to treeline, the bouldering becomes steep and intense, an adult jungle gym writ large. I was so happy to do this with dry rocks and fresh shoes - I am not sure how I would have made it through some of the sections in the rain. But in the conditions today, it was challenging and, dare I say it, fun. Of course, the payoff for all this work was the views. Hiking above treeline gave me that ¢walking on top of the world¢ feeling that I felt at Franconia Ridge and the Roan Highlands, with views sweeping out for many miles in all directions towards majestic mountains and lakes. After finally hauling ourselves up and over the boulders, the trail proceeded through the tablelands towards the summit, passing Thoreau Spring on the way. And then, the sign, the end of the Appalachian Trail. I have heard that the AT was originally supposed to end on Mt Washington, but that Myron Avery (himself a Mainer) insisted it be Katahdin. He got this right - it is a spectacular way to end a 2200 mile odyssey.  So many thoughts went through my head approaching the sign - flashbacks to different points along my journey, both experiences and places. But mostly, a sense of closure, of a mission completed. I know it will take weeks, perhaps months to process it all; I can be patient. There were others at the summit, but celebrations were muted. Mostly quiet acknowledgments of achievement. We had lunch, soaking in the scenery, and headed down. ¢Down¢ in this case was via the Abol trail, a slightly shorter but very steep descent more analogous to rolling down a cliff than anything else. We chose it because the Hunt trail descent is more protracted and has some trickier vertical sections to navigate. The Abol trail boulder section was steeper, but could be navigated successfully with a lot of butt sliding. Which I did. It was a full body workout, and I was grateful for the upper body strength I had picked up over the past couple of months as I needed to lower myself down a number of sections. It was fast, though - we emerged at the trailhead in under 3 hours, legs like jelly. Mr. Right and Miss Right met me at the trailhead, cold Gatorade and Snickers in tow. It was wonderful to see them after being apart for months. After a shower and some brief downtime, we celebrated over dinner with Surefoot and Splash, and warched the sun setting on Katahdin.¢Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, 'Wow! What a Ride!¢¢ - Hunter S Thompson