Date: 2007-07-13
From: katadin stream campground

To: katadin stream campground
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: scattered clouds

mi. 5.2destination Katadin Stream Camp Groundsleeping hammockHappy Friday the 13th everyone. Today was a perfect day for hiking. We hit theHunt Trail at 5:30-6am after getting up just before 5am. I acutally woke upbefore it went off ready to do.One side note. I thought it wpuld be dak at that hour. At least it is in Ohio. It didn't dawn (get it dawn) on me that I am 500 or so miles east and the sunwill raise and et earlier. Lession learned. I thought of this one after hikingawhile.Well trail miles are 5.2, but actual miles hiked is double that. The AT startsat the top of the mountain. the Hunt trail is also the AT. I thought aboutgoing up a different way to see something different but decided not to. I'mglad I did the trail is pretty fun today. It's amazing how different thingslook when you are going the opposite way.Anyways, the trail up wasn't bad until the tree line. Someone told us the nightbefore there is plently of water up there so I only took 1 bottle. I passd byKatadin Falls which look really cool. Well worth the time sitting and enjoying. For awhile there I was thinking that I should have brough more water or refilledsooner. But I lucked out and there is a huge spring just before the tree line. I learned later that Theuro (spelling) Spring also had water, but that was up onthe table top.From the tree line to the table top, a flat-ish area towards the top, was acompletly different story. This is the section of the trail that is thesteepest on the whole AT. There was definitly a lot of rock scrambling(climbing over huge rocks of all shapes). The blazes were sometimes hard tomake out. But overall were nice. I still swear that sometimes they purposelytake the hardest way.The cool thing is that one the way up I keep leap frogging a girl with her dad. She was finishing up her northbound hike. She started back in Febuary. Ithought it was pretty cool to start at the sae time as someone else wasfinishing.The table top area was pretty cool. They have the trail marked and a lot ofsigns that tell you to stay on it. A couple places were roped off to help showyou the way. I did pass a group of girl scouts passing that I figured out onthe way down was Theoreu spring. I thought there was a plack there, but I didnot see one. It must be down some other trail.The top was truely the best. I got there around 10:30am. It beat out any ofthe mountains that I have been on yet. The best part is that you can't see thatmuch man made structures. There are a couple small places I thought were 2 laneroads or power lines, but that was it. On my way up I noticed the clouds werestarting to roll in. When I hit the tree line there is hardly a cloud in thesky. Just shows how fat the weather can change. I did luck out and it clearedup enough for me to get some good views. The interesting thing was the top wasat cloud level, but the table top a few hundred feet below wasn't. So the viewswere actually better a little lower. I did manage to get some cool pics of meand the sign. There was a couple groups up there, so not all of my pictures areself portarits. Just a couple of them. I did get one of me with the firstblaze right under the sign that I thought was pretty cool. I don't care whatothers say, it is the first blaze. A! s five-leaf say, "sobo pride" (sobo means south bound).The walk down wasn't too bad. It did feel a little strange having officiallystarted my hike. Someone at the top asked me how my hike was. I got a laughand look out of him when I told him it had just started.It did start to sprinkle a little towards the tabetop on the way down. I talkedto someone at that passed me on the way down and he said the top was all sockedin with light sheet to hail. Glad I wasn't up there.I almost forgot to say, can't imagine why, but ME state bird was out in force togive me a proper sendoff. They for some reason where only bad from a quartermile or so below the treeline to half way up the rock scramble. I guess Ishould mention that hikers call the blackfly ME's state bird. It wouldn't havebeen the same without them. It was fun swatting them as I was climbing overlarge rocks.