Date: 2004-10-08
From: roaring brook campground

To: abol pines camping area
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: broken clouds

"an early start"4:30 seemed to come very early. but, i wanted to be at least above treeline -if not to pamola peak- by sunrise. so, when my alarm went off at 4:30, i quickly got up and started packing my gear. in the daypack that ranger bill had given me i packed the essentials: food, water, warm clothes, rain jacket, and camera equipment. i carried my fullsize backpack over to the ranger cabin and set it just inside the backdoor on the porch.i walked around to the front of the building and was the first hiker to sign in at five o'clock. i set off down the trail beneath a star-filled sky. the moon was about one quarter full and seemed to give off plenty of light. if i weren't hiking under a canopy of trees, i would have hiked without the aid of a headlamp.after 1/4 mile i left the trail i was on and began to follow the helen taylor trail, which would take me to pamola peak. i was immediately glad that i wasn't going to be carrying my full pack up and over this mountain. the trail was very steep and rocky and it quickly became evident that i am not quite in as good of shape as i thought i was. i knew that i had plenty of time before sunrise, so i didn't rush myself. i moved along at an almost leasurely pace. it felt good to be hiking. breathing in the cool mountain air. hiking this morning was a very exciting time. any nervousness that i had quickly left. this just felt good. it felt right.my timing worked out almost perfectly. as i neared treeline, i could see that the sky was beginning to turn its various shades of pink; signifying the coming of dawn and the start of a new day. i crossed treeline and the mountain opened up before me. the lakes and valleys below me. the sky pink and gray above me. i found a large, flat rock to watch the sunrise from. i sat and ate a small breakfast as the sky above me turned from gray to light blue. the horizon turned from a pale pink, to a florescent pink, to a firey red. the sun broke the horizon and it was beautiful. an amazing beginning to a new day. an amzing beginning to a new adventure.as the early morning sun shown brightly upon me and the mountain, i continued making my way up the trail. since i was abve treeline, there was no guess work left. i knew how far i'd been and could see how far i still had to go. the trail was rocky and it was steep. i could see pamola peak above me and could see the knife edge jutting off to the left towards baxter peak. a strong wind began to blow dark clouds up and over the knife edge. they were coming either from chimney pond a thousand feet below or from across the tablelands on the other side of the mountain. it wasn't long before the knife edge was almost completely enveloped in clouds. i could maybe see the first fifty feet of the ridge before it disappeared. the sun was still shining bright where i was hiking, but i knew that the clouds on the knife edge were there to stay and would make for some pretty interesting hiking once i reached it.i finally finished the long climb to pamola peak. the wind was blowing strong at the top. the clouds were thick on the knife edge. the views were incredible looking down keep ridge (the way i'd just come) and across the valley. i couldn't see chimney pond a thousand feet below me on the other side of the mountain and i couldn't see hamlin ridge or the saddle trail on the other side of chimney pond.after a short break on pamola peak, it was finally time to tackle the knife edge- the 1.1 mile rocky spine of a trail that would take me to baxter peak and the beginning of the AT. it started off with a twenty foot climb down a rock face into a col and then another twenty foot climb up a rock face to reach chimney peak. the wind was howling across the exposed ridge. at times it was difficult to even stand up. climbing down the rocks, i was once again very glad that i didn't have my full backpack with me. the bulk and weight of it would have made for some very precarious travel across the rocks.visibilty was at most twenty feet. the trail was 2-3 feet wide at times. it was nothing more than a rock scramble- there was no actual footpath, just rocks. the sides of the mountain dropped away a thousand feet on either side to the earth far below. what an intense hike, if you could even call it a hike.i gingerly picked my way across the rocks, through the clouds until i could eventually make out the massive rock cairn marking the summit of second peak. i knew that baxter peak was only 3/10 of a mile beyond second peak. across the winds and through the clouds i could hear the yells and cheers of people on the summit of katahdin. eventhough i couldn't see the source of celebration, i knew that they were the obvious cheers of northbound thru-hikers completing their long journey from georgia. i continued across the rocks, guided by the sound of voices and the ocassional blue blaze painted on a rock. the clouds seemed to thicken as i approached the summit. the ten foot rock cairn took shape through the clouds, looming tall and proud. i rounded the pile of rocks and saw three guys standing on the summit, by the weather worn sign that says "katahdin." the sign that people wait so long to see. the sign that i was first introduced to almost a year ago. it was almost 9:00 when i reached the top of the mountain."well, guys, i'll just go ahead and say congratulations on the completion of your hike," i say to the three hikers standing before me."thanks," they say in unison.i am introduced to dingle, guy, and rooster. they have, indeed, all just completed the trek from springer mountain. the wind is fierce, the clouds are thick, and the temperature is much colder than it had been when i was back on pamola peak. dingle told me that he had been on the tableland (about a mile from the summit) at sunrise. they say that a person on the summit of katahdin at sunrise is the first person to actually see the sun in the united states. this is due to both geographical location and elevation. as the sun rose this morning, i wondered if anyone was on the summit of the mountain. if no one was up there, would that have made me the first person to see the sun in the united states today? what about dingle? was he at a higher vantage point than i was? wasn't i farther east than he was? i'll have to check my maps and run some equations (like i know any equations) to see which one of us would have been the first person to see the sun today.the four of us are the only people on the summit for quite a while. the clouds eventually break and the sun shines bright on the mountain. we enjoy are time on the summit. i am glad to be a part of their celebration. more people (all dayhikers) eventually reach the top of the mountain. rooster and guy decide tat it is time for them to start heading down the mountain. dingle says he is going to stay up there a little longer. i decide that i should continue on my way as well. i say goodbye to dingle and set off for the tableland.on the way down to katahdin stream campground, i passed at least fifteen northbound thru-hikers making their way towards the summit. i finally reached the campground at 1:30. i was a litlle tired and a little sore, but overall felt pretty good. at the ranger station i was happy to see that my pack had found its way around from roaring brook.after a short break i decided that it was time to move on. i knew that i really didn't have another ten miles in me, so i decided to take the 4.4 mile blueberry ledges trail instead. the 4.4 miles to abol bridge seemed like they would never end.i was exhausted by the time i reached the campstore at abol bridge. i walked over to the picnic table and dropped my pack, collapsing beside it. there were four thru-hikers there: traildawg, flint, mr t, and scorch. i was hoping to see someone else there as well. at first things didn't look too promising, but then poptart -the AT/baxter state park liason- walked around the corner. i met poptart last year when i came through here. at first he didn't recognize me, but then it was like old times. poptart and i visited for quite a while.now i am tenting at the abol pines camping area on the banks of the west branch of the penobscot river. i am tired. i am thankful that the Lord gave me the strength to get through this incredible day. tomorrow i enter the 100-mile wilderness.