Date: 2014-08-16
From: Birches

To: Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2

Aug 16Today is the day, to borrow a saying from Mel Fisher. Last night was fun with Politician's family bringing food. The Birches was full with 12 of us ready to head up Katahdin to finish our hikes. Most of us were thru hikers and a couple were section hikers completing their last section. By 5:30am everyone was up and moving. Most of us were headed to the trail hy 6. Birdman joined us as we walked thru the public camping area, so it was great to see he was all set and ready to go. Shroomer led a group of 8 of us for the first 1.5 miles. The terrain got a little steeper so us older guys slowed down and the young ones continued the torrid pace to the top. There is a stretch in the middle where you gain 1,800 feet in a mile. There is a lot of bolder scrambling in this stretch. We took our time to assure a safe ascent. Once safely up to the tablelands it was a great walk to the summit. This entire upper section was in the clouds. We could hear the voices before we could see the others and the famous sign. It was really cool as we got closer and we could finally see the prize (big brown sign) at the top of the mountain. We had taken one break to eat a snack and filter water and arrived at the top at 9am, 3 hours after leaving the Birches. Another hiker had champagne that he shared, we all celebrated our successful hikes and toasted Shroomer for the completion of his triple crown - AT, PCT, and CDT. Quite an accomplishment. After 45 minutes on top and lots of photos it was time to head back down to warmer weather.The hike down was still slow, but not as bad as anticipated. There were tons of day hikers coming up as we were headed down, so that slowed us down since there are lots of places where only one person can go at a time. As we were heading back down we passed Sabertooth and his brother and buddy. They offered to bring us into Millinocket since that is where we are meeting Elizabeth. Once we got back down we headed to the ranger station where we had left our packs. They let us borrow day packs for the hike up, since we just needed water, food and a jacket. It was great travelling so light. As we were waiting for Sabertooth a guy came over and asked if anyone needed a ride. We jumped at an earlier trip into town. A few other hikers were there and said they would let Sabertooth know we had taken off.Once in town we hooked up with Elizabeth and her friend Sherry. Moose (the guy who gave us a ride) and Ryan joined us for lunch. Shroomer is also with us for the next few days as we cruise around Maine before flying home. About an hour later Six Slash, Politician and his family walked into the same restaurant. It's fun for Elizabeth to meet the people she has been reading about.We are staying in Millinocket tonight and headed to Greenville tomorrow. In the next few days I will try and write up a recap. Once I get home I'll post a complete gear review. I realize this entry is pretty bland, I am just tired right now. It has been an incredible last few weeks to top off an amazing summer. The 100 mile wilderness was my favorite section of trail and the climb up Katahdin is a fantastic way to finish. Throw in the great little community I have been travelling with and you get an almost perfect ending to the trip. Sorry Maine but your weather was too wet to give you a higher score. Thank you all for reading along, sending messages and signing my guest book. I will be posting lots of pictures on my website as soon as I get a chance and I wil do a few follow up posts here.