Date: 2009-07-18
From: Katahdin Steam Campground

To: Katahdin (Baxter Peak)
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: moderate rain

This is the summit we all had imagined we would have. It was absolutely epic and I could write pages about today that would not do it justice.   We woke up to rain and wind, and knew it was going to be rough on top. Signing in at 5:45 at the base of the mountain, we found another group had started nearly 2 hours ahead of us. It is Saturday, so we expected others to be there with us, but we wanted to be the first to the top. So the race began. The first few miles were not that tough, just climbing another mountain. The elevation goes from under 1000 feet to up over 5200 in a few miles, and during the hike today, I did not feel a single foot of elevation gain. There was adrenaline pumping the whole time, I felt great. The next couple miles were more technical, lots of climbing on all fours, balancing acts and slick steep, sharp rocks to contend with. Also, we busted above tree line at this time and found wind speeds in the 40s or 50s, rain, and temperatures in the 40s or 50s. The mountain was giving us everything it had to keep us from the summit. During a particularly steep section, we ran into the group that had left ahead of us. We could not believe we caught them so quickly, but we just smiled and ran right by on our way to the top. (Coming back down we ran into them again, deciding if it was worth pushing on in these tough conditions, most sane people would turn back).   I was so cold, soaking wet, battling the wind, there was hail that fell for a few minutes. And something that I had never seen before, the rain was flying upward. As the wind slammed into the mountain and was forced up over the ridge that we were on, it carried the rain with it. So standing on the ridge the rain was actually flying up, I couldn¢t believe it. But Katahdin was submitting easily. After less than 3 hours from our start, I finally looked up and saw the sign in a fog bank just a few feet ahead of me. And I had finally made it. The celebration on top was quick, no snacks, or water, I ripped off my shirt and got a picture, then put on my dry warm clothes for the hike back down. We took the champagne out of our packs shook it up, and sprayed it into the air to have it carried off miles away, and only drinking the very last sip. In total we had walked 4-5 months to get to that sign, and then spent less than 10 minutes standing next to it. The pictures are unlikely to turn out very good, but summiting was the true test of our determination and stamina. I couldn¢t imagine a nice day, slight breeze, sun shining on Mt. Katahdin. The trail is evil and doesn¢t want to be defeated, it gave us a fight. Then we still had to get down, and the conditions were actually getting worse. But jazzed that the trip was over, and wanting to get dry and warm, we ran across the ridge. I remember coming down, but it is an exciting blur. I was so worried I was going to get hurt before getting out of the woods. But it didn't happen. I was able to finish like it is supposed to be done, healthy, happy, and exhausted. I felt like a champion. I have hiked 2176 miles, the entire Appalachian Trail.