Date: 2009-09-06
From: Katahdin Stream Campground

To: Baxter Peak
Miles today: 10.4

Day 166, 10.4 miles, 5:30 am - 1:30 pm   Up early, in the darkness. It is dark out before 5 am. We quickly ate, got our stuff together, dumped what we wouldn't need at the ranger station, and walked toward the very base of the mountain. The peak was still a black outline in the navy blue dawn.    Up we went, racing through the flat first mile, up the stone steps and bigger boulders, and then into the real mountain climbing. We moved quickly, as I was without any sort of pack at all, and Matt was only carrying a few things. By this time the sun was up and was alternately brightening some of the mountain faces, and leaving others cast in a dark blinding shadow. I did not want to stop for a break, how can you? It's the last day. It's a big deal. It really is. At the end of a northbound trip with a 5,000 K' of a mountain to climb. It really is like no other mountain on the trail. The views are like no other. The climbing is like no other. The day is like no other! So up we went, quickly bypassing the one group that left before we did. Then on the tablelands we could finally see our peak. Then--up up still and then I could see the sign and I could feel myself smiling and then I counted out loud--10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! steps until I could reach out and touch the sign. Then came Matt right behind me, and there we were, atop the mountain, first at the top and alone for a few minutes, and we are done!    I did not cry, or sob, or yell. I did not feel paticularly happy, or sad, or even numb. I was not in awe of what we did, or dumbstruck, or even too surprised to be up there. I guess I did feel a sort of peace, a sense that at the end everything really did fall into place and happened like it was supposed to. Even at that minute, it was just me and Matt and no one else. There was no celebration, no one opening a bottle of champagne, no families of groups screaming or crying, no pomp and circumstace, and personally, for me, that's just fine. It's not for me. I was grateful or a few minutes alone, on the top, with peace and quiet that I always like.    After 20 minutes, though, a the throngs of dayhikers started up, and after Matt and I took pics of each other at the BRAND NEW sign, with the correct mileage for 2009, our year, 2,178.3 miles, we had someone else take a pic of us together. Then we took in the view with our vanilla cokes, and started back down the way we came.    There were a ton of people on the trail, being a mild Sunday. I think we passed 50 or more people coming down. We saw MD3, and I gave each of them a hug and congradulations. Then we navigated the rest of the way, taking a long break at Katahdin Stream. So gorgeous. I'm sure that is the most pristine water you could get your hands on. That God it's protected and Poland Springs or whoever can't suck it dry and put it into bottles. It's a blue-green color, probably all mountain spring fed, and freezing cold. Good water.    We finally got down in midafternoon. We had a snickers at a picnic table on the bottom, and then we got washed up and ready to hitch out of the park. We got a ride with some guy from Massachuestts who really didn't speak English, so it was pretty quiet.    It's weird because we still had to get into town and do normal town stuff. We ran into Egg, sitting on a bench reading a book, still in town because she was awaiting a mail drop. We chatted with her for awhile, and then I decided that it was time to eat. Matt and I went into the cafe, ordered, and in the meantime Egg came in and sat with us, so we bought her dinner. We all sat there for quite awhile, talking, not even about finishing the trail, but about general nonsense, it could have been any other day. It was getting late, after 5 o'clock at this point, and I was pleasantly sleepy and relaxed. I had veggie lasagna (very good) and then I couldn't resist getting homeade raspberry pie. I bought slices for Matt and Egg, too.    That actually was probably the nicest part of the day, talking and laughing with Matt and Egg, eating good food, a beautiful day winding down. I was very content.    More town chores to do, though, we had to find a laundry, and get provisions, and find somewhere to stay. That was a little disarming, because we had trail chores to do, but no one else was around. Actually Millinocket itself was kind of like that, a picturesque ghost town, very little traffic, a deserted town square, and not much going on, hiker or townspeople wise. So that felt a little different. There are always hikers around, but maybe it's like being at your high school the day after senior graduation.    Laundry done, we hiked up the hill in our raingear, got to the grocery store and supplied, and got a place to stay at that end of town. Instead of going through our stuff, we started throwing things away, our tent that was toast, my pack cover, Matt's hiking poles that had been broken since New York.    Now for the way home.    * * February 7, 2010