Date: 2004-06-20
From: Katahdin Stream Campground

To: Mount Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Log Entry 141Start Time- 0700End Time- 1217Weather-Clear in the morning, clouds rolled in but were high, over 5500 feet, so the views were never obstructed. A little cool in the morning, around 40 degrees, and it stayed right at 40 deg the entire day. A slight breeze below treeline and a hurricane above it. Strong, stiff winds, not enough to knock you down but sufficient to shift your balance and suck energy out of you.Breakfast- Poptarts, granola barsLunch- granola bars Dinner- 1 large bacon double cheese burger pizza from DominosTrail Description- Up and up, all the way. Although it wasn¢t the hardest climb for me on the trip, it was the steepest, longest climb on my hike. The first 2 miles aren¢t so bad, through trees and over some rocks, just an average climb. Then the boulders and drops get bigger. Once the trees disappear it gets sic. Basically a boulder scramble for the next 1.5 miles or so until you reach the Table land, where it is rocky but relatively flat. The final 1.5 miles are nothing.People- Michael David, Gina May, and Father. More peeps on the trail but no names. Rick again in the afternoon.Animals- Nothing worth mentioningMoney spent- none Biggest Complaint- I was sleepy tired a lot of the day. Also very hungry later in the day. Which was satisfied by Krispie Kremes and Dominos Pizza.Narrative- It was a great night for sleeping; I think I could have stayed in my bag until noon. But we had things to do. It still didn¢t feel like it was my last day on the trail, but I was happy to know that for the foreseeable future I would be back in a controlled environmentWe all had our daypacks packed the last night, so all we had to do was take down the tent and roll up sleeping bags. So by 0700 we had everything in line and we were headed up the AT towards Baxter Peak.The first hour we covered the 2 miles, I was happy with that. The hike then turned into a climb. The weather was perfect, that is until we hit Hunt Spur, treeline.We met a couple coming back down. At first I thought we were making really good time and the summit wasn¢t far away. But then they told us they were turning back due to high winds and that they weren¢t going to risk going any higher. None of us (Dad, Gina, Mike, or I) talked about turning back. I guess we just thought it would make a better story if someone always died. The wind was the worst in the first mile or so above treeline. On the exposed parts of rock you had to keep a low profile, almost on all fours. The gusts usually weren¢t too severe but sometimes you would have to turn your back into it and wait for a lull. It made conversation tough. We took some breaks, but for the most part maintained progress. When we reached a small flat spot before the climb continued, we all figured that we could see the summit. I thought this was the Tableland and we had a mile or so to the top. But what we thought was the summit was actually the Gateway (I think) and there was plenty of more mountain after that. Once we did finally reach the Tableland, we were rewarded with much easier walking and fabulous views. My dad called it his favorite place on he¢s ever been to. I think it was my favorite spot on the AT. I would guess that it is similar to the Whites, but I¢ll have to take a trip there in sunny weather to find out for sure.We could see the summit for about an hour. There were many people up there as well. The famous A-framed easel was insight too. I was surprised that it wasn¢t harder for me, emotionally. It didn¢t seem like the end of the journey. Just another day.My sister caught the last 10 minutes or so of my hike on video. I had my composure until my dad came over and shook my hand. Then it was Feb 1 all over again. But the wind dried tears quickly. Or just plum blew them right off, hard to tell. We took many pictures and spent about half an hour up there. It wasn¢t very comfortable to sit around, so we headed off the mountain. I had my cigar that I carried all 2174.1 miles, but just chewed on it for a while. Too windy to fire it up. It was a little eerie, the feelings moving through me as we headed down the hill. It just didn¢t feel like I had done anything special. It still doesn¢t. Maybe it will set in soon. We got back to the van by 1900, about 12 hours after we left. I polished off a half dozen Krispie Kremes and then signed the log back at the Ranger station. I simply scribed, ¢That¢s all she wrote¢, Carl Spackler style.We then left the friendly confines of Baxter State Park and rolled for home. We stopped for the night in Bangor. It was about 22:30 before we all got showers and pizza in us. The pizza tasted good too.