Date: 2004-09-24
From: Katahdin Stream Campground

To: Katahdin - Baxter Peak
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: few clouds

Day #194"When you get right down to the root of the meaning of the word "succeed" you find that it means to follow through." ~ F.W. Nichol"It is a long road from conception to completion." ~ MoliereThe Katahdin Inn was a beehive of activity. Hikers were up early with loved ones and/or friends having breakfast and making the last preparations for the hike up Katahdin. I am sure, for reasons of their own, the other hikers were on the same emotional rollercoaster as I was for the last 24 hours. The car we were riding caught the chain, forcing our backs tight against the seat as we went up and the sky was the only vision before us. Once the amusement ride started I knew there was no stopping until the ride was over and the safety bar lifted. Catdog and her husband Gary, Palm Tree, Tree Frog, Quest and his two daughters, Boonie, Lady Kritter and I piled into our vehicles and headed for our final day on the AT. Entering Baxter State Park, the dawn broke with beautiful hues of yellow orange fading into soft pinks against a turquoise background. Within minutes the colors brightened and the sun poked above the mountains as a bright orange ball. Lady Kritter and I felt the magnificent energy of the sunrise was a good omen for today's hike. I looked at the sunrise and wondered how Spiceman, Joker, Lorax and Party Girl were enjoying the early morning light. They camped at the Birches Campsite and got special permission to summit Katahdin at 2:00 AM to be at Baxter Peak for the sunrise. It had to be a spectacular display from the summit. Our caravan arrived at the Katahdin Stream Campground parking lot, the trailhead for the Hunt Trail, the tread way to the remaining 5.2 miles of my hike¢¦One by one, groups stood together for photographs to commemorate this day with Katahdin in the background. Thru-hikers waiting their turn were restless with bolts of emotion and memories flashing through their minds. The time arrived. Packs were swung over backs, a short walk to register at the kiosk and the final footsteps of the AT hike. Even though I did the walking on this adventure there was a second member on this team, Lady Kritter, whose energy supported me both physically and mentally, who held my fervor while talking on the phone and maintained our household through everyday occurrences and natural disasters (three hurricanes within a 6 week period). She was there on that first day in the drizzling rain saying goodbye, not knowing what the future would hold for either of us. It was only fair, and my desire, to have Lady Kritter hike by my side in those final miles and sharing in the triumph and adulation of completing the Appalachian Trail. The choice, however, was not mine to make. The decision was Lady Kritter's. She was less than 48 hours off the plane from the flatlands of Florida and apprehensive about making the climb without a chance to get trail legs. I told Lady Kritter it would be an honor for her to be my final hiking partner, and as a team, summit together.And so, as our first footsteps fell on Hunt Trail, Lady Kritter and I began following, hand in hand, the morning's assemblage of hikers. The trail followed a gradual grade along the Katahdin Stream, and after the first mile steepened. The anticipation of today's hike and, for me, the climatic excitement of completing the trail, gave us the illusion of time moving slowly and our feet floating over the trail. Quest, Catdog and company waited for us to catch up. I thanked them for their courtesy and asked them to go ahead at their pace. I felt ours would be slow considering Lady Kritter's neophyte trail legs. Steadily the trail loses its identity of a footpath. We lose tree line and follow the painted white blaze over rock face and a boulder field. Climbing is now hand over hand and at several points iron bars are embedded into the rock for hand and foot holds. Lady Kritter was feeling the effects and asked me to consider going onward catching-up with my thru-hiking companions." No!" I said, "We started as a team, we will summit as a team, and we will leave Katahdin as a team." Katahdin was relentless. We entered a part of the trail some hikers call the "Hunt Spur" or the "Spine" - a very steep and difficult boulder field that strained your neck to look up at the top. Slowly, each individual boulder and rockface was scaled. On either side of our ascent was the open void of space. Below, the sun reflected off hundreds of lakes and ponds like pieces of scattered broken mirror. The landscape of mountains and valleys stretched to the horizon. The top of the "Spine" is called the "Gateway", a relatively flat, rocky area, approximately a mile in length that leads to Baxter Peak. This area is called the "Tableland". Just below the summit I changed into my tuxedo attire for the summit photographs. Lady Kritter and I reached the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail at 1:00PM. I was dressed in a white tee shirt under an Oscar de la Renta tuxedo with tails, black shorts, hiking boots with short gaiters and to complete the ensemble, a leather skull cap and sunglasses. The Champagne cork was popped; the cigar lit and assorted photographs taken of Lady Kritter and me at the Katahdin sign. During a lull in our celebration, I stood on a rock overlooking Chimney Pond. Tears filled my eyes, swells of emotion overcame me as faces of people and places of time that shared moments with me flashed in my mind. I also realized I just joined an international fraternity of less than 10,000 hikers who have completed the Appalachian Trail in one season - a thru-hiker. I was also proud of Lady Kritter's hike to the summit and as we embraced I told her so. The scenery before us on Baxter Peak was incredible. We had a Class I day on the mountain. The rangers at the park classify the day for hiking according to the weather conditions. The category tells you what to expect the day you are hiking.Class I: Recommended for hiking above tree line.Class II: Not recommended for hiking above tree line.Class III: Not recommended for hiking above tree line, with the following trails closed (specified trails will follow).Class IV: All trails closed at the trailheads. After the high of climbing Katahdin, the realization of what we endured going up, we now faced as a descent. Knowing what the trail was like didn't help. We ate a quick lunch and after staying only one hour on the peak, started our return. Four hours into the descent our knees and thighs were screaming for mercy. Lady Kritter's legs were Jell-O. Each step was painful. The sun was setting and we still had two hours of hiking before returning to the Katahdin Stream Campground. When dark-thirty arrived I gave Lady Kritter my headlamp and I took the lead using a small LED light. I would walk several yards ahead of Lady Kritter, and then return to her to help her along. The next two hours were very long hours of talking Lady Kritter off the mountain. Finally at 8:45pm we reached our vehicle in the parking lot.The next morning all the thru-hikers were meeting at the ayce breakfast in the hotel¢s lobby. When Lady Kritter came hobbling down, everyone commented on how she had the hiker hobble. And so, Lady Kritter became an honorary member of a group of thru hikers who summit Katahdin on September 24, 2004.