Date: 2019-07-30
From: Baxter Peak, Katahdin (ME)

To: Katahdin Stream Campground/Millinocket, ME
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: few clouds

I didn¢t sleep well last night.  I was excited about today and also nervous that we wouldn¢t get to the park on time.  We had a parking pass, but if you are not there by 7am, they might give to someone else.  It¢s a Tuesday, but I don¢t know how busy it might be.One of the things I noticed is that it light out earlier here.  I looked out at 6am and it was full daylight.  That¢s usually the time I get up because it is when you can first see.  I hadn¢t thought about the fact that we had not only gone north, we had gone east, so sunrise and sunset are earlier.Anyway, we got to the park about 6:45.  There were 4 cars in line for parking passes.  We checked in with a ranger at the Katahdin Stream Campground, and said good bye to my parents.  I told them there was no way I would be back before 2:30, but I didn¢t know how long it would take.  SC and I started up the Hunt Trail reroute about 7:30am.  The AT follows the Hunt Trail to the Katahdin summit, but there was a bridge out, so there was a reroute.  However, when we got to the stream, 2 other hikers who had come up the Hunt Trail crossed the stream without any problems, so we decided to take the ¢real¢ AT on the way back.  When we get to the end of the reroute, we are a mile in and have not done any significant ascent yet.  I start to get worried.  I have not read any summit accounts recently, but the one thing I remember is that there is about a mile of flat before the sign.  That means we will be climbing 4,000+ feet in 3 miles? That sounds hard. I didn¢t want to get out Guthook while we hiked, so I could be as surprised as possible. SC did the same. After the stream, there were rock stairs. Not too difficult. Then it got a little harder. I kept coming to these 4-foot ledges, and I would have to put my trekking poles up on the ledge in order to haul myself up. When we got to the tree line, we both put our poles away because we could see that we were going to be pretty much rock climbing for the foreseeable future. We could see little tiny people high on the rocks above us.We climbed with a group of friends who were out for a hike and a family with elementary aged kids. Several nobos who were finishing their hikes passed us, and we met a few people who were flip-flopping like us. We met one woman who was going to do the trail sobo, but had started by hiking the 100 mile wilderness nobo and then climbing Katahdin. She¢ll start from Monson, and we might see her again. Anyway, after climbing for what seemed like forever, we get to the ¢Tablelands.¢ It is mostly flat but fairly rocky. I try just to walk but soon get out my trekking poles again. We look up and see tiny people up on a ridge maybe a mile away. ¢Do we have to go all the way over there?¢ SC asks pointing to the far end of the ridge. ¢I don¢t know.¢ I still don¢t want to look at Guthook. After a long, flat but rocky walk, we start ascending some rock stairs. Then, suddenly, there¢s the sign! Apparently we wouldn¢t have to walk all the way to the end of the ridge. I thought maybe I would cry when I saw the sign. I usually cry when I read about people¢s summits. But maybe because we¢ve only been hiking 700 miles it¢s not as impactful? Or maybe I don¢t cry as easily these days. There have been several times on the trail so far that I probably would have cried prior to hiking and I just haven¢t. I think all the exercise is helping me work through my emotions in a way. SC, Spike, and I all get our pictures taken with the sign individually and together. We eat a snack and then head back down. When we get to the climbing part, I put my poles away again. In general, climbing up is easier than climbing down. The whole way up I tried not to think about how I was going to get back down. It ended up being easier and less scary than I thought. However, it did start thundering and eventually it rained. That made things a little bit more challenging. I did a lot of sliding down on my behind. My hands became pretty raw. When we got to the tree line, it became a little more easier because I could use trees for support. Bark is easier on the hands than rocks, but sometimes there is sap. We stopped for water about 2 miles from the campground, and I finally got my trekking poles out again. On the way down I noticed markings that indicated 2 miles and 3 miles from the summit. I hadn¢t seen them on the way up. We crossed the stream without incident and headed down to the parking lot. My parents had been getting worried. All together, we were gone about 11.5 hours. 6 hours up, 1/2 hour at the summit, and 5 hours down. I would say it was by far the most difficult day of hiking I¢ve ever done except that it was more climbing than hiking. And even though we went 10.4 miles, we only get to count 5.2 towards our trail total. We got dinner on the way back to the hotel. We then showered before getting to bed. Another night getting to bed well after hiker midnight. We have to get up early again to get into the park to finish the rest of the trail in the park.