Date: 2018-09-01
From: The Birches Campsite/Mile 2185.7

To: Baxter Peak - Mt. Katahdin/Mile 2190.9
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: light rain

It was very odd ¢ as I packed up my tent after a restless night (caused by the emotions concerning this day¢s hike), one of my primary thoughts was ¢I¢m not going to be doing this (sleeping in my tent, packing up each morning, having a peanut butter tortilla for lunch, etc.) tomorrow or the next day, or the next day¢ ¢ after having done so for the last six months.Gbolt and I walked the quarter mile to the Katahdin Stream Campground to meet Cheryl. After some anxiety as to whether she had made it or not, Cheryl drive in around 6:55 am. The parking lot was very busy as many prepared for a day hike up Katahdin on a beautiful Saturday of Labor Day weekend. We were hiking by around 7:30.The hike started on smooth trail with modest incline for a little over a mile until we reached Katahdin Falls (beautiful). The severity of the climb and the rocks increased as we hiked, but we were excited and the climb did not seem too difficult. After about three miles the trail breaks out of the tree line just as the severity of the climb becomes intense.For almost a mile exactly we had little other than climbing up, over, around and through rocks, boulders, ledges and every formation or type of rock ¢ mostly granite. The climb was not technical, but vertical and difficult with some scary maneuvers. We often had to help one another.In the middle of the difficult climbing we ran into Lotus & Ibex and then Savage & Po, who each passed us coming down, having completed their trip to the summit and their thru-hikes.Around noon we reached the ¢Gateway,¢ ¢ the start of the (relatively flat) tableland. We could see a congregation of stick figures a mile away at the Katahdin sign. After a half mile we stopped for lunch on some rocks. Then we climb the remaining hill to the summit. For me, it was mostly hard to believe I had reached this moment. I was glad Cheryl was there and grateful that Gbolt helped me through Maine. We took some photos and then started to head back down. (I absentmindedly left my cap at the foot of the Katahdin sign.) No one said anything but I think we all knew we were already chasing darkness. It was 2:00 p.m. and we had to get back down the mountain. We knew that the descent would be more difficult ¢ and therefore would take longer. I knew Cheryl had been very brave trying to ignore or overcome her fear of heights, but I knew we would have to ease our way down the steep areas of the mountain below the Tableland.The number of difficult and differing tasks required to descend were almost innumerable ¢ and difficult. We all worked together to find the best route and help each other down. It was not easy. There were tasks that seemed too difficult, too dangerous, too reasonable. Eventually, finally, after spending a lot of time on our backsides working down rock slabs we got below tree line. From there it was steep and Ricky, but not the intensity of the rocks above the tree line.With less than a mile to go we lost most light and had to use headlamps and flashlights for the last 20 minutes. We were all thankful and elevated to return safely to the parking lot ¢ having finished the toughest day, yet final day, on the trail. We gathered and gave thanks ¢ and then Cheryl drove us to Millanocket. We dropped Gbolt at the AT Lodge and headed to our motel.The journey was over. BHMHow to follow RTK:Blog:  http://www.rtkchallenge.com/bl...YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/channe...Podcast:  http://returningtokatahdin.lib...Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/rtk_...Please consider joining the "RTK AT Challenge":  https://fundraise.appalachiant...