Date: 2006-09-21
From: Katahdin Stream Campground

To: Baxter Peak, Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: scattered clouds

0921Katahdin Stream to Baxter peak5.2 Miles. Cold, Cold. The leaves have been changing, and it¢s a little colder each morning. The trail is saying to me ¢ok, move it along-I got to get on with winter, so finish your little hike soon and get out of here.¢ I was up in a snap at 6:00. This is it. Big K day. Kathy and I left after most around 7:30. As the trail got gradually steeper it became more and more evident K¢ache was having difficulty. We made it past Katahdin Stream Falls when she shouted up to me to stop. I turned around and she was crying. It broke my heart to see her try so very hard but was unable to go any higher. We wanted to stand on top together but it was not going to happen. At least not this day. She agreed to head down. I kissed her hard, turned and ran up the mountain not wanting her to see me start to cry. It was time to get this over with. At 3400¢ I reached the spur. This was treeline. The wind had picked up considerably and the drizzle I had left Kathy with had turned to snow. I passed several day hikers (weekend Nancys) coming down. Apparently too much for them. This was full on climbing. The snow was blasting the rock and freezing on contact. At times the visability dropped to about 10 feet making route finding difficult. Another 1100¢ I was at The Gateway. This is the highest point you can see from the campground and the start of Tableland. Being in an alpine environment is hard to describe. Kind of like being on another planet, but since I have never been to another planet I am not sure if that is an accurate description. I only know I am very much alive when I am here. Another .6 mile and I reached Thoreau Spring. My fingers at this point were getting real cold, or I should say numb. Didn¢t bring my gloves. STUPID! Thoreau Spring is also the start of the last mile of the AT. As I hiked that last mile I thought of many things. I thought of my father and mother. Would they be proud of my accomplishment? I thought of my nieces and nephews. I¢m the crazy uncle Greg that¢s gone off to the mountains. My brothers, Rurik and Ted and their wives. There all stuck at work right now back in Maryland where it¢s probably sunny and warm. I am sooo very far away from them all right now. I walked that last mile alone on the mountain, just me and the final white blazes drifting off into the snow and wind and fog. I walked alone with my emotions hitting me from all sides. I heard Moe, Ponch, and Berkinstock cheering me. They were standing at the summit now about 50¢ away. As I approached the sign marking the summit I could feel all those emotions slamming into me hard. Some feelings I had never felt before and all coming at me at the same time. As I took the last steps I fell apart crying like a baby. I leaned against the sign and wept. I have hiked the Appalachian Trail.K'ache's day Sept 21st. Summit Day. Hikers passed our tent early in the morning. I decided to try to at least hike to the summit. With trekking poles, my bad leg could get along without much gimping but it still was bad. Pi slugged along and waited (patiently?) for me. I could see in his face that even though he was staying with me because of the injury he wanted to go. I stopped twice, basically melting down. I hated the feeling that I was keeping him back. I also had the nagging feeling that if I was hiking this slow, how long would it take to summit and what would the weather be like then? Also as the trail steps became steeper I couldn¢t shake the reality that coming down was gonna be a bitch. I really needed to climb using both hands but my leg required the trekking poles to function without pain. So about a mile up, I broke down again¢¦this time I released Pi from his duty and honor and turned around. It started to rain and the hour that I spent climbing up took almost twice that long to climb down. Although I made the right decision, it felt horrible. The weather followed my mood and the temperature continued to drop. There was nothing left for me but to wait for Pi and my friends to come down. When Ponch and Mo retuned from the summit (with news of snow) they told me that Pi and Berkenstock decided to take the Knife¢s Edge route down. They would come down on the other side of the park so I stopped by the ranger¢s office to find out where that trail would come down so I could pick them up. When I mentioned their intentions, he kind of rolled his eyes. I found out later that due to the horrible weather conditions it was thought that this trail was actually closed. Oh well. Nothing left to do but wait and hope everything came out (down) alright. And it did. Pi and Berkenstock emerged from the woods safe and energized!