Date: 2005-07-05
From: Mtn. Katahdin, ME

To: Katahdin Stream Campground, ME
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: broken clouds

5.2 miles todayKatahdin Stream Campground, Maine I did it!!! I'm on the trail again. Quincygirl and I slept at Frogcaller and Lew's home in Greenville, Me. I was all packed and ready to go. Lew offered to take us to Baxter State Park and drop us off so we wouldn't have to go back to get Quincygirl's car when we finished the 100 mile wilderness. She'll be going home after the wilderness and I'll keep walking south. I don't know how I'll ever be able to pay Lew and Frogcaller back for their continuing kindness. They are the best!!! Frogcaller couldn't go with us because she's packing up to leave for 110 miles on the Vermont section of the the A.T. tomorrow morning, but she did make us a fantastic breakfast before we left. Lew, Quincygirl and I got on our way towards Baxter State Park at 8:10am and arrived at 10am. We went the back way from Greenville which took us through Kokadjo, a small village very far away from any other towns. The sign that welcomes you to town says; "Population, Not Many." Lew said it used to read; "Population 3." When we got into the park, we saw a huge bull moose in a lake feeding on the bottom vegetation. He was only about 75 yards away from us, so we got some nice pictures. That was a nice welcome to the trail. We got to Katahdin Stream Campground and Quincygirl and I went in and registered while Lew waited to make sure everything was ok. We got a couple pictures with the 3 of us and said goodbye to Lew. I still can't believe what good friends you make in the trail community. Thanks again Lew and Frogcaller. Quincygirl and I headed up the Hunt Trail towards the start of the A.T. at the summit of Mt Katahdin just 5.2 miles away and over 4,000 feet up to the elevation of 5,267 feet. It was 10:30am when we signed in the trail log. It wasn't too bad going at first, but the trail kept getting steeper and steeper. Pretty soon I had worked up a good sweat and still had 4.9 miles to the top.  ;-))) I did work up a sweat and I could feel the lack of climbing I've done in the last 2 months, but Quincygirl kept on my heels, so I had to keep going. We took a couple breaks on the way up and got some very cold water from a spring about half way up. There just isn't anything better than getting water from a mountain spring. Each time I climb this mountain it's different. This time it was a workout because I haven't been backpacking in a while. My legs burned, but in a good way. I love the feeling of using my muscles till they hurt. It started cooling off quickly as we got higher. I finally had to stop and put on my rain jacket as a wind break. I had gone from sweating at the lower elevations to shivering above treeline. I ran into a familiar looking guy on the way down. His name is Nelson and he's given me rides into Millinocket twice before from Baxter State Park. He has climbed Katahdin 275 times!! We talked a while with him before we hiked on. We got to the summit at the same time and touched the sign together to officially start my thru hike. We worked hard getting up there and I can't claim any of those miles. ;-((( Oh well, it was fun coming up and I had a good friend to share it with. We took a few pictures, then got behind some big rocks to get out of the cold wind. We sat there for maybe half an hour enjoying the views we had off the downwind side of the mountain because the cold clouds were covering our views on the other side. We headed back down about 3pm. I actually get to log the miles from now on. It felt good on the legs to use different muscles. I realized more on the way down just how steep this mountain is. I stopped at that cold spring about half way down and drank a litre of water and ate some snacks. We kept going for what seemed like a long time and finally got to the trail log and signed out at 6pm. We set up our tents in the campground and I made my dinner and ate while Quincygirl went in Katahdin Stream. She's crazy...that water is very cold!!! I stuck my feet in for a short time and they started going numb. I got in my tent for the night after I took a bandana bath and washed my shirt. It feels great to be back in my tent and back on the trail!!Woo hoo!!! Only 2169.7 miles to go!!!