Date: 2016-09-29
From: Katahdin Stream Campground, Baxter State Park

To: Baxter Peak, Mount Katahdin
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: clear sky

Katahdin Stream Campground- Kathdin summit via the Hunt Trail aka AT, descent via the Abol Trail 10.2 miles, 4233'/4233'We had a chilly night in the lean-to, making it tough to roll out of that nice warm sleeping bag. We got it done though. After packing our gear and eating a cold breakfast we headed to the ranger station. There we registered our hike and dumped any and all gear not necessary for the day's hike. Out came the sleeping bag and pad, the stove and fuel, the tent, and extra food. I guess my pack weighed about 15lbs after the purge. Satisfied we were carrying the lightest possible load, but that we still had what we would need for the day, we launched off onto the final, penultimate section of the entire AT- climbing Mount Katahdin. The thermometer on the trailhead kiosk read 32 degrees, and a sign admonishing us to turn back in time to get off the mountain before dark hinted at how serious an undertaking this hike was going to be. We cruised the the first mile or so, crossed a stream, then climbed toward tree-line. At 2.8 miles and after climbing to an elevation of 3300' we broke out of the trees and soaked in the incredible views. We could easily see the route the Trail has taken for the past few days. Whitecap, the Chairback Range, Moxie Bald, and far away on the southern horizon- the Bigelows. Turning our attention back to the task at hand we resumed our ascent, scrambling over large boulders that at times required the use of iron rungs and stirrups driven into the featureless granite. Another .8 mile and 600' of elevation gain delivered us to "The Gateway", where the grade suddenly flattened and the trail made its way across The Tablelands. Although flat compared to the steep, technical portions earlier in the day, the trail through The Tablelands nevertheless climbed yet another 765' over the remaining 1.4 miles to the summit. In an almost cruel twist, we could see the summit, and people on it, for the entirety of those 1.4 miles, making it seem to take a lot longer to get there than it should have. After another 45 minute stretch of hiking we finally made it to our goal- Baxter Peak on Mount Katahdin, the tallest mountain in Maine and the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. As with any mountain summit, climbing to the top is only half the job. You still have to get back down. We had two reasonable options for our descent, the AT or the Abol Trail. Neither would be easy, but we had heard that the Abol Trail wasn't so steep as to require iron rungs at least. That was enough to persuade O-Town and I to opt for it instead of the AT. We turned off the AT at Thoreau Spring and picked up the Abol, following it for perhaps 1/3 mile before arriving at a horizon line. Here the bottom dropped out as the trail followed the path of an old rock slide straight down the mountain. Picking our way from boulder to boulder, we lost over 1000' of elevation in about 1/2 mile. Mercifully, the trail diverged from the slide at this point. It has been re-routed away from the unstable boulders of the lower part of the rockslide and into an area vegetated with stunted, 2'-3' tall spruce trees. The descent was still steep, but we were no longer scrambling over boulders and there were actual switchbacks. The trees became less stunted as we made our way down toward the valley floor far below, soon reaching more normal heights of 20'-30'. Here and there birches began to appear as well, gradually becoming the dominant species as our descent continued. The trail finally leveled out as we returned to the valley, and in another half mile or so, delivered us to Abol Campground. From there we still had another 2 miles of hiking on the park's gravel roads to reach Katahdin Stream. In order to catch a free shuttle back to Millinocket we had to make it to Katahdin Stream by 4:30. It was already 4:15 so our chances looked pretty slim. We were fortunate enough to wave down some fishermen headed our way and piled into the back of their SUV for a ride to our destination. As it turned out, we just missed our shuttle but we were able to hitch a ride to town with someone who was picking up a thru-hiker. All's well that ends w