Date: 2010-08-06
From: The Birches

To: Summit Mt. Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 41 - "The Climb"The Birches to Summit Mt. Katahdin (5.2)We had a nice relaxing evening at the Birches. Flow Easy had a friend show up. He brought beer, snacks, and best of all - camp chairs. The four thru hikers got picked up by Pickers father to meet with family and friends at Abol Campground. With their absense we got to enjoy the camp chairs. What a luxury to be able to sit on something other than a rock, a log, or a plank of wood.Two additional thru hikers showed up. A woman (Nature) and a guy (Neephus).It was great to just sit their discussing the mixed emotions of being so close to the finish.Everybody was up around 4:30 (except for Nature who was waiting until Saturday to summit).Garage Man and I were the first to hit the road. At the Ranger Station, we emptied our packs of everything but the essentials and then we were off. We signed in at the trail register at 5:43am.The first 1.2 miles of the trail was flat and easy. As I was hiking I was thinking that the SQ would like this trail. Soon we crossed a footbridge over Katahdin Stream and then passed by the Katahdin Waterfall. The trail was still pretty good. Started to get rockier - more rock stairs to climb. The trailmaintainer that we met near White Cap told us they had just laid 69 new stairs at Katahdin. At this point, I pulled away from the Garage Man.Around the 2.4 mile mark you hit treeline and are basically in a boulder field. I caught up with Snowman and his ten year old nephew. I passed them, but soon let them pass me. The hard part had definitely begun. I thought to myself as I tried to hoist vertically up a boulder face - Thank God I don't have a full pack. Within ten minutes of hitting the boulders I was bleeding from both legs from smashing into boulders. My legs were totally scraped and bruised.When I started out it was sunny and warm. As I climbed the wind started to pick up and it got much colder. I couldn't decide whether to put my poles away or not. Each time I thought I would put them away - I would be almost blown over. I didn't use them to climb, but needed them for stability. The wind was howling.Clouds would come up and over the mountain and then disappear. I was freezing so I stopped an put on my jacket, hat, and gloves. I looked down the mountain and could see the Garage Man's orange jacket. I decided to hunker down behind a boulder to wait for him. Better to be protected by a boulder from the wind. Plus, I wanted to be able to get to the summit with him. We had come so far together it just seemed right to reach it together.As I waited, the views (spectacular) would come and go. A wisp of cloud passed below me and as the sun hit the cloud a rainbow appeared within it. I sat there in awe of the whole experience.At different points prior to this, the other three thru hikers passed me. The two Maine brothers passed me as well as Flow Easy's friend. About 10 minutes after sitting there - Hardrock passed and said the Garage Man was maybe 10 minutes back.I wasn't able to call anyone from the mountain, but was able to send and receive text messages. You gotta love it. This was great because I did receive a text from the Northern Support Team saying that they had reserved a parking spot at Katahdin Stream Campground and would be there to pick us up. This was great news since I had not been in contact with anyone for days. The last contact was with the SQ before we had made the decision to push on to summit on Friday.The Garage Man arrived. Wooo Hooo. We took a short break and headed up.It was a very short distance from that point that we hit the Gateway - where the trail is totally an alpine zone. Flat and rocky. We cruised the rest of the way. This was at about 4500 ft.We thougth we could see people at the top, but weren't sure if they were people or cairns. Finally, we could tell that it was people standing near the Katahdin sign. Almost there.At 9:30, we reached the summit to cheers from the guys. It was wonderful - high fives from all (Flow Easy, Picker, Picker's dad, Redman, Hardrock, the Two Maine Brothers, Neephus, and Snowman). It was so great to have the thru hikers celebrate our achievement as much as theirs. It literally brought tears to my eyes.Garage Man popped open a celebratory rootbeer. We hugged and took pictures.The clouds came, went, and with them views would come and go. The wind was fierce, but we could not have asked for a more perfect day to end the journey.By 10am, we decided to head down. Other day hikers had begun to arrive including some of the campers we had met days before. It was a once in a lifetime experience to be on top of Katahdin (5268 ft) with such a small group of wonderful people. It was like we owned the mountain for that short time.Again, Garage Man and I left the mountain first, but were passed by everyone at some point. Four hours later we emerged into the parking area to thunderous applause and cheers from the guys who were congregated - celebrating together.I spotted the Northern Support Team. You know you are loved when your support team agrees to let three disgustingly rank hikers and their gear get in their car for what seemed like a very long ride. One team member was trying to be polite as she tried to hold back from gagging in our faces. Now that is true love.After a long and stinky ride - we dropped the Garage Man and Hardrock off a the hostel in Millinocket.We headed to a wonderful camp further north (near the north entrance to Baxter Park) that the SQ has rented for the week.Later, at the camp it started to rain. And, two full rainbows appears over the pond. The colors were so brilliant. Unlike most rainbows that dissappate within minutes - these stayed whole for a good ten minutes.On the left - a view of the two rainbows. On the right - a majestic view of Katahdin.How sweet it is. Life does not get any better than that.p.s. - the boot repair job held up. The shoe goo was pretty much scraped off, but the gorilla glue held tight. Amazing.