Date: 2006-08-09
From: The Birches

To: Baxter Peak, Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: clear sky

I didn't sleep much at all. I kept waking up and looking at my watch. At 1:00, Parmesan and Asiago got up and started hiking. They wanted a head start up the mtn. At 2:00 I was up and ready to go. I had no trouble waking Redbeard and Hiker-Cyclist. We were packed and out by 2:20. We stopped at the ranger station to sign in and passed the hiker kiosk by 2:40. It was cold and I had on extra clothes, but it didn't take long at our pace to warm up. We soon had to stop and shed some clothes. We chugged a little water from a nearby stream then moved on. We wanted to get to the top and see the sunrise so we didn't have any time to waste. We were soon out of the treeline and scrambling over huge boulders in the dark. It was hard to find the white blazes and follow the trail so it slowed us down a bit. In the moonlight, the terrain looked like it came from another planet. We caught up with Asiago and Parmesan and realized we weren't going to make it for the sunrise if we didn't hurry up. Redbeard and I sped up a bit almost to the point of being reckless. I didn't want to break my leg on the last climb of the trip, but I really wanted to see the sunrise. We made it to the tablelands where the terrain flattens out some. About halfway through the tablelands we decided to run to make up some time. By the time we got to the last climb to the peak we were running on adrenaline. We didn't stop running until we tagged the sign on top of Katahdin. Aug 9th at 5:20 AM we summited Katahdin. We made it in time to get a few photographs as the sun was coming up. We sat back and enjoyed the show. The sky was perfectly clear and the sunrise was amazing. It was very cold and windy at the top. I was, of course, sweating from running up the mountain. I took my wet shirt off and set it on a rock to dry. After I dried out a bit I wrapped myself in my sleeping bag then put my jacket back on. This made a sort of down jacket. It kept me warm enough to enjoy my time at the top. After Hiker-cyclist, Asiago , and Parmesan summited, we took photos and had some snacks and took a nice long break. Once it started warming up, we starded moving down towards the south peak. We decided on going back down the knife's edge to the campground parking lot. We definetly made a good choice. The views were incredible and the hiking was some of the best on the trail. We stopped several times and enjoyed a break on the ledges. There were 1,000' drops on either side of the trail. Once we got to the Helon Taylor trail, Redbeard and I split from the rest of the group and went up to the Pamola peak. It was a short climb, but it was straight up.(by my standard of climbing anyway) We had some lunch at the top of Pamola and admired the view across the deep canyon to the east side of Katahdin. We finally left after it started getting crowded with some day hikers. I was glad we went up early and had it all to ourselves. On the way down we passed scores of people going to the top. We all napped at the ranger station and waited while Asiago's Grandmother drove out to pick us up. They gave us a ride all the way back to Bangor. Thanks for the lift! We got a hotel room at the HoJo and started the process of returning to civilization. Its been a long and wonderful trip. I've met some great people along the way and I've learned alot from them and about them. Thank you everyone that has helped me make this goal of mine achievable. --Yoshi