Day 1: Katahdin

“Man is born to die. His works are short-lived. Buildings crumble, monuments decay, and wealth vanishes, but Katahdin in all it’s glory forever shall remain the mountain of the people of Maine.”

— Percival Proctor Baxter

View west from the Gateway down to Hunt Spur, Mt Katahdin

Full disclosure: this post has way more pictures than future posts will contain. But it’s not everyday that you start the journey of a lifetime, or climb a mile-high legendary mountain. July 9th, 2020. My official AT start date. Dad and I woke up at our lean-to campsite around 2:30AM, but didn’t actually get started at the trailhead until 3:35. We signed the trail register at the Hunt Trail, and headed up the path. We were quickly passed by what I assumed were 4 NOBOs, who quickly sped up ahead of us. Although I had done plenty of night-hiking with a headlamp before, my dad was less familiar with hiking in the dark. We still made good time for the first 2 miles, which stayed relatively flat. We heard Katahdin Stream Falls but it was still too dark to see it. From that point, the trail started to get steeper and more rocky. As the skies brightened with dawn, we were treated to views of the valley behind us.

As we progressed through the trees, the flora took on a more definite alpine feel as the trees became all coniferous and short height. The trail turned into rocks and roots exclusively. As the rocks increased in size, we had to begin some hand-and-feet climbing in sections. My dad had listened to podcasts about climbing Katahdin and said “this must be the boulder field.” I had intentionally not watched any videos or read too much about climbing the Hunt Trail because I wanted to experience it newly for myself, but I knew we hadn’t reached the boulder field yet.

When we finally reached tree-line, the sun had already risen and I knew we wouldn’t be getting to the summit anytime soon. The fog laying flat far below was beautiful, as were the sharp rays of sunshine piercing down between Katahdin and North Brother Mountain. There were a few tricky technical sections as we began climbing up the rocks. They have installed a few minimal pieces of rebar and metal handholds in places where an average person would be unable to climb the rock faces. I found these small aids necessary, but it still took some problem-solving to figure out how to use them to get up some six-foot vertical rock sections. I was able to assist my father in places once I had made it to the top of the large rocks.

As beautiful as the views were, the rocks were just beginning, and we still couldn’t even see to the top of the mountain. We continued climbing the rocks until we reached a short flat area known as the Hunt Spur where we rested again and I took a few pictures. Some of the rocks were large, but now that we were above treeline, we were totally exposed. Thankfully, it was a pleasant temperature with only a slight breeze blowing. This isn’t somewhere I would want to be in foul weather.

The Hunt Spur contains one more steep climbing section to reach the Gateway and Tablelands of Katahdin. It also happened to be the most difficult section of the ascent. The many scrambles and steep rock climbs proved difficult for my father and I. Steep drop-off are present on both sids of the rocky ridge. Still we continued on up the spine of Mt Katahdin.

We finally reached the Gateway and set our eyes on Katahdin’s tableland after multiple required breaks on the last climb. It was sunny and getting warm at this time, but clouds continued to roll across the highest summit of Katahdin. We still had a mile and a half to go, but the steep sections were over. While climbing the Hunt Spur, we were passed by the first hiker to overtake us since the trailhead. He introduced himself as Kenny, and he was also starting a southbound thru-hike of the AT. So Kenny was the first thru-hiker I met on my journey. He passed us later heading back down. When I asked him how it was at the top he said “buggy and covered in flies.” I didn’t know it at the time, but I would be seeing Kenny for many miles down the trail.

Standing above the clouds on the Tablelands

The last 1.5 miles to Baxter Peak were more relaxed. The trail remained very rocky, but with a much more manageable grade. For the first time in my minimal hiking career, I saw rock cairns that were actually built for a purpose. Large stacks of rocks served as trail markers for when foul weather caused poor visibility. We made our way past Abol Spring, which was dry. Finally we made the final one mile climb up to Baxter Peak. As we approached, I saw fleeting glimpses of the legendary Katahdin sign that marks the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. I’d seen pictures of it a thousand times, but never knew the view walking up to it. As I approached the sign, I decided to let my dad touch it first. He’d earned it. It was 9:59 AM.

After a six and a half hour hike, we took our time enjoying the summit. Katahdin was my 8th state high point, and by far the most impressive. We had some snacks for lunch and I took more pictures. On the far peak, I could see tiny humans traversing the Knife Edge trail, a rock scramble along a narrow ledge with sheer drop offs on both sides. It’s the trail I hope to take the next time I visit Katahdin. As we sat and had lunch near the summit, I witnessed several other hikers who were talking as if they were starting southbound AT hikes, but I was too exhausted to get up to try to talk with anyone. Flies did indeed swarm the mountaintop, but they didn’t seem to be biting much. As we sat atop the summit, clouds continued blowing over us, enveloping us in fog many times, but allowing occasional views in all directions.

Some distant hikers traversing the Knife Edge

I would have stayed on top of Katahdin forever if I could, but it was still a 5.2 mile hike down to our campsite. We still had a decent water supply, but not as much as I would have liked, given the sun and increasing heat. I anticipated the hike down would take significantly less time which eased my worries. I officially set off back down the hunt trail as a southbound Appalachian Trail thru-hiker at 12:00PM. As we made our way back down the tablelands, we passed a large snow bank, impressively still holding strong on July 9th on a northern slope of the mountain. Heavier cloud-cover rolled in as we approached the gateway, and I began to worry about afternoon storms. These worries proved unfounded, as harsh sunlight was soon beating down on us once again.

Northwest view from The Gateway and into the Maine wilderness

The climb down the Hunt Spur proved to be almost as difficult as the climb up. Though it took considerably less exertion, it was much more evident how one wrong placement of either foot could lead to a sprained joint or broken bone. My knees began to feel painful under my 30 pound pack, and my dad wasn’t moving very quickly either. He was a bit fearful of falling so high up on the mountain. We were frequently passed by younger and more in-shape hikers heading down the trail.

I found it more difficult to locate the trail on the way down than on the way up. The white blazes were fairly worn and on one or two occasions we veered off trail before reaching the treeline. Our main concern was water. By the time we reached treeline, we had both exhausted our water supplies, as I had not anticipated the climb and descent taking so long. I also had chosen not to carry my water filter, due to reading that Abol Spring was currently dry. There was a small stream that crossed the trail below treeline, but I had assumed that by the time we arrived there on the return trip, it would be a quick few miles back to camp. Unfortunately, even below treeline we were moving pretty slow with sore knees. I was definitely dehydrated after spending all afternoon in the sun.

Finally back below treeline at a water source

This is where we met our first trail angels, Ritz and Treeline. They were filtering water from the stream running down the trail and offered to refill our bottles. This was a lifesaver and eased a lot of my worries of dehydration both for myself and dad. Ritz was starting an AT SOBO hike as well, and Treeline was accompanying him for Katahdin. They had both hiked the AT northbound before. When they asked me my hiking plans I responded with “I’m supposed to be starting an AT thru hike today.” Ritz responded “What do you mean supposed to be?” I explained that if this is what the Appalachian Trail is like in New England, I wasn’t sure I had what it took to hike it. They both assured me that Katahdin was the hardest part of the whole trail, and definitely not indicative of what my thru-hike would be like. This eased my worries somewhat, but I was still a little uncertain. Treeline was working at the Hostel of Maine for the summer and told me that I needed to stay there when I got to the Carrabassett Valley. She also offered me the trail name “Refill” when she found out I didn’t have one yet.

For those who don’t know, most long distance thru-hikers don’t go by their real name, and use a trail name instead. Some hikers choose their name before they hit the trail, or decide on a name after they have started their hike, but it is customary to be given a name by others in the hiking community. Often times, one is offered a trail name based on a unique characteristic, a carried piece of gear, or an embarrassing moment they experience early in their journey. The opportunity to come up with a name and offer it to a hiker who doesn’t have one is quite rare. I told Treeline I would consider “Refill,” and figured if I didn’t have one I liked better by the end of the Hundred Mile Wilderness I would start calling myself that.

We took in the beauty of Katahdin Stream Falls as the trail finally leveled out for the last mile back to the campground. We were absolutely exhausted as we signed the trail register at 6:15 after the 10.4 mile round trip endeavor. A nice hiker who had also just made the trek up Katahdin, but who looked totally unfazed by the hike, offered to take our picture at the registry. I didn’t get her name at that time, but I would also meet up with her further down the trail.

Katahdin Stream Camp, with Mount Katahdin in the distance

The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful. I was almost too exhausted to eat, but I chugged some fresh stream water and downed some instant mashed potatoes. I could tell already I was going to be ridiculously sore the next day. I wasn’t sure the status of my AT thru-hike, but I knew my dad and I had accomplished something significant today. We both fell asleep before dark.

Daily Miles: 5.2

Total AT Miles: 5.2

The Road to Maine