The Road to Maine

You’d think I’d of tried to fit everything into my backpack more than a day before I was leaving for Maine, but preparation was never one of my strong suits. I finally decided to squeeze everything in there about 12 hours before we were scheduled to leave. Then I took everything out and put it back in again to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. It all fit! It was heavy as hell, though.

My mostly-retired father had agreed to drive me to Maine, and I had been encouraging him to attempt the hike up Katahdin with me for the past year. He had been doing some hiking and was going to give it a try. We were scheduled to leave first thing in the morning on July 7th. I was up until midnight going over my gear and re-checking everything, then I got up at 3AM and started doing it all again. I’d never lived out of a backpack before, so the thought of forgetting something was very stressful to me. I was excited, but starting to get pretty nervous. This was really happening.

My dad and I left home in Pennsylvania mid-morning on July 7th and headed north. I was watching for where we would cross the AT in New York, but didn’t see it when we crossed. I believe it was an unmarked overpass. We continued on an entered Maine before sunset. We stayed the night at a hotel in Portland, where they did actually ask us to sign a form saying we had a negative Covid test in the last 72 hours, so I was glad that we both had actually been tested. I got some Indian food, figuring that’s something I wouldn’t see much on the trail, and my dad ordered some Olive Garden for dinner.

The following morning, June 8th, we stopped at a grocery store to get a few food items for camping, I practiced unpacking and re-packing my backpack again, and we hit the road for Baxter state park. As we traveled north, the cloud cover became thicker and we began to encounter some light rain. We stopped at a Maine visitor’s center which had a model of Katahdin on display. This was probably the first time my dad got to see what the mountain looked like. My dad was considering hanging around Maine for awhile after I departed, so he gathered some information on local attractions.

We stopped in Millinocket, the last town before entering Baxter State Park. This was the last place I anticipated having cell service for 10-12 days, so we called home and I sent out a few final text messages. The rain eased up as we entered Baxter State Park through the Togue Pond Gatehouse. Unfortunately the low cloud-cover kept Mount Katahdin obscured, but we did look around some of the beautiful lakes on our way to Katahdin Stream Campground. I learned very quickly that it was still prime mosquito and fly season in Maine and was swarmed as soon as I got out of the truck.

It was an 8 mile drive up the Park Tote Road, which is dirt, to the Katahdin Stream Campground. My reservation was for Shelter #2, a walk-in site. We parked and walked the trail in past the shelter to the Ranger Station to register. I had reserved two nights so that we would camp in the same spot after summiting Katahdin the next day. I love that in Baxter State Park they have no paved roads, no electricity, and no computers. When you check-in, everything is done manually in logbooks and via radio, if necessary. Dad and I checked in at the ranger station and informed the ranger about our plans to hike Mount Katahdin the next day. The ranger educated us that it would be wise to plan for at least 4 hours to summit and 4 hours to descend back in to camp, to carry plenty of water, and to pack light for the ascent. I was a little wary of telling the ranger about my plans to head south on the AT as a thru-hiker, given that the ATC was still requesting that hikers stay off the trail. But when he asked if we had any additional plans, I decided to tell him. He was remarkably cool about it, and gave me an additional ticket which I was to deposit into a collection box when I had hiked out of the park safely.

The ranger also informed me that there were several river crossings in the 100 mile wilderness, and asked me what my plans were to cross them if the water was high. I guess I hadn’t prepared for this, and my best guess was to find an alternative place to cross or to wait until the water went down. The ranger told me that the trail was already routed to cross rivers at the best location, and that there were unofficial, un-guaranteed ropes which previous hikers had strung across the crossings. He told me that it was unsafe to use these ropes to for support when crossing high-water, but that I should fasten my backpack to the rope, and then pull it across as I waded through the water. That way, if I fell, my backpack wouldn’t pull me down or be washed away. I’m not a big fan of water and I’m not a good swimmer, so I just crossed my fingers and hoped this wouldn’t be an issue.

I made some instant mashed potatoes for dinner and gathered some water to filter from the crystal clear Katahdin Stream. The evening remained rain-free, but clouds continued to obscure Mount Katahdin from view. We explored the Katahdin Stream campground area that evening, locating the Hunt Trail trailhead. The Hunt Trail is also the Appalachian Trail, extending from Katahdin Stream Campground to Baxter Peak. I had hopes of reaching the summit shortly after sunrise, meaning we would have to set off by flashlight around 3AM. I wanted to make sure I knew where to go so I wouldn’t be wandering around in the middle of the night. After filtering water and packing for the next day’s hike, we went to bed at dusk, hoping the biting flies would allow us to get some sleep before our early morning wake up. The next morning I was about to set off up Katahdin and begin my AT thru-hike attempt. ◾️

Day 1: Katahdin

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