September 1. BIG K
My take on the day: 🎼 I’m on top 🎶 of the world, hey🎶🎼. That’s what I was singing to myself on the way up and while on top. What an amazing day!!!!! The weather could not have been nicer. It was low 60’s and windy to start which made it a cool climb. The wind died down once we were on the summit and it was in the 70’s with with the sun shining. I commented to someone that we couldn’t have asked for a better day, and he replied, “Well we could, but we wouldn’t get it.” I think he was right, there was no such thing as a better day.

We were up at 4 am and out the door by 4:45 am. We drove to the gate and were 4th in line at 5:30 am. The gate opened at 6 am and we drove to the Katahdin Stream Campground parking area and were hiking up by 6:30 am. The trail ran along the stream for a little ways and then meandered up to a few boulders. Over those and then it was time to put away the trekking poles and do some “all-fours” climbing. You had to scout out the white blazes, but you basically just had to find the hardest way up and there they’d be. What fun, though. It was boulder and slab scrambling for quite a ways. There were a few rebar holds here and there for a little support. When we thought we were close to the summit (because visually it didn’t look like we could go any higher), we had reached what’s called the Tableland which is a pretty flat walk across the backside of what looked like the summit. We walked for about 1.2 miles across and then climbed another .4 to the summit. I had to touch the wooden sign when I arrived. Like someone on top said, “It never felt so good to touch a piece of wood”, and I agreed. Happy Day!!! I’ve waited six years to get to the top of Katahdin. What a beautiful mountain. I really did feel like I was on top of the world. Looking down was spectacular. The tree tops were tiny. Maine has ponds and rivers all over the place, so you could see water for miles and miles. The people coming up were tiny. The people on top were glowing with joy and relief. Everyone congratulated one another. We spent an hour on the summit talking to other hikers and enjoying the views (and, of course, a snack too). I actually got a little emotional after we had taken pictures and had sat down. As I’ve said before, I have no idea why this is so important to me and I have no idea why it would be emotional for me, but it is and it was.

It had taken us exactly 3 hrs. and 22 minutes to get up and we knew we would probably be slower going down, so after our hour of glory, we began our descent. I kept thinking to myself that I must have been half asleep going up because I didn’t remember that much uphill, but obviously it was ALL uphill except the Tableland and much of it was boulder climbing, so we used “all-fours” much of the way down too. It was a nice hike all the way around. We arrived back at the parking lot safe and sound in exactly 3 hrs. and 29 mins. from the summit.

On the way down, Pain Wizard was right behind us. He thru-hiked and had just finished. His wife was to pick him up at the Visitors Center about 9 miles down the road. She was driving an RV and they have a dog. Dogs aren’t allowed in Baxter State Park and the rule is only vehicles 22′ or smaller can get in. Their RV is 23′ so she couldn’t drive in. He was going to hitchhike to the Visitors Center, so we gave him a ride. I had met him back in Monson. He is in his 70’s and had 2 broken toes. People amaze me.

So here we are driving to Portland for the night so I can get Danny to the airport in the morning and get back to Millinocket to finish up my 2 days in the 100-mile wilderness and then get back to Stratton for my last day. I’m saving a 16.7 mile hike over the Bigelows as my last day.

There are 46.1 miles left to hike. Whaaaat???? That’s all???? Three days and counting!!

*****Quest Entry: Danny’s take on the day or whatever: To be posted tomorrow.