Katahdin Stream Campground 2189.1 to Baxter Peak, Katahdin 2194.3 (5.2miles, 1,168.9 total miles)
I heard Ashley and Jordan packing up their camp and hiking out before 5AM, but I wasn’t awake enough to say bye. I rolled over and went back to sleep till around 5:30, when I started to get my day going.
I could see beautiful bright orange from the sun rising through the trees, with the rest of the campground quite silent till a little after 6.
I was at the last campsite right next to where the AT enters the forest again, and the first thru hiker I saw was Leg, followed by Squirrel and her hiking companion. I greeted everyone and asked if they were excited to finish, which they seemed to be.
I saw several day hikers enter the woods as well, as I was packing up and eating a rehydrated egg scramble meal. At 6:30, I parked the SUV Jordan had brought to the day use parking area, and walked back to the campsite, completing where I’d left off the day before.
I hadn’t seen any sign of Sunshine and the crew, and didn’t want to wait too long to catch up to Ashley and Jordan, so I hiked out at 6:50, after standing in the empty campsite, having a very emotional moment thinking of what I was about to do.
Just past where the trail reentered the forest, I saw a registration sign in spot, which I’d seen a few of through Baxter State Park since the day before.
I tried to put my poles down, and they immediately fell over. Then I saw a group of five hikers that I knew arrive, including Clean Machine, and Wic, a woman who’d I’d first met on Greylock.
As I was turning to greet them, I managed to knock the clipboard with the registration over and hit myself right on the bridge of my nose with it, which stung a little.
All I could do was laugh, and comment how the day was already off to a great start. I signed in, and wished everyone good luck before taking off.
The trail started nice and flat for a bit, then started a normal incline, that gradually got more rocky as I went along. A little over a mile in, I took a short side trail to Katahdin Stream Falls, which was one of the best waterfalls I’d seen so far on trail, and very worth the side trip.
I made great time the first couple miles, and got to O Joy Brook without seeing Ashley and Jordan. I knew they didn’t have a water filter, and only were carrying a couple liters, so I filled up two liters for us all, and continued on.
The trail was suddenly covered in very large boulders, and stared to become quite technical. There was a lot of climbing, and I leapfrogged with a young male day hiker a couple times. Eventually, I stopped to let him pull ahead because I wanted some space, and to put my trekking poles away.
Less than a mile later, I reached tree line, and caught back up to the day hiker at a piece of rebar that necessitated pulling my entire weight up a sheer rock face with my arms. There were a couple small pieces of rebar right after that as well.
There was a magnificent view behind me of the northern Maine woods and the Whitecap range, which I stopped to take in once or twice. The sun was just rising over the mountain, shining directly down into my eyes, so I donned my sunglasses and squinted to follow the blazes.
I got turned around for a moment, when the white blazes seemed to be leading me down the mountain, which made no sense. The GPS in Far Out was acting up as well, so it took a few minutes to get back on track.
In the meantime, the day hiker had passed me again, and I pulled up behind him. This time we started talking as we climbed, and he told me he was from Canada, and it was also his first time on the mountain.
I told him a little about my hike, until I heard a shout from above, and saw Ashley and Jordan on trail 15 feet above me. I was once more very relieved to see them, as I’d been a little worried with how technical the trail had become.
Ashley told me they’d stopped several times, and at the first rebar spot she’d realized her fear of heights was more intense than she knew. I told them I took for granted how used to climbing and being above tree line I’d become, and was sorry I hadn’t had time to prepare them better.
We climbed for a few minutes, but when we were close to 4,000 feet in elevation, Jordan said he was feeling a little strange, so we found a place by the trail to sit.
It was very windy and sunny, though there were some clouds overhead. The peak wasn’t socked in, but I was watching it closely, because I’d dearly wanted to summit in the sunshine.
Jordan had not hiked much before, and never above 1,200 feet, so I knew he could be having a little altitude sickness and overexposure from being above tree line.
I gave him my packet of Propel to drink, a mozzerella cheese stick, and some fruit snacks. Elevation can shut down the hunger signals in the body, but I’d learned electrolytes, protein, fat, and sugar could do a world of good in situations like these.
We sat on the side of the trail for about an hour, saying hi to the hikers that passed, which were mostly day hikers, but also included Sherbet, Shaggy, Clean Machine, and Wic.
I was wondering where Sunshine and the crew were, wanting to be at the summit together, and was very happy when I saw Cap’n Crunch practically running up the mountain. He told me the rest were about 10 minutes behind.
Jordan had decided he wanted to hike back down the mountain, which we assured him was totally okay, because it was more important to be safe at that point. He’d already accomplished a huge day of hiking.
We were .3 from The Gateway, the end of the technical climbing and the beginning of a flatter, rocky walk on the Tablelands. After Crunch hiked by, I wanted to get moving, since I knew the others were not far off, and my body needed to get warmed up again.
Jordan looked up the mountain, seemed to reconsider a couple times, and decided since he was already there, he might as well get to the flat part and see how he felt.
The three of us hiked together up the rest of the nearly vertical climb, taking our time to get up there safely. At the Gateway, I saw the most welcome flat section of trail, leading up to a much easier climb to the summit.
It reminded me exactly of hiking in the White Mountains, but actually flat, and it was an unexpected surprise how easy the trail got from there.
We could see in the distance a cluster of people at the top, and the summit was finally within our reach. I made sure Jordan and Ashley were drinking lots of water, and filtered my second liter for us, then collected another liter when we found water running down the trail.
Partway through the flat section, we heard a shout and saw Sunshine a hundred yards back, as always recognizable by her bright yellow headband and colorful shirt.
I yelled back, and we ran to each other on the trail, meeting with the biggest hug. I was so happy to see her before the top, and the four of us started hiking forward again, anticipation building with every step.
When the trail began ascending to the top, Ashley and Jordan needed to stop for a minute, and Sunshine hiked ahead, not wanting to lose momentum, though she said she’d go slow.
She seemed far in the distance when we started hiking again, and though I was going my hardest up the mountain, I could see she was going at full speed as well.
I knew Sunshine was having a moment, and I started running up the mountain, half panting, half crying because this was everything she’d been working toward this whole time.
I knew I wasn’t going to catch her, but it didn’t matter if we summited at the same moment. This was the end of her hike, and I’d wanted this so badly for her.
I stopped and watched as Sunshine ran up to the sign and hugged it, crying tears of joy for what she’d done and being able to actually be present and see her complete her hike.
I hurried up to the summit, the moment hitting me harder than I could have believed that I was actually going to see the sign in real life, the one I’d seen in what felt like hundreds of pictures of those I knew and didn’t know posing victoriously on top of this incredible mountain.
I got there, feeling how surreal everything was in that moment. The summit was covered in people and, looking at the sign, I really tried to take it all in. Crunch, Sherbet, Shaggy, Wic, and Clean Machine were already there, as well as a bevy of day hikers, though there wasn’t a big line for the sign like at Washington.
Ashley and Jordan were right behind me, and I climbed up the back of the sign, which was much higher than I had expected. My knees ached, but I posed for a couple photos that Sunshine took for me before climbing back down.
I didn’t like the initial photos, but knew we’d be up there for a while and would have plenty of time to redo them. We cycled between taking pictures of us, eating snacks, and helping other groups get their pictures taken.
We saw the crew coming up over a rise, and cheered them on as they made their way up to the summit. It was Honeybadger’s second time up and Wicked and Einstein’s first, so that was also an emotional moment for everyone.
Only a few minutes after, Papa Sunshine appeared, and Sunshine ran down the trail toward him, where they hugged, and walked together back up to the summit.
Collin the ranger had told me that thru hikers typically take 6-7 hours to make the round trip up and down Katahdin, and day hikers take 10-12, but Papa Sunshine had managed to make it up in just 4 hours, wearing jean shorts. We joked his new trail name should be Papa Jorts.
We all spent some time soaking in the moment, taking better pictures, and feeling the emotions. Wic and Clean Machine’s hiking partners arrived up top as well, and that also brought tears to my eyes.
I checked out knife’s edge, which I’d been thinking about traversing, but it looked like more work than it was worth, and I didn’t want to do it alone and have people waiting on me.
Eventually we hiked out just before 1:00, where we took the AT/Hunt Trail to the Abol Trail junction. We’d heard from a few people that most hikers take the Abol Slide down, to avoid waiting on the people climbing up Hunt.
Abol is a more direct route down the mountain at 4.4 miles vs the 5.2 up Hunt. However, when we started descending down the mountain, we all started to feel the adrenaline fade and the body aches ramp up on the even steeper descent than our initial ascent.
My knees were swollen and painful, and I’d made the mistake of taking my trekking poles out, which only got in the way as we were now doing technical climbing again, but this time down the mountain.
Jordan got his second and third wind back, though, definitely a downhill hiker, and was making his way down the mountain with ease.
We did have gorgeous views below us of the plethora of lakes around Katahdin, as the day got more cloudy overhead. I’d been grateful for the clouds all day, in fact, because they were protecting us a bit from the sun.
I found it really cool that we had summited and hiked with such a diverse group of people, including a couple prior NOBOs, a LASHer, a few day hikers, and me as a flip flopper.
We slogged our way down the mountain, all rather quiet and in our own heads for the most part. We stopped rarely, everyone just completely exhausted and wanting to be done hiking for the day.
It was a fatigue I hadn’t expected, but probably should have. Between the 100 Mile Wilderness and Katahdin, all the logistics, the rain, and the emotions, I wondered if all thru hikers felt this way finishing their hike or part of their hike on this mountain.
It felt like the hardest descent I’d ever done, though hiking up Katahdin had felt easy in comparison with how excited I’d been to get there.
I knew I needed food, water, and electrolytes, but I pushed myself to just keep going, eating a pack of sour patch kids when the trail finally stopped being a climb down and turned back into a hike.
I also ate a cold hot dog from the pack that Jordan had brought with him. It certainly tasted like a cold hot dog, but it was something. I was running on fumes, but told myself it was all mental and my mind was stronger than my body.
It was a blessing to get back under tree line after so much exposure to the sun and wind. By the time the trail flattened out toward the end, it was just Ashley, Jordan, and I together, with the others ahead or behind.
The trail brought us to Abol Campground, where I made a beeline for the privy. Einstein, Wicked, and Honeybadger were already there, though they hiked out after a couple minutes, needing to grab a shuttle back to Shaw’s at 4.
Sunshine arrived a few minutes after us, and Papa Jorts was 20 minutes back. When he got there, we all spent a while resting our weary bodies, sitting on the ground or rocks just after the trail.
Papa Jorts drove Ashley and Jordan to their car at Katahdin Stream, and we all headed to a restaurant in Millinocket, the Loose Moose, for a celebratory meal.
Papa Jorts was incredibly generous to treat us all to apps, entrees, and drinks, and when we were done eating, we all started to crash hard.
We said our goodbyes to Ashley and Jordan, and I was sad to see them go. I was so happy they’d hiked Katahdin with me, and would miss being near them, since I’d be down south for a while after this.
We spent what felt like four hours in Papa Jort’s Wrangler, as the GPS led us down both a closed closed logging road and a dead end street at different intervals.
Finally, we arrived at Shaw’s, where we were all spending the evening. We got in very late, and Einstein showed us where the private room for Papa Jorts was, and to the yurt that Sunshine, Cap’n Crunch, and I were staying in.
I took a shower, put on some town clothes for bed, and set up my air mattress and quilt on the floor of the yurt. I couldn’t wait to sleep in my own bed the next day.
I’d been intending on trying to get home the same day as Katahdin, but decided I wanted to spend a little more time with my trail family, and not worry about how to get home after such a big day. Getting back to Shaw’s had been hard enough.
It was still a little up in the air how I was getting home, but I had a couple possible options. By the end of the evening, we were all exhausted and a little irritable.
It was hitting me in waves that I’d just finished the first half of my hike, and that I wouldn’t be seeing the same people regularly anymore after this.
I also was feeling rather sad about the fact that Catchup hadn’t been there with us, like we’d all planned. I wondered if he was happy with the choice he’d made, and if he got to experience everything he wanted in the 100 Mile Wilderness.
Either way, it was an amazing accomplishment for all of us today, and I had been truly blessed in so many ways during the hike from Harpers Ferry to Katahdin.
In 2015, at the end of my thru hike attempt/eventual section hiking, I’d had the option to hike Katahdin, but I didn’t take it.
Part of it was I didn’t feel strong enough to make it up the mountain, which was probably smart given that it was much harder than I’d anticipated. I handled it fine now, but back then I don’t know that I could have done it, because I just wasn’t in the right place.
The true reason was that I decided I only wanted to hike Katahdin on my actual thru hike. I knew even in 2015 that I was going to try it again for real.
I didn’t envision myself trying a flip flop a second time, but I’d finally learned recently on the trail that things rarely went the way I expected them to go, and I needed to learn to adapt my reactions, so I could handle it better when they didn’t.
It wasn’t what happened that was throwing me off, it was my own expectations and reactions that were causing me much more strife than was necessary to live with. If I could have grace in stressful situations and expect the unexpected, my life could become a lot smoother on the whole.
I was glad that I had made the decision not to hike Katahdin before, because it was much more special to being doing it now, on my thru hike, and I would have made the same decision again if given the choice.
It was special to me that I’d gotten to be part of the very end of so many NOBO’s thru hikes. Seeing them in that moment was something I’d never forget.
Plus I’d gotten my dearly held wish of getting to summit with a group of people I cared about. Shrek had been right when she told me she had a feeling I’d summit with cool people that I didn’t even know yet. The speed with which such strong bonds can be formed on the trail is a unique experience all on its own.
I knew I wouldn’t get that Katahdin finish when I wrapped up my hike down south, and I was okay with that, but that is why I wanted my northern half to end in this way. It was everything I wanted and more.
I got to summit with Sunshine, who’d I’d essentially traveled from Moosilauke in New Hampshire to Katahdin in Maine with. I got to summit with Ashley, one of my oldest and dearest friends, plus her fiancé Jordan.
I got to summit with an amazing trail family Sunshine and I had just joined as well, full of heart and spunk, and had even gotten to see Nude Beach finish his second thru hike of the Triple Crown, plus see several other NOBOs in their moment of victory.
It was emotional, exhausting, heart wrenching, difficult, exhilarating, and one of the most meaningful things I’ve ever done in my life.
It wasn’t the same summit a NOBO would have, but it was still an amazing halfway finish, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. All the despair I felt when I thought I’d be summiting alone was nothing compared to the joy I felt for the summit I’d had.
I’d be taking the next five days off from hiking and writing, though I would be publishing the posts I’d written in the 100 Mile Wilderness that I hadn’t had service to put up.
I’d also be spending a little time in CT, a little time in PA, and making my way back on trail in Harpers Ferry on August 28th, the exact day I’d wanted to have my second half start from the beginning.
August 28th, 2022 would be the two year anniversary of Frankie’s passing. Since this hike was dedicated to his memory and processing that loss, and he’d spent a lot of time in Virginia with Pockets and I in 2016, starting the southern portion of my hike that day had been my ideal outcome.
I guess sometimes plans did work out, but maybe I’d learn to hold the details with a looser grasp, and concentrate more on the big picture when I could.
I was excited to see what other lessons and experiences the southern half of my hike held for me, and more than ready to take a nice long break to rest my mind and body before the final part of my journey.