Day 9 - White Cap Mountain

Just summited. Only reception I'll have for a while. Unfortunately lots of cloud so nothing to see.
Want to write more content but it takes forever to type on my phone. Loads of notes. Now I know howRead more
Just summited. Only reception I'll have for a while. Unfortunately lots of cloud so nothing to see.
Want to write more content but it takes forever to type on my phone. Loads of notes. Now I know how George Martin feels.
All is well. The other hikers are very amusing.Read more
Heading out today from Shaw's at Monson. Just had bacon and egg croissant from the servo (gas station).
Really enjoyed the yurt style accommodation, it is just like a regular room.
Pack is now significantly lighter. Threw out a bunch of stuff and replaced some gear from Shaw's store. Am excited at the prospect of this increasing my kms (miles) per day and make ascending mountains easier.
Also purchased some Clif bars and a variety of packages meals/noodles. Going to test them out and see which ones work best for me.Read more
Traveler Are you asking me if I want to lift heavy things? Because I do, as a general rule.
Traveler You would love these hostels, Buckman. There is a real community feel. Lots of strangers coming together, casually hanging out and chatting, talking about gear, fording rivers, trail food, etc.
Ka-Tah-Din, Kat-Har-Din, Ka-Tard-Din... Getting the pronunciation the same as the locals on this one is taking a while. Strange, since at a glance the word appears uncomplicated.
Anyway, where was I? Ah yes...
I awoke several hours later at the Katahdin Inn & Suites, located in the inauspicious building in the photos. To build on the theme, it is located behind a dollar store. But it was the first hotel I saw that had a 24 hour front desk and decent reviews, so there I went. It has a giant indoor area that is currently being renovated. Being inside, they hope to have the pool fully operational so as to attract the winter tourists who come here for snowmobiling and such. Breakfast provided and was decent, I added an orange as I expect a dearth of fresh fruit and veg over the next 6 months. Also there is scurvy to consider. The sign on the coffee machine gave me a good chuckle.
Set out after breaky with Maine Quest Adventures driven by Braint to Mt Katahdin in Baxter State Park. Don't know how long the drive was, felt about 45 minutes. Had many long convos about hiking, life in Maine, the hunting of bears, the pronunciation of Katahdin, and his company (which sounds like a perfect lifestyle occupation).
(The way the Northern trailhead works is this. The trailhead is at the top of a mountain only accessible by hiking. You start at the bottom, already on the AT, and walk to the top. Once at the summit you reach the trailhead and "officially" start your hike. You then move along the AT, down the same path you just came up and camp at the bottom. When you start you can leave your pack at the ranger station and just take a day bag that they lend you. Then return the bag and collect your pack when you get back. Relevant later.)
After a bit of confusion at the gate (couldn't find my name as I'd booked the campsite last minute), we arrived at Katahdin Stream Campground. I was a bit anxious as there are several things that need to happen to make the climb and I was getting increasingly concerned that something would go wrong and I wouldn't be able to climb that day.
You need:
1) a campsite booking
2) a permit to climb the mountain
3) to start the climb before the cut-off time
4) a day pack
I had #1. But when I showed up, the ranger was not at the station. Briant said he would often be gone for hours. After searching around for a bit I did find the stash of day bags, solving problem #4. It was 10am, I didn't know what the cut-off time was and was worried it had past. Also no permit.
Considering my options, I decided it was one of those times that ignorance is more powerful than knowledge. If I didn't know what the cut-off time was, then I couldn't knowingly leave after it had past.
Having had this thought, a plan began to form in my mind. The ranger could potentially deny my climb due to the time cut-off or no more permits for climbers that day. So I decided, like, ehh, I'll just..... climb the mountain regardless of all that.
Frantically I shoved what I needed into the day pack and took off up the mountain. My head on a swivel looking out for the ranger. The Man wasn't going to keep me down today!
Permitless, I proceeded up the mountain. Everything I'd read said Mt Katahdin was no joke, a difficult and technical climb. The first half is easy enough, just forest track that that gets increasingly steep.
Once past the treeline, the difficulty increases. There is a field of huge boulders, large as houses. You need to rock climb from one to another. A lot of scraping, shuffling and hanging on tight, slowly moving along tight rock ledges while being exposed to the wind and steep drops. Some places are impassable, so a few metal rods have been driven into the rock to act as handholds. At one place two large boulders met, you have to shimmy up between them by bracing your hands and feet on either side and crab climb.
All that I found manageable but what took it out of my was the sheer amount of verticality. We just don't have these mountains in Australia.
After a lot, I mean a lot of climbing, I arrived at the near top. There it flattens and there is actually a fair bit of easy horizontal hiking, followed by a small hill to the summit. Success!
After all this time, I had finally started my AT hike. But first, there is a tradition to observe. At either end of the trail there is a large pile of rocks. Thru-hikers traditionally select one of these rocks and carry it with them. Once completing the trail they place it on the other pile. Thus these rocks get carried back and forth along the trail by various hikers over the years. I selected my rock, and in a bold stroke of unoriginality I named it Wilson.
The rest of the day was uneventful. Wilson and I proceeded back down the way I came. I returned my day bag and reclaimed my pack (still no ranger around). Made camp for the night with my brand new tent, and prepared for tomorrow - the first day of proper AT hiking!Read more
Seit meinem AT Thru Hike Attempt in 2022 träume ich auf Katahdin zu stehen. Am Freitag war es endlich soweit! Jochen und ich waren gegen 8:10 Uhr auf dem Baxter Peak.
Die letzten Tage waren ziemlich stressig, weshalb ich keine Beiträge veröffentlichen konnte. Dies werde ich die kommenden Tage nachholen und jede Menge schöne Bilder posten. Versprochen!
Jetzt geht’s erst mal nach Hause und dann sehe ich weiter.Read more
I've got some time now to update days I've skipped so far (day 10 at the time of writing)
Started our at Katahdin Stream Campground. Was in a bit of rush to get moving as I didn't want to encounter the ranger and have awkward questions asked about my permitless ascent yesterday. This was the first night I've slept in my new tent, it went pretty well.
Exiting the camping area, I signed the trail register, writing the month first and then the day (winces). Interestingly, there is another south-bounder that headed out just 2 hours previously. Must see if I can catch up with her. (Spoilers: I do not)
First thing I noticed setting out is my pack is waaaaay too heavy. Like, every single step my brain is trying to think of what to jettison. The first thing is my water. I'm used to hiking in Aus where the water sources are few and far between, so I'd set out with my usual 4 litres. But Maine is full of rivers and lakes, I don't need so much. So I poured out 3 litres. That helped the weight situation but more will need to done.
I hiked along and had almost exited Baxter State Park when I met a ranger. We chatted for a bit, he used to be a hiker and had been given the trail name Donald Duck (you will be hearing a lot about trail names). I was telling Donald my plans and what I'd done so far. He asked if I'd climbed with a permit, I said, like yeah, I mean, yeah, I totally signed something before the ascent. He wasn't buying it though, and I was thinking great, here I'm going to be fined just as I'm setting off. But he just had me fill out a permit application and said he'd take care of it. Good guy.
I stayed the night in Abol Bridge Campground and Store. In a little shed with some bunks in it. They have showers here so that was fantastic. A lot of people in campers with there American flags all out. I was told that you could get reception about a mile down the road, but I walked down there and couldn't get anything.
I bought a tin of ravioli, a jar of peanut butter, and a tube of Pringles to supplement my dinner. Pics of the area tomorrow as apparently that's when I took the photos.
Starting out: Katahdin Stream Campground
Staying tonight: Abol Bridge Campground and StoreRead more
Started out from Abol Bridge Campground and Store. A great little place with plenty of hiker supplies available.
Tried to figure out the coins. They are not distinctive sizes like Australian ones, nor do they prominently display how much each one is worth. The dime does not even say how much it is worth other than a dime - like, ok, so much is that???? (10 cents according to the shop keeper).
Crossed paths with a northbound hiker named Tadpole, named as such because he used to be a competitive swimmer. We had the same sense of humour and were soon having a laugh over some nonsense. He asked if I had a trail name yet, and it was in the flow of laughing over silly things that he said "how about Kiwi? That will confuse people." We both thought this would be the funniest thing. And so I have my trail name.
Staying the night at Rainbow Stream Lean-to.Read more
We got up at 3 AM as planned and went directly on the trail. And the Appalachian Trail was just like always rocky, rooty and with lots of puddles. Just a usual hike except that it were our last miles before finishing. Before 7 we got to a small shop to have a quick breakfast and resupply on sweets for the summit. As we were about to hike on we talked to a group of hikers that we partly knew. One said at a point that we look familiar and I also recognized him but couldn't put the finger on it. It was "Hot legs", an ultralighter the we saw the last time in Neels Gap. He was pushing already more than 20 miles right from the start and the first time we met him he said "Make miles, not smiles". This got stuck in my head for the whole trail. Julia and I just talked about him a week ago and it was really nice seeing him again. He basically went two months off trail and now flipped up to Kathadin.
We kept it short and moved on to the Ranger Station at the bottom of Mt Kathadin. There we needed to register ourselves to be allowed to go up. But actually nobody really cared for it, we still got it because it's free and looks fancy :D Then we packed everything we needed for the summit in another backpack and left ours back.
Then it was time to go up that beast of a mountain. It's the highest elevation change on the whole trail. It begins with a gentle hike along Kathadin stream, then it turns to a steeper uphill in the woods. The last bit is just pure rock climbing right on the edge of a boulder field. You're basically crawling up the rock walls for an hour and a half. The last stretch is called "the tablelands" and pretty flat again. It took us way longer than expected and we were glad when we were up there. The sun was shining directly at us for some time but luckily some day hikers provided us with sunscreen.
And at some point we just arrived at the summit. Nothing spectacular, just a wooden sign. That's it! We're done, no more white blazes to follow. There are a lot of mixed emotions about it. It will take some time to realize that we're done and until our bodies are recovered. But we're mostly now happy that it's over. Especially the last weeks have been tough on us and our bodies crave the regeneration.
After we hiked down, we got a ride back to the Ranger Station and the offer for a place to pitch our tent. But we wanted to go to Millinocket for the night so we tried to hitchhike even tough it was already pretty late. There were no cars for about half an hour so we were about to go back and take the offer when a car pulled over. The parents of a thru hiker named "Sprinkles" are in the area to support her on finishing the Appalachian Trail. They were excited to take us with them to Millinocket where they stayed. We even got some snacks and water!!
We got us two bunkbeds in the local hostel, enjoyed a long hot shower and then made some pasta sides from the hiker box. Then we went to bed and fell asleep after a crazy long day.Read more
First thing we had to do is to ford the Piscataquis River. But we took it slowly and had our breakfast in the tent because it was still raining. That was actually the first time on the whole trail that we did this... And it was pretty uncomfortable but still better than sitting in the rain ;)
So afterwards we put on our crocs and walked the few meters from the campsite to the river. Because of the rain in the last few days its level was higher than usual so we had to ford it. There was additionally a rope to support the crossing and the water barely reached our knees. Everything went fine and we were able to make good miles on a flat terrain. The next river fording was easier and we reached Monson shortly after noon.
There we went to the "John Baptist Mission" which we thought is a church. But it's a private house, owned by an older woman named Bett. She participates in the church and her mother and grandmother teached her to always have an open door for everyone. We first took a shower and then did laundry, afterwards we headed out to town.
Our first stop was the local Appalachian Trail Information Center where we planned our visit to the Baxter State and summiting Kathadin. Then we went to a gas station, Pete's Place (a bakery) and the general store for resupply. Back at the mission "Sunny" showed us the sauna and Bett told us that she will cook dinner. The rest of the afternoon we rested and watched a bit TV.
The dinner was excellent... Steaks, potatoes, salad, a vegetable mix and peas. We both ate a huge portion and then relaxed for another hour or two before going to bed.Read more
After a slow morning hike it got better in the afternoon. But we still couldn't make up the missed miles from me morning. Right in the morning we got some trail magic from fellow hikers who heard that we were almost out of sweets. So they gave us a whole bag of M&Ms but as usually they didn't last very long. The hike was pretty scenic throughout most of the day with nice ponds, waterfalls and streams.
It was definitely easier hiking there instead of just root scrambling for the whole day. Anyway we didn't have time to fully enjoy all of the views. Finishing the hike is our first priority now, even though people told us that it is very important to fully enjoy the last part of the journey. Good thing we stopped listening to "people", because "hike your own hike" :)
This way we ended up at the "Rainbow Ledges" for a stunning sunset within colorful trees. We had it all for our own with just the sound of the birds. It was a magnificent moment and we kept going a bit further to a tent spot right on a granite area. It was a bit difficult setting up the tent there because it had just a mossy ground. Not too much of a problem for Julia :)
As I said we're ready to be done and therefore we set the alarm to 3 AM to make it to the Baxter State Park and up Mount Kathadin. For dinner we had a speciality, instead of mashed potatoes, the expensive restaurant-quality potato soup. And as a treat for the good day and for finishing tomorrow, a big Snickers bar for each of us.Read more
Today's height profile looked really flat so we wanted to push so we can probably summit Kathadin already on Wednesday. And it actually was a easy and fast hike for most of the day. We've already made 10 miles in the morning when we came to a gravel road crossing. It was unbelievable but halfway through the 100 mile wilderness there was trail magic!! A father was visiting his son who is hiking the trail and planning to summit at the end of the week. So he decided to do an amazing trail magic there. We were so happy as we didn't take enough snacks with us to get some sweet stuff. There was even a hiker box where previous hikers dropped food that they wouldn't need. So we were able to resupply a few things to make our life easier :)
After getting some snacks there (amongst them even beef jerky and orange juice :)) we hurried to get back on the trail. We hiked another two hours to a pond to grab lunch. There we finally met "Juan Gone", a thru hiker from Mexico that we've been told about by "Stick in the woods" back in Massachusetts!! Julia was happy to speak some proper Spanish ;) He and his tramily is taking is slowly for summiting Kathadin so they were just going a few miles further to swim at another pond.
In the afternoon we slowed down because the terrain got more rooty and uneven. After 25 miles we reached a pretty large campsite right next to a big lake.Read more
You might also know this place by the following names:
Unorganized Territory of Northeast Piscataquis
Traveler Lol GRRM! Just don’t take 15 years before the next update 😂
Traveler It will be worth it when it finally is released
Traveler Yeah, but I'll stop caring first if George's work is any indication
Traveler Ok, but why are you wearing a grey hat on white cap mountain?