Mt Katahdin was highpoint #8 of 8 and the crown jewel of our 2014 Northeast trip. Susan did the first 7 with me and my good friend and climbing partner Rick Overholt joined me for Katahdin.
This was a fantastic climb and you will find the resources for it here:
Mt Katahdin Trip Report
Mt Katahdin Gallery
Mt Katahdin Blog Posts
You will find, status, photo galleries and trip reports for all of my adventures on the Highpoints Page.
As is our usual plan, we don’t book the hotel for the return leg in case we need an extra day to complete the climb in which case we would drive directly to the airport.
We completed the climb and are back in Bangor now. Problem is, being that this area is in high color now, all of the hotels are booked.
We finally managed to find a single room an hour from Bangor and are driving there now.
“Mission accomplished! Got back to camp an hour ago, grilling some fillets now. Last part of the hike was beautiful in its fall splendor. Good day to be alive”
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“Warmer now, feels nice & down to 2 layers but melting ice above has turned ravine trail into an active stream. Very steep and slippery here. Rain is coming”
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“Taking a break on the leeward side of ridge. Fog lifted revealing breathtaking views of rocky but colorful valleys filled with trees and lakes. Praise God!”
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“Made summit! 27 deg, windy, foggy w low visibility so no valley pics this trip. Surrounded by a wasteland of rhyme ice covered boulders, knife not likely.”
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“Just made ridge, very windy est 35MPH and icy. Will be slow going. Have 4 layers of technical clothing on and still cold. Brrrrrrr! Heading for the summit”
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“Cathedral also iced over, taking Saddle route instead. Will take our time and hopefully Knife will open later.”
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“Crisis averted, tent to tent begging turned up some fuel, & we had a hot meal. Sleeting earlier and its below freezing now. Sleeping in a 3 sided lean-to”
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“Just got to camp and realized we have no stove fuel which puts a kink in our meal plan. Last hour was in dark over a very wet rocky trail w many water Xings”
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“Now leaving the trailhead for Chimney Pond where we will camp tonight. The forest is amazing w brilliant color. Feel very blessed to be here at this time.”
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“Now leaving the trailhead for Chimney Pond where we will camp tonight. The forest is amazing w brilliant color. Feel very blessed to be here at this time.”
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The crown jewel of our Northeast Trip is Mt Katahdin, and it starts now!
Rick and I are driving into Baxter State Park now through amazing color (best so far) and lost cell coverage a while back. We stopped at the North Woods Trading Post for some WiFi and other supplies. This will be my last direct post until we get back to civilization. All other posts will be via the satellite beacon. Tracking is already active via the Track link.
We plan to hike in and camp at the base of the mountain tonight at Chimney Pond (Thursday) night and start he climb Friday morning taking the knife edge weather permitting. Park ranger said the Knife Edge route may be iced over making the smooth rocks impassable, so we will have to play it by ear.
Here is some information about the Knife Edge Trail from the park services website:
This route is completely exposed and several people have died or have been seriously injured while attempting a traverse in inclement weather and/or high winds. Hiking Knife Edge is not recommended due to its difficulty and the amount of time it adds.
Sounds perfect to me!
It has been a whirlwind trip with lots of hotels and driving, but highpoints number 1-7 of our Northeast 8 State Highpoints in 17 Days Trip are in the bag leaving only Katahdin, the highest mountain in Maine and a physically demanding climb.
Susan and leave for the Northeastern part of America tomorrow and we plan to nail 8 state highpoints in 17 days while taking in the fall colors this area is famous for. Most of the highpoints in this part of the country are fairly easy, but it is a very ambitious travel schedule. I’m actually surprised that Susan agreed to it at all as she generally prefers a more leisurely pace, while I like to get things done. At any rate, we’ve been married 21 years and hopefully still will be when we get back.
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