BIGEarl
Well-known member
August 7, 2010: Mount Katahdin – Laps on Knife Edge
Trails: Chimney Pond Trail, Helon Taylor Trail, Knife Edge Trail
Summits: Knife Edge – back and forth, and back and forth
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
When we were thinking about our hike plans for Baxter Bash we were thinking in terms of two good hike days to meet our objectives. Three were a possibility and there were additional hike targets to shoot at. Four good days for hiking was a complete surprise. We had all of our hike targets met and one more day to hike. Sue had mentioned how much fun she thought it would be to hike laps on Knife Edge between The Chimney and South Peak. Well, that became the plan for this “bonus day”. It’s been a while since I have hiked four consecutive “hard” days and very quickly I realized it was going to be a difficult day.
The day started on the slow side with us never reaching the trail until ~9:30am. We decided to follow the Helon Taylor Trail to Pamola instead of our approach of the previous day which was Chimney Pond and Dudley trails. Sue had experience with both and felt the Helon Taylor Trail might be a little less intense.
We made our way through the early part of the climb and I was really slow to warm-up. It didn’t take long to work up a solid sweat but some of the muscles and joints were interested in taking the day off. That wasn’t an option. Sue was her usual patient self and gave me all the time I needed to make the climb, which included a couple more stops just to visit than usual and a couple snack stops, which are very unusual for the initial climb. I was throwing everything I had at me, including extra fuel. Eventually, we cleared the treeline; which is advertised as two miles from the junction with Chimney Pond Trail – note, these are Maine miles and I’m not sure how much longer a Maine mile is than a New Hampshire mile. From there, it’s only 1.3 miles to the interesting part of our day.
Sue pushed and pulled as hard as she could and eventually had me at the base of The Chimney looking up. Yesterday The Chimney was an easy climb. How much more difficult could it be on rubbery legs? We’re going to find out. I was generally out of gas but my legs are pretty strong and I knew the climb had to be done with my legs because one arm wasn’t going to do it. I started up first. The lower half is the tougher half and both Sue and I were able to again cruise up through the hard part. Very soon we were over half-way up and standing on a flat area talking when we realized there were people above us waiting to descend. Oops! Sorry. We finished the climb and caught our breath on the top. That wasn’t bad.
Now it’s a party!
Off we went on Knife Edge headed to South Peak. On the first steep drop Sue went flying past a group of three younger people and I assume their father. They were all very surprised to see the ease at which Sue charged through. Unfortunately, I also had no trouble at all and the father could only look with his mouth hanging open. As I passed by he said “I wasn’t able to get down with so much ease”. I just said – nothing to it, and kept moving. The father asked a couple more questions and I shouted to Sue to keep going. It was clear to me Sue would do at least one more lap than I would be able to complete.
Sue and I were thinking alike and she kept moving while I stopped to talk to the others. With their questions finished I was also back into Laps on Knife Edge. Roughly ¾ of the way to South Peak another group passed in the opposite direction. Sue was a couple hundred yards up ahead at that point. An older fellow in the group asked if that “good looking woman up ahead” was with me. I said she was. He said I kinda thought so since you had similar gloves. He and his group were staying at Roaring Brook and asked if I had any familiarity with Dudley versus Helon Taylor. I told him what I knew which was only from hiking each trail once, the Helon Taylor Trail today. The fellow asked when I hiked Dudley and I explained yesterday. That started the head shaking. This is fun.
Back into Laps on Knife Edge. I looked up toward South Peak and Sue was already on her way back on her second crossing of Knife Edge. We met with the appropriate greeting, I got a picture as Sue flew past, and we continued on our separate ways getting further apart with each step. Eventually, I hit South Peak, stopped to catch my breath, get a few pictures, and u-turn back to The Chimney. Every few minutes I was looking back across Knife Edge to see how Sue was doing. At the bottom of the slope leaving South Peak I could see Sue on top of The Chimney and starting her next trip across Knife Edge.
Approximately midway on Knife Edge we met again. Sue was still flying, but I still asked her to be careful. The last thing I wanted was for Sue to be injured while hiking with me. She kept headed for South Peak – again, and I continued on my way to the top of The Chimney. Knife Edge looks like a different place when hiking northeast compared to hiking southwest. This was my first time in the northeast direction. I found myself on a very narrow spine of rock that didn’t really register with me when hiking in the other direction. This is really a neat trail that changes its appearance with a change in direction. I reached the top of The Chimney and decided two laps were enough. I found a comfortable place in the afternoon sun, sat back, had a snack, and watched Sue on her fourth crossing.
Sue arrived at the top of The Chimney. Realizing there wasn’t enough daylight left to allow another pair of crossings we started our exit hike.
Sorry Sue. Next time – assuming there will be a next time, let’s start off with this silly stuff on fresh legs and earlier in the morning. Perhaps we can get a few additional laps completed. Starting late on day four of four didn’t help.
The Chimney really looks different from the top than from the bottom. I still had a solid memory of the hand holds and the foot placements I used. The descent went well, and fast. In very little time we were off The Chimney and on our exit hike via the Helon Taylor Trail.
We cleared the section of trail that is above the treeline chasing the shadows from the sun all of the way down. Once we were in the trees there were only two miles to go. But, these are Maine miles and who knows how far it really is in terms of New Hampshire miles? I switched into robot mode and we hiked. Slowly the daylight started to fade and eventually we came to a place where I could see through the trees to the brook bed that follows the Chimney Pond Trail.
We’re out! From the trail junction to the hiker registry is only a short walk. We made a quick stop at the Ranger Station to sign-out, headed to the far end of the trailhead parking area to retrieve the truck, and set off for the campground and something hot for dinner.
What a fun day! What a great trip to Baxter. Thanks Sue. Hiking four days out of a possible four days. That’s as good as it gets. You still haven’t found my breaking point – but you’re probably getting close.
Keep looking!
Pictures will follow.
Trails: Chimney Pond Trail, Helon Taylor Trail, Knife Edge Trail
Summits: Knife Edge – back and forth, and back and forth
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
When we were thinking about our hike plans for Baxter Bash we were thinking in terms of two good hike days to meet our objectives. Three were a possibility and there were additional hike targets to shoot at. Four good days for hiking was a complete surprise. We had all of our hike targets met and one more day to hike. Sue had mentioned how much fun she thought it would be to hike laps on Knife Edge between The Chimney and South Peak. Well, that became the plan for this “bonus day”. It’s been a while since I have hiked four consecutive “hard” days and very quickly I realized it was going to be a difficult day.
The day started on the slow side with us never reaching the trail until ~9:30am. We decided to follow the Helon Taylor Trail to Pamola instead of our approach of the previous day which was Chimney Pond and Dudley trails. Sue had experience with both and felt the Helon Taylor Trail might be a little less intense.
We made our way through the early part of the climb and I was really slow to warm-up. It didn’t take long to work up a solid sweat but some of the muscles and joints were interested in taking the day off. That wasn’t an option. Sue was her usual patient self and gave me all the time I needed to make the climb, which included a couple more stops just to visit than usual and a couple snack stops, which are very unusual for the initial climb. I was throwing everything I had at me, including extra fuel. Eventually, we cleared the treeline; which is advertised as two miles from the junction with Chimney Pond Trail – note, these are Maine miles and I’m not sure how much longer a Maine mile is than a New Hampshire mile. From there, it’s only 1.3 miles to the interesting part of our day.
Sue pushed and pulled as hard as she could and eventually had me at the base of The Chimney looking up. Yesterday The Chimney was an easy climb. How much more difficult could it be on rubbery legs? We’re going to find out. I was generally out of gas but my legs are pretty strong and I knew the climb had to be done with my legs because one arm wasn’t going to do it. I started up first. The lower half is the tougher half and both Sue and I were able to again cruise up through the hard part. Very soon we were over half-way up and standing on a flat area talking when we realized there were people above us waiting to descend. Oops! Sorry. We finished the climb and caught our breath on the top. That wasn’t bad.
Now it’s a party!
Off we went on Knife Edge headed to South Peak. On the first steep drop Sue went flying past a group of three younger people and I assume their father. They were all very surprised to see the ease at which Sue charged through. Unfortunately, I also had no trouble at all and the father could only look with his mouth hanging open. As I passed by he said “I wasn’t able to get down with so much ease”. I just said – nothing to it, and kept moving. The father asked a couple more questions and I shouted to Sue to keep going. It was clear to me Sue would do at least one more lap than I would be able to complete.
Sue and I were thinking alike and she kept moving while I stopped to talk to the others. With their questions finished I was also back into Laps on Knife Edge. Roughly ¾ of the way to South Peak another group passed in the opposite direction. Sue was a couple hundred yards up ahead at that point. An older fellow in the group asked if that “good looking woman up ahead” was with me. I said she was. He said I kinda thought so since you had similar gloves. He and his group were staying at Roaring Brook and asked if I had any familiarity with Dudley versus Helon Taylor. I told him what I knew which was only from hiking each trail once, the Helon Taylor Trail today. The fellow asked when I hiked Dudley and I explained yesterday. That started the head shaking. This is fun.
Back into Laps on Knife Edge. I looked up toward South Peak and Sue was already on her way back on her second crossing of Knife Edge. We met with the appropriate greeting, I got a picture as Sue flew past, and we continued on our separate ways getting further apart with each step. Eventually, I hit South Peak, stopped to catch my breath, get a few pictures, and u-turn back to The Chimney. Every few minutes I was looking back across Knife Edge to see how Sue was doing. At the bottom of the slope leaving South Peak I could see Sue on top of The Chimney and starting her next trip across Knife Edge.
Approximately midway on Knife Edge we met again. Sue was still flying, but I still asked her to be careful. The last thing I wanted was for Sue to be injured while hiking with me. She kept headed for South Peak – again, and I continued on my way to the top of The Chimney. Knife Edge looks like a different place when hiking northeast compared to hiking southwest. This was my first time in the northeast direction. I found myself on a very narrow spine of rock that didn’t really register with me when hiking in the other direction. This is really a neat trail that changes its appearance with a change in direction. I reached the top of The Chimney and decided two laps were enough. I found a comfortable place in the afternoon sun, sat back, had a snack, and watched Sue on her fourth crossing.
Sue arrived at the top of The Chimney. Realizing there wasn’t enough daylight left to allow another pair of crossings we started our exit hike.
Sorry Sue. Next time – assuming there will be a next time, let’s start off with this silly stuff on fresh legs and earlier in the morning. Perhaps we can get a few additional laps completed. Starting late on day four of four didn’t help.
The Chimney really looks different from the top than from the bottom. I still had a solid memory of the hand holds and the foot placements I used. The descent went well, and fast. In very little time we were off The Chimney and on our exit hike via the Helon Taylor Trail.
We cleared the section of trail that is above the treeline chasing the shadows from the sun all of the way down. Once we were in the trees there were only two miles to go. But, these are Maine miles and who knows how far it really is in terms of New Hampshire miles? I switched into robot mode and we hiked. Slowly the daylight started to fade and eventually we came to a place where I could see through the trees to the brook bed that follows the Chimney Pond Trail.
We’re out! From the trail junction to the hiker registry is only a short walk. We made a quick stop at the Ranger Station to sign-out, headed to the far end of the trailhead parking area to retrieve the truck, and set off for the campground and something hot for dinner.
What a fun day! What a great trip to Baxter. Thanks Sue. Hiking four days out of a possible four days. That’s as good as it gets. You still haven’t found my breaking point – but you’re probably getting close.
Keep looking!
Pictures will follow.
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