WeRmudfun
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Looks like we went and grabbed Baxter Peak one day before Wayne grabbed all 3.
We spent the last week in Millinocket, Maine knocking 4 things off the bucket list. One of those 4 things was hiking Mount Katahdin – Baxter Peak. Getting internet in Millinocket was not easy so research was at a minimum, but I was able to find out that we could reserve a parking spot at Baxter State Park to guarantee us a spot on the day we wanted to go. We didn’t want to take the chance of not getting in on the day we went.
The original plan was to hike in using Knifes Edge, but looking at the forecast for the day we were intending called for clear skies and high winds. We decided the better bet for us was to use the Hunt Trail, plus we wanted a chance to congratulate and talk to thru-hikers finishing the AT. As it turned out the day wasn’t totally clear and the winds were hardly noticeable.
With a reserved parking pass you need to be at the gate by 7:05AM or you will lose it along with the $5.00 they charge for the privilege. We arrived at the park at 6:10AM and had to wait in line almost 45 minutes to get to the gate. We were getting worried we would lose our pass.
We parked at Katahdin Stream day use area and there were only a couple of spots left to in the parking lot. Even in mid-August during the week Katahdin seemed full. We got all our gear on and started up the trail. It started out nice and mild. We knew it was going to get tough, but never really expected just how tough it got.
After passing Katahdin Stream Falls, the rock staircase starts and in spots is lined with blueberry bushes. At roughly the 2 mile mark, the trail starts to show that you are hiking a mountain. The spot we were in looked like boulder falls. It was just a prelude to what is coming during mile 3 and 4.
When we hit the bar and hook, we were excited. We always find things like that to be fun, however this time we started to wonder just how steep this trail was going to get. We knew that Knifes Edge would have more of a fear factor, but Hunt Trail was starting to show it had some of its own. After the bar and hook, there are a few more hooks there to help you along.
After the trail leveled out a little, we could see that we had more ‘UP’ coming soon. As we looked up we were hoping we were looking at the summit, but it wasn’t. We still had that rough hike (climb) just to get up to Tableland. We met hikers working their way down and were informed that we are about to hike the worst of it and they were right. The only thing that kept going through our minds was how the heck are we going to make it back down?
We eventually made it up to Tableland and once you get there, the summit stills looks to be far away, but it is a LOT easier to hike. We passed Thoreau Springs along the way at a 4 way intersection and then continued along our way to the summit.
Katahdin was #55 for us on the NE67 hiking list and our 3rd state high point. The summit was rewarding. We met a lot of nice people up there including AT hikers enjoying their accomplishment. The views of Knifes Edge were awesome, it made us think maybe someday we will come back and hike that trail, but for the moment, we were thrilled to be standing on top of Maine’s highest peak, even though hiking towards the summit, South Peak appeared to be higher.
We made it back down, knees screaming, but we made it. We do need to return for the other 2 peaks on the list, but we had other bucket list items we want to go and see. Trip reports will be coming, once videos are made.
Video is best viewed at 1080p60
We spent the last week in Millinocket, Maine knocking 4 things off the bucket list. One of those 4 things was hiking Mount Katahdin – Baxter Peak. Getting internet in Millinocket was not easy so research was at a minimum, but I was able to find out that we could reserve a parking spot at Baxter State Park to guarantee us a spot on the day we wanted to go. We didn’t want to take the chance of not getting in on the day we went.
The original plan was to hike in using Knifes Edge, but looking at the forecast for the day we were intending called for clear skies and high winds. We decided the better bet for us was to use the Hunt Trail, plus we wanted a chance to congratulate and talk to thru-hikers finishing the AT. As it turned out the day wasn’t totally clear and the winds were hardly noticeable.
With a reserved parking pass you need to be at the gate by 7:05AM or you will lose it along with the $5.00 they charge for the privilege. We arrived at the park at 6:10AM and had to wait in line almost 45 minutes to get to the gate. We were getting worried we would lose our pass.
We parked at Katahdin Stream day use area and there were only a couple of spots left to in the parking lot. Even in mid-August during the week Katahdin seemed full. We got all our gear on and started up the trail. It started out nice and mild. We knew it was going to get tough, but never really expected just how tough it got.
After passing Katahdin Stream Falls, the rock staircase starts and in spots is lined with blueberry bushes. At roughly the 2 mile mark, the trail starts to show that you are hiking a mountain. The spot we were in looked like boulder falls.
It was just a prelude to what is coming during mile 3 and 4.When we hit the bar and hook, we were excited. We always find things like that to be fun, however this time we started to wonder just how steep this trail was going to get. We knew that Knifes Edge would have more of a fear factor, but Hunt Trail was starting to show it had some of its own. After the bar and hook, there are a few more hooks there to help you along.
After the trail leveled out a little, we could see that we had more ‘UP’ coming soon. As we looked up we were hoping we were looking at the summit, but it wasn’t. We still had that rough hike (climb) just to get up to Tableland. We met hikers working their way down and were informed that we are about to hike the worst of it and they were right. The only thing that kept going through our minds was how the heck are we going to make it back down?
We eventually made it up to Tableland and once you get there, the summit stills looks to be far away, but it is a LOT easier to hike.
We passed Thoreau Springs along the way at a 4 way intersection and then continued along our way to the summit. Katahdin was #55 for us on the NE67 hiking list and our 3rd state high point. The summit was rewarding. We met a lot of nice people up there including AT hikers enjoying their accomplishment. The views of Knifes Edge were awesome, it made us think maybe someday we will come back and hike that trail, but for the moment, we were thrilled to be standing on top of Maine’s highest peak, even though hiking towards the summit, South Peak appeared to be higher.
We made it back down, knees screaming, but we made it. We do need to return for the other 2 peaks on the list, but we had other bucket list items we want to go and see. Trip reports will be coming, once videos are made.
Video is best viewed at 1080p60
