26 Dec Katahdin At Last

This was a northbound section hike of the Appalachian Trail starting at East Flagstaff Road (NB mile 2025.8 and ending on Mt. Katahdin. This section hike was 176.9 miles over 15 days. I flew into the Portland, ME airport and shuttled to East Flagstaff Road.

Sept 15, 2024

Starting at mile 2025.8. Hiking northbound.

East Flagstaff Road to Flagstaff Campsite (2026.9) – 1.1 miles

I started much later than planned, after 4 PM. My shuttle driver was hours late. He blamed traffic, but admitted to shuttling someone else that morning so I think he was trying to squeeze in an additional fare. I don’t blame him because his $200 price was beyond reasonable given that my shuttle required him to be on the road for at least 8 hours. My original plan was to hike 6 miles to West Carry Pond Lean-To, but with the late start and the long travel day I was beat and didn’t care to push hard and hike in the dark. Besides, I had a great deal of slack time built into my schedule.

A year ago on the first day of my section hike I had a view of Flagstaff Lake from the Bigelows. Here is the view of Flagstaff Lake from my campsite on the my first day of this year’s section hike.

Sept 16, 2024

Flagstaff Campsite to Pierce Pond Lean-To (2042.0) 15.1 miles

Went to sleep last night to the sound of Loons. Woke this morning to the sound of Loons.

Taking a break on the dock at West Carry Pond Lean-To. This was my originally planned destination for the first day.

Last night and this morning I heard the calls of Loons. Today I took time to watch Loons. Sometimes they would pop up suddenly from down below. They are great underwater swimmers.

After pitching my tent at Pierce Pond Lean-To, I walked 0.3 miles to Harrison’s Camp to sign up for breakfast the next morning. I had not seen other hikers, until shortly before I arrived at Pierce Pond. That changed when I enjoyed a delicious blueberry pancake breakfast at Harrison’s the next morning and met several thru-hikers who were to become my occasional hiking companions all of the way to Katahdin, including Scarface, Tinder, Turkish Delight, and ??.

The photo below is my tent is pitched on a platform at Bigelow Col Campsite. There were more daylight hiking hours left in the day, but another brutal climb was ahead and I thought it would be wise to rest and let my legs recover some this first day.

September 17, 2024

Pierce Pond Lean-To Joes Hole Creek stealth spot (2059.1) 17.1 miles

This memorable day started with loads of coffee, scrambled eggs, bacon, and blueberry pancakes and the enjoyable company of a table full of 7 or 8 thru-hikers. The proprietor of Harrison’s Camp doesn’t seem to have a set price for thru-hikers, but if you ask, he suggests $6. With all of the hiker talk and stories, it was getting toward 9 am when I reluctantly pushed back from the table and was the first to set back out on the trail.

This is the Kennebec River crossing. Today, the ferry crossing was a canoe piloted by a certified Maine Guide named Rob. The river was about as low as it gets, but still, the water through the main channel was enough to make Rob work hard to keep the canoe from being pushed downstream too far. I was Rob’s first customer today and I waited quite a while and wondered about my ride. Finally, I saw a man step out of a shelter on the far side of the river. I waved until Rob saw me and I was soon climbing into the canoe and answering questions about whatever other hikers were headed this way.

This was easily the toughest day of hiking and the climb up Pleasant Pond Mountain was the toughest part of a tough day. There were several bigger mountains over the 2 weeks including Chairback, West Peak, Gulf Hagas, Whitecap, and Katahdin; however, climb up Pleasant Pond Mountain took place in the middle of a brutally hot afternoon.

There was only a mile and a half further to go to get to Bald Mountain Brook Lean-To, but I’d made a good distance and with plenty of extra time in my hike schedule, I didn’t need to push on. Besides, I though I had a second wind, it had been an hot exhausting day. The stealth site was too small to hardly qualify as a tent spot, but I pitched one end of the tent over a rotten log and called it a day.

September 18, 2024

Joes Hole Brook to Horseshoe Canyon Lean-To – (2073.7) 13 miles

A lot of hiking along the West Branch Piscataquis River where the trail surface as at turns rocky and rooty to the point that I began to be reminded of Pennsylvania, though nothing could be as rocky as Pennsylvania. There were several water crossings of various difficulty. Near the end of the day, I came to a wide section of the Piscataquis where three women were crossing. Two had taken off shoes and were in the process of walking through the stream. I rock hopped across while keeping my feet dry. I watched as the third woman attempted the same, but ended up slipping into the water. Ironically, with numerous dry foot crossings I eventually managed to step on a small log that rolled my foot into a small muddy puddle.

I was the only person at Horseshoe Canyon Lean-To where I set up my tent and spent a lonely night.

A cave like rock overhang.

September 19, 2024

Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to Route 15 Monson, ME – Shaw’s Hostel (2082.7) – 9 mi

I was up early and speed hiking 9 miles to hot showers, laundry, town food, etc. At Route 15 I called the shuttle for Shaw’s Hostel. Before 10 am I was at Route 15, I had also reached the beginning of the 100 mile wilderness.

By 11:30 AM, after a hot shower, laundry in the washing machine, and a cold beer, I’m already getting settled into town life in beautiful Monson, Maine. My usual Hostel stay involves sharing a room with a number of bunks, but this time I had planned ahead by reserving a private room. Besides having a more restful night, it made it much easier to spread out my gear and 10-day resupply to better organize my pack. As I looked at the piles of food, I wondered how I would fit it all in my pack and how I would manage the weight. Thinking it through, since water would be abundant, I planned to fill only a single bottle of water. I also strapped the tent to the bottom of my pack and my dry sack with sleeping bag and clothing to the top of my pack. Assundries were already in ziplocks that I kept in the webbing on the outside of the pack. Down jacket and vest were stuffed into the stretch sleeve on the lower back of the pack. That left the inside available for food.

I headed to the General Store where I picked up a sandwich and snacks for lunch. That night at The Lakeshore House, Tinder and Scarface who I had first met at Harrison’s invited me to join them. We caught up on each other’s hike and enjoyed the food, live music, and lake view.

September 20, 2024

100 Mile Wilderness – Route 15 (Monson) to Wilson Vally Lean-To (mi 2093.1) – 10.4 mi

Finally, I’m in the 100 mile wilderness which isn’t a wilderness at all, rather it is a 100 mile stretch where resupply isn’t possible. Unless, of course you are willing to pay $80 to Shaw’s or someone else for a drop that you will be required to meet. The money is one thing, but the requirement to be at a specific place at a specific time was also something I didn’t care for. I met a thru-hiker at Shaw’s that was organizing a group for an altogether different plan. Instead of paying for a food drop, hikers would share the cost of a shuttle to slackpack for the next 3 days. I had already noticed this guy from how much he was enjoying the camaradarie, beer, and food of town life; however, no matter how tempting this might be, it wasn’t my idea of hiking the 100 mile wilderness. I didn’t envy their daily hours riding in a van. I politely declined. He found a couple of hiking buddies, so for each of the next 3 days I looked forward to seeing this crew as they hiked south and I hiked north.

A somewhat foreboding message, this sign. It is not as all bad as that.

Here is Wilson Stream. I didn’t carry water shoes so I took off shoes and socks and waded across here. To avoid stepping on slippery uneven stones hidden beneath the water, I moved slowly and carefully.

I had a little crisis last night as I began to prepare my first freeze-dried meal in the 100 Mile Wilderness. The gas canister that I had bought at Shaw’s would cross-thread onto my stove and start hissing gas. After several tries, one of a group of 3 guys from Pittsburgh staying at the Wilson Valley Lean-To offered to try. Thankfully, he managed to thread the stove onto the canister.

September 21, 2024

Wilson Valley Lean-To to Cloud Pond Lean-To (mile 2101.8) – 8.7 miles

I finished early and claimed the choice tent spot with a million-dollar view over Cloud Pond. Ideally, I’d have hiked further, but there isn’t always a reasonable camping spot where you want it. I’m carrying 10 days of resupply where most people are planning for only 7 days. I’ve learned the hard way that sometimes the trail is harder than expected or the weather won’t cooperate so I’ve allowed a lot of time to complete this hike. As hard as it is to travel to this remote spot in Maine, I don’t want to come up short and need to return to finish the last few miles of the AT. I also don’t want to finish the trip too early just to end up spending an extra day in town waiting for my return flight.

2100 miles from Springer Mountain

Thanks to thru-hikers June and Taz who took my photo here. I met them in Monson where I tried the hostel’s slack line. June then gave a nice demonstration on how to move from standing to sitting to standing on a slack line. These cliffs would be a nice spot for a slack line. Don’t you think?

View from my tent at Cloud Pond. Note the stove with the blue and white gas canister. Once again I had trouble threading the stove onto the canister. Finally, after repeated tries, I was able to make it work. Whew! I’ve learned a lesson to check out any new canister with the stove before leaving town. The sad thing was that my old canister still had plenty of gas when I dropped it into the hiker box at Shaw’s. It probably had enough gas to make it through the 100-mile wilderness.

About an hour after I arrived at Cloud Pond, Tinder and Scarface showed up and Tinder began building a campfire. A couple of hours after that, the Pittsburgh Trio arrived. They told me that a couple of them were priests and that they were about to have Mass so I would know what it was and not think they were doing something strange.

Sunset at Cloud Pond

September 22, 2024

Cloud Pond Lean-To to Trailside near Gulf Hagas (2115.5) – 13.7 miles

Nearly every morning I have oatmeal for breakfast, but this morning at Cloud Pond, I treated myself to a breakfast skillet.

On the first major climb north of Cloud Pond Lean-To, I encountered the wreckage from this plane crash on the AT. I never found the story about the plane crash.

The descent off Chairback Mountain including this rockslide was a little long and tedious, reminding me of southern Maine.

View of White Cap Mountain from the descent off Chairback. At 3643 feet, this is the highest peak that the AT crosses in the 100-mile wilderness. It also marks the last long climb in the 100-mile wilderness.

Seated in the foreground is Extra. Standing from left to right: Stinky, Hemlock, Uphill, Empty Space, and Rebecca.

The 3 guys from Pittsburgh that I first met at Wilson Lean-To two nights ago had told me that they had arranged a resupply at Katahdin Iron Works road. I began hearing that the person doing their resupply had set up major trail magic on Katahdin Iron Works Road while waiting on the Pittsburgh guys. My hunger was kicking up so was began busting it down to the road and hoping that the trail magic would still be there.

I was in for a fantastic reward, but first Empty Space asked whether I’d seen the Pittsburgh trio and I reported that I’d spent the last two nights with them and that they were usually arrived about 3 hours behind me. Empty Space grilled me a hamburger and a grilled cheese sandwich which he served with hot tomato soup. I ate snacks and had a cold beer. Next, Empty Space opened a cooler that had been carefully packed with dry ice and ice cream bars. He said they were for the Pittsburgh guys, but he had a few extras and I could have one. Empty Space warned me to hold off eating because they were frozen as solid as a brick and I would break my teeth.

Later, Stinky and Hemlock’s hiking companion Dying arrived. We still hadn’t seen the Pittsburgh Trio. Dying was more of a hiking purist, having avoided shortcuts on the AT the whole way. Since I had passed Stinky, Hemlock, and Dying early in the day, I had wondered how Stinky and Hemlock had beat me to the trail magic. It turned out that they had taken a shortcut that came out further down on Katahdin Ironworks Road. This had avoided a lot of the Chairback Ridge. It was getting late. With the exception of an overpriced private campground, no camping is allowed for miles through this entire area of the Gulf Hagas. Stinky, Hemlock, and Dying opted to do a road walk to stay at the Gorman Chairback Cabins where they would be fed supper, breakfast, and a packed lunch the next day. It turns out that the 100-mile wilderness isn’t entirely without comforts.

I opted to keep my headlamp handy and I set off on a late-day trek out of the Gulf Hagas restricted area. I had no idea whether there would be a suitable tent spot, particularly since past Gulf Hagas, the trail began to climb and the map didn’t show any level spots. Thankfully, I was recharged with a full stomach and the trail was much smoother than the rockslides of the past few miles. As soon as I passed the Gulf Hagas boundary, I kept an eye out for level spots. I soon spied spots at the bottom of a steep drop-off below the trail. It was nearly dark and I scrambled down and set up my tent in a discreet spot next to the Gulf Hagas stream. (Just in case this spot wasn’t legal.) About 10 minutes later a couple of guys from Quebec that I had passed earlier came up the trail. At first, I wasn’t sure who they could be, but when I saw who they were, I waved them down. They were happy to find this level spot and I was happy to have company. The guys were Kevin and Mark and it turned out that Mark had extra gas canisters. This time, my gas canister would not thread onto my stove. I tried it on Mark’s stove and it worked. I tried Mark’s extra canister on my stove and that one worked. There was something strange about the compatibility of the canister from Shaw’s and my stove. Mark offered me his canister and I offered mine in trade. He wouldn’t take the trade and just gave me his extra canister.

September 23, 2024

Trailside near Gulf Hagas to Mountain View Pond (2131.5) – 16.0 miles

With cooler temperatures, climbing West Peak, Hay Mountain, and White Cap was easier than expected.

I planned to hike 14.1 miles to East Branch Lean-To and tent there. When I arrived, it was still early and I expected to be the first hiker. I was surprised when I stepped around to the front of the shelter and saw a small thin man lounging in the lean-to. He was wearing a black mask and a sleeping bag and gear was spread out in the corner of the shelter. I found out he was staying the night. When he asked if I was staying, I told him I was going to set up my tent nearby. With the mask and an accent I couldn’t place his voice was a little garbled. He asked me for food. If it wasn’t already clearly obvious that he was homeless, this gave him away. I told him that I had carefully planned out my food carry to minimize weight so I didn’t have food to spare. I also said that other backpackers would to the same thing. My implication was that this was the wrong place for a homeless person to be begging for food. I was pretty spooked by this man, but not enough to hike to another spot so I began exploring the area for a private spot well away from the Lean-To. One where he was unlikely to bother me. After walking over the area and finding some nice spots out of sight of the Lean-To, I considered my options. I didn’t see other hikers. I might be camping alone with this strange masked man. It wouldn’t matter where I placed my tent because there was no way to hide out here. Checking “Far Out”, my other option was to hike another 1.9 miles to some limited tent spots at Mountain View Lake. Hiker comments on the Far Out App reported that most spots were hard to find or barely suitable for tents. I thought I had time to reach this spot before dark. The forecast called for rain in a couple of days. The extra distance today would make for a short day between Lean-To’s for the upcoming rain day. Also, camping next to another lake sounded nice. My biggest regret was that I wouldn’t have a nice privy.

Here is my tent spot at Mountain View Lake. This was by far the best spot besides being the only obvious spot here. After I claimed this spot, other hikers began arriving. Though tight, I offered the area next to my tent, but other hikers thanked me and wandered off in search of spots. More hikers dribbled in. They were having increasing difficulty finding spots for a tent. All told me that they had planned to spend the night at East Branch Lean-To, but when the man with the black mask begged for either money, food, or fuel they decided to hike on. Some hikers were arriving here as it was getting dark. I asked whether they saw anyone choosing to stay at East Branch Lean-To other than the homeless man. They all reported that the homeless man was the only one staying there. It seemed crazy that the homeless man had the Lean-To and privy all to himself while there were 7 – 10 hikers crowded around an area that was more of a stealth site area than a real camping site.

September 24, 2024

Mountain View Pond to Antlers Campsite (mi 2145.6) – 14.1 miles

Here is the view Cooper Brook from the Cooper Brook Falls Lean-To. Not many Lean-To’s can match this one for being perfect placement on the bank of a creek for the best view. I was making good time and it was such a beautiful day that I decided to take an uber-long break at this beautiful spot. I took off my shoes, rested, and ate lunch. After about an hour, guess who showed up? It was the homeless guy from yesterday. From the beginning and during the course of this section hike, I occasionally heard stories and rumors about this guy, though I never expected to meet him. At first, I didn’t realize it was the same guy I had heard about, but after meeting him yesterday, I realized that I already knew things about him. I had been told that this man was from the Phillipines and that he had been hiking the AT for nearly a year, having started last October. The black mask spooked people out and he had been reported to the police and the Immigration & Naturalization Service. Both INS and police checked him out and deemed him harmless. They said there was nothing they could do since he wasn’t breaking the law.

I decided to extend my long break and visit with this guy for a while and listen to his story. This time he asked for fuel. I had my extra fuel canister that wouldn’t work with my stove so I was glad to do without carrying the extra weight and I gave it to him. I explained that he might want to check it first since I knew it wouldn’t work with my stove, though it worked with other stoves. He was just glad to get it and didn’t bother checking it.

His name was Herman and he confirmed that he was from the Philippines and had started hiking a year ago in October. Now, I knew this was the same homeless person I had heard stories about. He was moving from shelter to shelter, or “lean-to’s” in Maine. I guessed that the fact that he was hiking each day to a new shelter kept him from being picked up by the police for vagrancy. Anyone who permanently moved into a lean-to might eventually be subject to arrest. Each shelter, hut, lean-to, etc. is typically no more than 7 – 8 miles from the last and sometimes much closer. I can see why he had been hiking since October. He told me that he would ask for food, money, or fuel and that he was homeless. I noticed that he varies what he asks for and only asks for one thing, whether it be food, money, or fuel. He said that he didn’t like homeless shelters and where he had things stolen from him. He said that the AT was the perfect place for him. He told me he would like to get a “volunteer” job in a small town somewhere. He talked about getting a job cleaning the offices of a small-town mayor in exchange for which they would feed him and provide a room for him to sleep in. I told him that every government no matter how small had a bureaucracy that wouldn’t allow for such an arrangement. I noticed that he was much older and thinner than I had at first guessed. I tried to pin down his age by talking at length with him, asking about his family and when and how he came to the United States. I guess that he could be as old as 65 or 70. He’s small and probably about 110 pounds and 5 foot 5 inches. He told me about how he hiked up to New Hampshire, but that he had to turn around because the AMC was charging fees for campsites and he had no money. He began hiking south and in Massachusetts met a lady who gave him money and gear. He said he owed everything to her and he wouldn’t be here without her. Having money, he began hiking north again from Massachusetts, through New Hampshire and to this point in Maine. He told me the man at the Kennebec River ferry (canoe) told him the ferry closed for the winter on September 31st. He said that now he was stuck in Maine forever.

Crawford Pond

Antlers Campsite is located on Lower Jo-Mary Lake and very cool. Tinder had given me advice on the best spot at Antlers. I arrived early and claimed this site on the tip of a peninsula overlooking the lake from both the front and rear of my tent. It was very exposed to wind which would be a problem if there were storms. Antlers is huge with plenty of spread-out tent spots. I was early and the sun was out so I took the opportunity to put on my shorts and get in the lake for a bath and laundry. I hung my wet shirt, socks, and pants on branches I could find in the sun.

September 25, 2024

Antlers Campsite to Wadleigh Lean-To (mi 2159) – 13.4 miles

The trail in this portion of Maine is easy. I could have easily walked farther, but if I made today longer, then tomorrow or the next day would be too short and boring. Rain was coming in later tomorrow morning and though still early, stopping here at Wadleigh Shelter would give me a perfect distance tomorrow. I short day in the rain is preferable to a long boring zero rain day spent in a Lean-To. As it was, nobody else was at Wadleigh Lean-To and I quickly grew bored. I explored the area a little. That didn’t help much with my boredom so I gathered firewood and built a campfire.

September 26, 2024

Wadleigh Lean-To to Rainbow Stream Lean-To (mi 2167.3) – 8.1 miles

Ahh, it was a rain day. I knew the forecast so for the last several days I had been planning to make this a short day. My unplanned 16-mile day into Mountain View Pond set up the planning to allow for a very short rain day. The rain was forecast to begin later that morning so I was up early and hiking fast to reach Rainbow Stream Lean-To without having to walk through a downpour. After a couple of hours a light rain started. By the time I reached the Lean-To before lunch, a steady rain was falling. To take the wet chill off, I change from my wet clothes into my dry sleeping clothes and snuggled into my sleeping bag. I was thirsty and needed to fill my water bottles. Rainbow stream was about 40 feet in front of the shelter, but the rain started coming down hard. I didn’t want to leave the comfort of my sleeping bag and get wet so I put off the task of retrieving water. After several hours, Turkish Delight showed up at the shelter. About an hour later, Sigma showed up. Later, the rain let up slightly and I quickly filled my water bottles in the stream. That night, it was the three of us staying dry in the Lean-To.

Nahmakanta Lake in Rain

September 27, 2024

Rainbow Stream Lean-To to Abol Bridge Campground (2182.3) – 15 miles

Rainbow Lake

View of Mount Katahdin from the bridge at Abol Bridge.

My tent at Abol Pines Campsite overlooks the Penobscot River. I gathered around the campfire that night with some of the thru-hikers that I had met along the way. Sigma, Turkish Delight, Scarface, and Tinder. As a section hiker, it was exciting to think about this last stage of my hike. I can’t imagine the excitement of these thru-hikers.

Penobscot River

September 28, 2024

Abol Bridge Campground to The Birches Campsite (2192.1) – 9.8 mile

No matter what reassurance the Baxter Park Ranger had for the Birches Campsite sign-up, I couldn’t help but worry that a bus full of people from town would arrive early in the morning to sign up for all the spots at Birches. We’d seen some southbound hikers who told us that was what happened to them. As stated on the sign-up sheet, only NOBO hikers completing the 100 Mile Wilderness are eligible. This means hikers can’t just be dropped off from town to sign up for the Birches. Even if you hiked the 100 Mile Wilderness, and then went into town for a minute, you would lose eligibility for the Birches. In reality, most of those going through the 100 Mile Wilderness are thru-hikers or long-section hikers and already know each other so they would know legit sign-ups from imposters. They could call them out. (For whatever good that would do.)

In my opinion, there is a great deal more stress than there needs to be regarding the rules and regulations in Baxter State Park. The Park Rangers try to act like everything is chill when they are doing their best given an overly regulated system that doesn’t allow for the expansion of campsites or parking. Baxter Park is enormous and it doesn’t need to be this way. The park was created through a Trust left by Governor Percival P. Baxter which established rules which seem to be used as an excuse to keep unreasonable restrictions and avoid expanding amenities such as parking and camping. It would be simple to increase the capacity of the Birches or add a 2nd camping area for thru-hikers. Thru-hikers take up much less room than car campers. It wouldn’t violate the rules to keep Baxter SP “forever wild” and in a “natural state” any more than the existing facilities violate those rules.

They advise you to take a photo of your sign-up as proof should something go wrong. The ranger at the sign-up kiosk makes sure that the ranger at the Birches Campsite receives a copy of the sign-up information. If no spaces remain, the ranger works to find you a spot at another campground.

I woke up at 3:15 am and walked 0.8 miles in the dark from Abol Pines Campground to the Baxter State Park entrance. After arriving at around 4:00 am, I was the first in line to sign up for Birches. Sign-up is at 7 am, so I laid down on my sleeping pad I snoozed as I waited for the Park Ranger to arrive with the sign-up sheet. As you can see, there is space for only 12 people at Birches Campsite.

I walked 0.8 miles to the park entrance for Birches sign-up, then walked back to Abol Pines to pack up my tent and Abol Bridge for some breakfast snacks and last phone device charging. Here I am after having walked back 0.8 miles a 2nd time to the park entrance for the last leg of my hike.

Stinky, Dying, and Hemlock chose to leave their tents and gear at Abol Bridge Campground and hike all night on a 30.2-mile round trip to the summit of Katahdin and back. They road-walked a portion of the hike so it was less than 30.2 miles, but that was in addition to the 20 or so miles they had already hiked that day. These thru-hikers have a unique way of speaking about themselves. It’s about 5 pm and they are packing up. They’ve already hiked 15 to 20 miles today. The conversation goes something like this. One says, “We’re hiking to Katahdin from here.” Stinky says, “Yeah, we’re doing an all-nighter.” Hemlock groans, “Yeah, we’re crazy”. “Actually, we’re stupid.” “We shouldn’t be doing this.” “We are idiots.”

Big Niagra Falls

Birches Campsite with Trail Magic

Hot Pizza at Birches Campsite. Thanks for the Trail Magic! I couldn’t imagine the work it took to bring in hot pizza and everything else and drive back home for work on Monday morning.

September 29, 2024

The Birches Campsite to Baxter Peak, Katahdin (2197.4) – 5.3 miles

View from Katahdin Climb

Fog and clouds move in as I continue the rocky ascent of Katahdin.

I reached the summit of Katahdin and finished the entire Appalachian Trail at 9:40 am. My AT section hike began 21 years ago. I hiked sections in 11 of those years. I section-hiked from Amicalola Falls to Ceres Gap, Virginia over the first 3 years. In 2 of the intervening years, I hiked sections in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts with my friend Sheffy. After retirement, I resumed in earnest in 2019 and hiked the remainder over the next 6 years.

I celebrate the completion of the AT.