Katahdin is not for the faint-of-heart. And it was almost too much for me.
Let me explain. One doesn’t just decide to summit Katahdin; it takes plenty of preparation. I’ve been wanting to climb Katahdin since Frank and I were up at Baxter State Park last summer, and at some point we developed a Plan.
The plan was for Frank’s son Lars to come for the holiday weekend. We would spend the night at Big Moose Lodge, then we would head out for the trailhead at Roaring Brook Campground. Frank would kiss us goodbye, wish us luck on this crazy adventure, and wait in the parking lot to bring us home afterward. Actually, it was a good plan.
Katahdin is deceptive. It’s less than a six mile hike (each way) to the summit, but those six miles include 3000 vertical feet. The “easiest” trail is Saddle. It has “only” 3 tenths of a mile of straight-up rock-climbing; the more “challenging” trails have more straight-up involved. We did Saddle. (Not easy. Easiest.)
I had figured it would take us 10 hours of hiking. We started at 7:00 a.m. and had summited and were on our way back down by 2:30. So far, so good. But above the tree line, Katahdin is nothing but rough loose rock, and my knees were giving out. By the time we got to the 3/tenths mile straight-down rock climbing, they had given out and I started making stupid decisions. I mean, my legs were making stupid decisions, and my knees weren’t cooperating. It got to the point that I had to keep my knees straight or I would collapse – and of course one can’t go down without bending one’s knees.
I fell and hit my head – hard. From then on, Lars was helping me down the slope. It was slow going — I was thinking about each step. At some point it became apparent (to me) that we were going to run out of sunlight before we ran out of mountain. Then I really whacked my knee. That’s when Lars went on down to get the ranger.
Ranger Jennifer was awesome. She applied first aid, and asked about my vital signs (!) She helped us back to Chimney Pond, step by step, and Chimney Pond is still 3.3 miles from the trailhead. She made the (obvious by that time) assessment that we weren’t going any further than night, and radioed back to Roaring Brook to ask the ranger to let Frank know. Which he did. She opened up her supply of freeze-dried food and we cobbled together supper, than she lent us sleeping bags set aside for just such an emergency and put us up for the night in a lean-to.
All that was Friday. On Saturday Jennifer took my vital signs again (!) , made sure we breakfasted, filled our water bottles, and sent us on our way. I was still moving slowly (still am, for that matter) and Lars helped me with every step. We got back to Roaring Brook at 1:30 or so. Frank was waiting at the trailhead, and we got a sandwich, and a shower, and to bed.
The hiking part was okay. It was the rock climbing that did me in. Still, I summited! They can’t take that away from me. Meanwhile, the lesson is: If ever I read the words, “walking sticks recommended” I will take a pass. I’m bruised, but not broken. And I’ve got a great story. So it’s all good.
martyhelman 