A-Scent of Katahdin

Day 4, August 11:

I forgot to mention in my last post about the stars. I was actually dumb enough to try to photograph the gorgeous night sky in Baxter State Park. I need a tripod and some crazy exposure time to capture that. Pass. The stars here are just breathtaking. The 4 of us sat on a dock at the campground and took them in. Words can't describe. I love seeing the Milky Way and shooting stars. I literally can't come up with a way to inform you about Maine's beauty.

It's 5:20 am and it's already light. My campmates manage to wake me up for the adventure pinnacle of the trip. It's Katahdin day. The people in Maine are a little weird when it comes to their parks. You have to register to hike as they only take a certain number of hikers per day. You also must register for a specific parking lot, which determines the trail you ascend the mountain. We drew the hard trail. Shorter, but MUCH steeper. It was basically a rock scramble all the way up. The hike was 4,000 vertical feet in 4 miles. That's steep.

I mentioned my favorite sound in Maine, the pebbles tumbling into the sea. Now for my favorite smell in Maine. You might think it's blueberry pancakes or lobster or the sea. I'm actually going to choose the fresh pine scent. Maine is the most forested state in the US and you can smell it. Now remember that Zateran's last night? Well, it turns out that if you eat that stuff, it gives you monumentally bad gas. Sorry for the bad thoughts. Even outside, on a mountain, with wind and the strong pine, each of us would walk into a horrendous cloud of nasty.

One of the cool things about this hike is the view. About a mile into the hike, whenever you take a break, turn around and the view is just spectacular. You can see for miles and there is no civilization in sight. Mmmm. After an adventurous, tiring and a blast of a climb, you reach a false peak where you can truly take in the view. Heading toward the summit, I come across some wild blueberries which are delicious. I love wild food. Apparently Henry Thoreau made a journey up this mountain awhile back.

The summit is a great place. 360 degrees of awesome, vast, woods. There is a trail called the Knife's Edge which extends along the ridge at the summit. It's nothing but rocks with cliffs on each side. The path is only a few feet wide and not super-stable, but fun. We took a different trail on the way down for some variety and to save our joints from a painful descent. Katahdin has a stream on this trail with some sweet falls. Not shown here is the swimming hole which was used by all of us. Cold. Really freaking cold. But awesome.