Awol
09-13-2008, 08:00 AM
I'm in Millinocket for the Trail's End Festival today (Sept 13). I hiked up Katahdin yesterday. At the Baxter SP gate, the ranger said there was a 70 percent chance of rain. The AT never changes. That inspired me to hike a little quicker – I guess I don’t change much either. My hike up lasted 3 hours, which seemed fast to me, but it was only fast enough to keep up with 70 year-old Nelson Daigle – at least until he got tired of me stopping all the time to take pictures. He was on his 380th climb of Katahdin and will be covered in this month’s issue of Backpacker Magazine. One tidbit that was a surprise to me was that Backpacker didn’t bother to come walk Katahdin with him for the article, so they could use a photo like this:
http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/552/thumbs/Nelson_Dagel.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=284)
The climb was harder than I remember, even though at the time I thought it was the hardest hike on the AT. I still think so.
Awol at sign:
http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/552/thumbs/Awol_Summit_2.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=280)
I carried a GPS (Garmin 60CSX) with me, and noted a few more landmarks to add to App Pages. Interestingly, the mileage was a few tenths of a mile shorter than the ATC’s numbers. I haven’t looked closely at the track yet. If you are familiar with GPS please tell me if tracks are typically shorter.
Let me know if you want the Garmin or Google Earth track for Katahdin.
The rain didn’t start until I got back to Katahdin Stream Campground. Here’s more pics:
The Tableland
http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/552/thumbs/Katahdin_-_Tableland_Pan.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=282)
Katahdin Falls:
http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/552/thumbs/Katahdin_Falls.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=283)
http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/552/thumbs/Nelson_Dagel.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=284)
The climb was harder than I remember, even though at the time I thought it was the hardest hike on the AT. I still think so.
Awol at sign:
http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/552/thumbs/Awol_Summit_2.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=280)
I carried a GPS (Garmin 60CSX) with me, and noted a few more landmarks to add to App Pages. Interestingly, the mileage was a few tenths of a mile shorter than the ATC’s numbers. I haven’t looked closely at the track yet. If you are familiar with GPS please tell me if tracks are typically shorter.
Let me know if you want the Garmin or Google Earth track for Katahdin.
The rain didn’t start until I got back to Katahdin Stream Campground. Here’s more pics:
The Tableland
http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/552/thumbs/Katahdin_-_Tableland_Pan.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=282)
Katahdin Falls:
http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/552/thumbs/Katahdin_Falls.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=283)