Katahdin - Abol Slide & Hunt Trail - September 3, 2002

[askus3]

Date of Hike: Friday, September 6, 2002

Pictures: link to Gallery - Baxter Park Trip - Album I - #7 - Abol slide pictures

link to Gallery - Maine Appalachian Trail - Album I - #1 This is for the pictures from summit of Katahdin to Kathdin Stream CG. Pictures 1-27.

Route: From Abol campground to Thoreau Spring we followed the Abol Trail in its entirety ascending the Abol slide. From there to the summit of Mt. Katahdin we climbed the Hunt Trail. Then we returned retracing our steps to Thoreau Spring as we descended the Hunt Trail (Appalachian Trail) to Katahdin Stream Campground. Note we followed the first 5.2 miles of the AT on this hike.

Total Distance: 9 miles

Difficulty: strenuous

Conditions: wet, slippery, in spots treacherous

Weather: rain, fog, wind - temp: 40-55.

Participants: Aaron Schoenberg, Dean Gletsos, Alex Lantino, Eileen Berch

Hike Statistics: Total elevation gain: 4,070 feet.

Two mile car shuttle involved.

0.0 1270 7:10 AM Abol CG - Start of Hike
2.8 4637 10:30-10:40 Thoreau Spring
3.8 5271 11:20-11:40 Mt. Katahdin
4.8 4637 12:15 PM Thoreau Spring
5.3 4300 12:35 PM The Gateway
6.3 3420 1:55-2:10 cave on left
7.9 1560-1490 3:55-4:20 Katahdin Stream Falls - Owl Tr. Jct.
9.0 11060 4:40 PM Katahdin Stream CG - End of Hike

Trip Report: The weather report called for a pleasant day, cloudying up in the late afternoon. So when it started raining in the AM on the way up Abol Slide, I kept thinking it would be a brief shower like yesterday on OJI and then clear up.

We were the fourth car on line at Togue Pond Gatehouse arriving at 5:45 AM. The gate opened at 6 AM. There was this one individual hiker from Delaware, Eric Pokie was also waiting for the gate to open. He was planning on climbing up & back Mt. Katahdin via Abol slide. We had to first set up our car shuttle, so he got a headstart on us. When the weather deteriorated, Eric turned around, not feeling comfortable climbing Katahdin alone in the rain. Then he met us and turned around once again and felt comfort in numbers, joining us. I left my rainpants and polartec shirt on a chair back at our campsite. Fortunately, I was wearing my nylon pants which were OK, but I realized I was going to need another upper layer. Just as it started to rain steady, I found a wool sweater hanging from a branch on a tree. What luck! It came in handy as I put it on me and wore it over 3500 feet.

When we reached Thoreau Spring we decided to eliminate the section of hike planned to go over to Hamlin Peak and add it to our east approach Katahdin hike later in the week. As it was, we were experiencing strong wind, driving rain and limited visibility. One hiker coming down that we passed, thought we were crazy to continue up. Alex, who I would consider the strongest hiker in our party, suggested we turn around but he didn't realize when he said that we only had only 300 more feet of elevation to climb. I said if we did not make it to the summit by 12 Noon, we would turn back. (It was 11 AM and we made it in 20 minutes). We did make it. But Dean was still wearing shorts and shivering. Maybe he was getting hypothermic. So we did not linger too long at the summit. He also didn't have proper raingear.

While there though, we celebrated with a few thru-AT hikers that completed their 2,000+ mile oddyssey. I also spoke with a ranger Braun Johnson who said she would report the non-closure of the OJI North slide at the top end to proper authorities. Eric Pokie did take our summit photo as our official photographer for the hike. It actually was amazing how many people were up there milling about on such a miserable day.

Conditions did not improve as we descended the AT. Rocks were wet and in places the trail was treacherous. No views were to be seen. At one point, I was taking a picture of Eileen descending a precipitous rocky stretch of trail. As I was taking her picture she fell out of sight. She slipped on the wet rock and fortunately she was OK.

The AT descent was interesting, taking us through a boulder cave. There were even metal hooks and bars of steel to aid the hiker on the steep slick boulders. Much lower down the trail we were impressed with Katahdin Stream Falls.

Considering the weather, we enjoyed the hike and were satisfied with our accomplishment. I teased that we should keep it up and make it to Springer Mountain for Christmas. We started our southbound journey on the AT. We even went past our cars to the Baxter Park Tote Road at the end of our hike to ensure that we didn't miss a tenth of a mile of the AT. Later in the week our journey would take us along the tote road on a separate day hike along the AT southbound.

We next completed the car shuttle giving Eric a ride back to his car. When we got back to the sign-out at the Abol Campground Ranger Station (5PM), I told the ranger there of the OJI North Slide upper end (non-)closing. They also said they would look into it and seemed genuinely concerned. That was the last I talked to anyone about it. They were also glad Eric and us completed our hikes because that accounted for all hikers that signed in on the Abol Slide that day.

It was a damp, dismal evening and night back at the campground and although it never rained hard and the dining tent kept out the rain off our table at our campsite, we could not get anything to dry out.