Baxter State Park - Day 3

Katahdin - Hamlin and Baxter Peaks

September 20, 2016

A forecasted overnight chance of showers turned into an all night deluging downpour. Fortunately it slowed down to a light drizzle as our 05:00 alarms went off and we emerged to eat breakfast. Packed up the sopping tents into the car and moved up to the day use parking lot prior to signing the register at the ranger station under headlamp. We hiked quickly up the trail and took our first break at Basin Ponds. It was foggy, but the sun was trying to break through giving us fleeting glimpses of the steep sides of Hamlin Peak. The trail got steeper here and it became an all out scramble for more that 1000' until things started to level off. We were now plunged into a thick wet fog with a stiff wind, so it was instruments-only navigation for the rest of the ascent (i.e. follow the blue paint splotches) until a summit post suddenly emerged from the gloom. We had quickly gulped down some food prior to descending down towards the saddle. The fog began to get patchy and we got the occasional view of a tiny piece of the mountain and much like watching a woman twirling in a loose skirt, experienced a bit of excitement as higher ground was shown, but the prize was never fully revealed. We met one woman along here who waved us down and was thoroughly confused about correlating the trail to the map. I reluctantly unfolded my map in the blowing, wet wind, showed her where we were and where she had to go, but I think she was still confused after we left. As we climbed Baxter Peak, we began to run into a few more people, and as we slowly made our way to the summit we could hear occasional cheering through the fog. Finally the top appeared out of the gloom and we met several AT hikers who were finishing their six month journey. After a few photos of the summit, we hunkered down under a massive cairn which provided a great wind shelter for lunch. We had planned to descend the Knife Edge, but figured this experience would be wasted in the fog, so we decided to take Cathedral trail instead. Wow! A very exciting, straight down 2000' drop of 3rd class scrambling ensued. At one point I boot jammed into a crack and then my foot slipped through into empty space below. My arms shot out and caught my fall before my leg snapped at the knee as I swore loudly enough to cause another climber to pause to see if I needed help. I was fine, but my foot was now completely stuck in this crack. I spent a few awkward minutes struggling until I finally managed to extricate my boot, saving me from an embarassing call out to Deb and Krista who were now far ahead, unaware of my predicament. I continued the descent more carefully. At another crux we spent some time helping a couple of Maritimers negotiate a steep slab, with Deb giving an arse push from below and Krista lending a hand at the top. Finally, and without injury, we arrived down at Chimney pond. We took a long brak on this pretty spot, boping to see the mountain come out of the fog, but alas, it was not to be. A long gentle descent finally brought us back to Roaring brook trailhead after a nine hour day on the mountain. We packed up and drove most of the way across Maine prior to taking a Motel for the night. The next day dawned and we drove the rest of the way home.

Stopped for a break at Basin Ponds.