Another October 15th gone...

[Jack Tarlin]

I see from the calendar that today is the 15th of October, which means that another thru-hiking season is over, at least for the Northbounders.

Just wanted to take a minute and congratulate anyone on Whiteblaze who hiked this past year; I had the privilege of meeting hundreds of this year's hikers; the Class of 2005 was a great group.

Also, we're coming into the time of the year when planning for next year is getting into high gear....I hope that all of the new folks at Whiteblaze, especially the folks planning to hike next year, aren't shy about posing questions or coming here with any problems they might run into.

Whiteblaze can be a contentious place sometimes, and every now and then we get tied up with some pretty inconsequential things, but the main reason most of us come here is to answer questions and exchange information.

I hope that in the months to come all of the new folks feel comfortable here, and aren't shy with their questions....that is, after all, what we're here for.

[TJ aka Teej]

As of this afternoon, over 400 northbounders have checked in with the Rangers at Katahdin Stream Campground! Soggy weather and highwater have slowed down many over recent days, and there are still nobos reported heading North in the 100 Mile Wilderness. "No rain, no Maine" holds true for yet another season on the Appalachian Trail!

[neighbor dave]

#130 and #131 this year as nobos on the trail. met lots of great folks too!
congrats to the class of "05"!!!!:clap :jump :banana

[lobster]

Hey wait, I thought there were only 14 thru-hikers this year????

[Just Jeff]

Those were the purists...I think they're leading an insurrection against the other 386... :)

[Nightwalker]

As of this afternoon, over 400 northbounders have checked in with the Rangers at Katahdin Stream Campground! Soggy weather and highwater have slowed down many over recent days, and there are still nobos reported heading North in the 100 Mile Wilderness. "No rain, no Maine" holds true for yet another season on the Appalachian Trail!
I met a SOBO this past Wednesday at Neel's Gap. He started June second at Katahdin and was to be finished Friday night 10-15 at Springer. His name was Stumble. He was a very nice, normal-looking college-aged guy. It didn't look as if the trail had beaten him down at all.

I'm guessing he was one of the first finishers. And yes, he was quite excited...

[Moxie00]

Well Jack, it's too late now but this morning I had a thought for next years southbounders. If they plan to hike next year it would have been a great idea to go to Baxter this fall. Climb Katahdin and hike out to Abol Bridge. Next May they could go to Abol and start south two or three weeks before Katahdin opens. It should count as a thru because it will be within the same 365 day period though not in the same calander year. By doing this they will find high water in the 100 mile wilderness but will get started before the black flies get real bad. It would be even smarter to try to make Monson and then they could escape much of black fly season. Of course I much prefer northbound and hiking with spring. However this year has been no great shakes for northbouders running late. In Maine we have had very heavy rain 13 out of the last 15 days, some days over 4 inches fell and it is falling as I write. All the rivers are over their banks and the ground is totally saturated.

[SavageLlama]

There are actually some NOBOs left!

I stayed a cold and windy night with 3 Nobos (from a larger group of 5) in "The Dungeon" refuge room under Lakes of the Clouds hut. They were planning on continuing on to Katahdin.. but when I saw them a few days later in Gorham the incessant rain and cold temps seemed to be killing their motivation (it definitely took the fun out of the last part of my section hike into Maine).

[Lone Wolf]

The thru-hiking season is long from over. Lotsa SOBOs left. Katahdin doesn't "close" Oct. 15th either.

[Peaks]

News this morning reported 18 inches of snow on Washington, and 15 degrees.

[lobster]

LW,

I was just about to post the same thing when I read what BJ wrote. It's not over until the fat lady sings!

How does Baxter deal with thru-hikers after the 15th? Even though the park is closed to vehicle visitors, it's not a crime to walk in on the AT?

[Footslogger]

[QUOTE=L. Wolf]The thru-hiking season is long from over.
=========================================
I know of 2 NOBO's in 2003 (Rumbler and HikerBikerBabe) who summited on 10/30. It was a cold and slippery climb but they did it and were not stopped by the park rangers. I think the whole "October 15th" thing has more to do with the camping at or near Katahdin lean-to's.

'Slogger

[The Old Fhart]

Lobster-"How does Baxter deal with thru-hikers after the 15th? Even though the park is closed to vehicle visitors, it's not a crime to walk in on the AT?"Actually it is, in Baxter, which is why WD got thrown in jail. Google Baxter and check the regulations yourself. Also there are signs in, I believe, New York, where it says an area that the A.T. goes thru is closed after dark.

[SGT Rock]

When can I hike Katahdin?

The short answer is: "Weather allowing, May 31-October 15."

A.T. hikers going south should not count on hiking Katahdin trails before May 31st. Before this date, even if trails are clear of snow and ice, soils are so saturated that even light foot traffic has been determined to result in irreparable damage to Katahdin's alpine and sub-alpine areas. Several of Maine's endangered and threatened species live in the alpine area and we take our job of protecting them seriously. The Park Director, with input from field personnel, determines when the trails are open for use. Throughout the year, trail status reports can be obtained by calling BSP Headquarters in Millinocket.

In the Fall of the Year, Hikers Must Arrange to Hike Katahdin by October 15th.

After this date the Park is closed to all camping. Hence, A.T. hikers planning to combine a fall hike of Katahdin with camping in the Park must plan on hiking Katahdin before October 15th. Park officials emphasize October 15th as the cut-off date for hiking Katahdin, regardless of your camping plans, because statistics show that, in this northerly climate, chances are slim you will be able to successfully finish your Katahdin hike after this date.

Beginning about the third week of September it is not uncommon to have several Class III (http://www.baxterstateparkauthority.com/hiking/classification.html) or even Class IV (http://www.baxterstateparkauthority.com/hiking/classification.html) days. If you are advised of a Class IV day by park staff and you choose to hike Katahdin despite the warnings, you should be aware of the consequences. (A court summons and fine, seizure of equipment, and Park visitation priveledges revoked.) During this period, in addition to environmental concerns regarding intermittent freezing/thawing of soils, conditions may become life threatening. Typical above-treeline conditions on Class III and IV days include very thin ice that warrants the aid of an ice axe and crampons, but is insufficient to support the use of such gear. These conditions make the above tree-line travel treacherous and subsequent rescues put both the victim and our volunteer teams and staff at risk unnecessarily. Furthermore, any hiker determined to be negligent in the face of staff advice may be charged for costs incurred in a search and rescue attempt.

If you cannot meet the October 15th date for completing your hike of Katahdin, the best thing to do is "flip-flop" and hike Katahdin earlier, finishing up the lower elevation hikes in Maine later or wait until next year to climb Katahdin.


"Thru-Hiking in Baxter State Park." Retrieved 17 October 2005 from http://www.baxterstateparkauthority.com/hiking/thru-hiking.html

[TJ aka Teej]

How does Baxter deal with thru-hikers after the 15th? Even though the park is closed to vehicle visitors, it's not a crime to walk in on the AT?
You can still hike and drive in after the 15th. Baxter staff moves from manning the campgrounds to construction and other projects after the 15th. Thru-hikers won't find campground Rangers easily, their seasonal jobs will have ended or they'll be off getting the Park ready for winter. The porch door at the Katahdin Stream Ranger station will stay open, the register and daypacks will still be available, and you can still stash your backpack there while you summit. Daily weather postings at Trailheads cease, but if a Class 4 situation occurs the trailheads will posted as closed. Only overnight camping ends on October 15th. The permimeter will stay open if weather permits. You can hike into the Park, or drive to the campground trailhead, and summit Katahdin if the trails are not closed, another 'weather dependant' situation.
Once November hits hiking and climbing becomes strictly resticted and regulated, but Baxter is well worth the effort required to visit in Winter.

[SavageLlama]

News this morning reported 18 inches of snow on Washington, and 15 degrees.
Try 34 inches and winds of 136! :eek: I was just on top a few days ago with winds of 75 mph and freezing rain - guess I didn't have it so bad!


03:29 PM Mon Oct 17, 2005 EDT
136 mph. 34 inches of snow. Wow. Looking outside it could well be February. That is not a figure of speech, it really could be. Fins of ice 2ft tall stick up from the deck. A fall in the winds would really hurt now. I wailed a knee on one yesterday while they were still small. It hurt. Portions of the tower have more than 3ft of solid ice on them. Deicing the instruments has been constant and utterly exhausting. My arms are jelly from swinging the crowbar. We’ll all be buff by the end of the winter at this rate. That is of course if we stop gorging on the feasts prepared by Judy Richardi in the kitchen. It seems she has kept pace with the storm baking a loaf of bread for each time the winds gusted above 120 mph, which was a lot. There is a drift near the precip can that is gargantuan. I’ve never seen anything like it. It stands well over 10 ft tall. Stranger still is the composition of the snow. It isn’t really snow at all. It is ice pellets. Do you know how hard it is to accumulate 34” of ice pellets?? This is simply absurd. The result is a very dense pack with little “fluff” factor. There is little to no air space stored inside and tremendous water content. At the height of the storm last night we received 9.2” in 6 hours. The water equivalent was 3.84.” That just ain’t right. I’ve always hear do crazy October storms up here. Now I’ve lived one.
http://www.mountwashington.org/ (http://www.mountwashington.org/)

[Jack Tarlin]

It's evident that Wolf and Lobster didn't read very carefully.

What I said was that "another thru-hiking season is over, at least for the Northbounders." And while Baxter didn't close until the 15th, the vast majority of the 2005 thru-hikers have already been there.

There are still plenty of folks on the Trail heading in all directions, and of course I wish them all well.

[Jack Tarlin]

Correction:

I meant to say "While Baxter didn't close on the 15th..."

The Park does indeed stay open all year round. See www.baxterstateparkauthority.com for details

[Tramper Al]

I see from the calendar that today is the 15th of October, which means that another thru-hiking season is over, at least for the Northbounders.
I think I might be sad to learn this news, particularly if I had flipped up and climbed Katahdin, and was now back on the trail NOBO in Maine somewhere, working hard to finish.

[Youngblood]

Speaking of weather keeping one from thru hiking, here is the latest AP news about Mt Washington: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SNOW_RECORDS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT .

[Spirit Walker]

I wonder how Squeaky is doing? I think he was supposed to start south from Katahdin last week. After reading about the floods in New Hampshire and the Mt. Washington information about record snowfall in October, he may find the AT a lot harder than expected.

[Squeaky 2]

Hi there, Squeaky started the AT on Friday 14th October at 1pm in the afternoon. When I hear from him I will post a message. PorkPie and Natcho gave him a lift from JFK to Katadin and I believe he was looking forward to the AT. Is the weather up there really bad.
Stef

[Squeaky 2]

I wonder how Squeaky is doing? I think he was supposed to start south from Katahdin last week. After reading about the floods in New Hampshire and the Mt. Washington information about record snowfall in October, he may find the AT a lot harder than expected.
Hi there, Don't know where the last message went but I will try to answer you again.

Squeaky started the AT on Friday 14th October at 1pm. Porkpie and Natcho picked him up at JFK and took him to Katadin. He was looking forward to the AT. Is the weather really bad up there.

Stef (his mum)

[Squeaky 2]

Hi there, Don't know where the last message went but I will try to answer you again.

Squeaky started the AT on Friday 14th October at 1pm. Porkpie and Natcho picked him up at JFK and took him to Katadin. He was looking forward to the AT. Is the weather really bad up there.

Stef (his mum)
Hi guys, not knowing the Katadin area and all the Mountains where is Mt Washington, if Squeaky started on Friday is he ahead of the snows or is he walking into them. Here I am sitting in England thinking Matthew had gone through the worst of the weather in the Sierra's now I am worried about the AT has anyone got any more info for me as too where abouts he would be on the Map, I am not familar with any of the Mountains.

Thanks , a worried mum Stef

[Lone Wolf]

Mt. Washington is 330 miles south of Katahdin.

[the goat]

Hi guys, not knowing the Katadin area and all the Mountains where is Mt Washington, if Squeaky started on Friday is he ahead of the snows or is he walking into them. Here I am sitting in England thinking Matthew had gone through the worst of the weather in the Sierra's now I am worried about the AT has anyone got any more info for me as too where abouts he would be on the Map, I am not familar with any of the Mountains.

Thanks , a worried mum StefIf squeaky started at katahdin on last friday, he was approximately 320 miles from mt. washington, give or take. katahdin is in north-central maine, and mount washington is in the northern section of the white mountain range, a/b forty miles or so after you cross the maine/new hampshire border, heading south on the AT.
i know you'll worry anyways b/c you're a mom, but he's got a whole lot of trail experience at this point and that will aid him in making prudent decisions.

[the goat]

damn wolf, i think i may actually type slower than you do.

[magic_game03]

whiteblaze, another great place for misinformation from people who know less than they think they do. :datz happy hiking all!

[the goat]

whiteblaze, another great place for misinformation from people who know less than they think they do. :datz happy hiking all!
it's also a great place for insecure people to anonymously make smug comments over the internet, happy hiking to you as well! :banana

[weary]

Mt. Washington is 330 miles south of Katahdin.
Yeah. But heavy rains are continuing. I was in the Grafton Notch area over the weekend. My plan was to hike into Dunn Notch Falls. The first brook was running so high I walked the blue blazed trail in hopes of finding an easier crossing. I didn't.

So we went back to The CAbin and then to Sunday River for the Maine Chapter AMC annual meeting. (very uninspiring).

Anyone hiking Maine this week can expect high stream crossings. Most are passable one way or the other, but all deserve respect.

Weary

[ARambler]

... Climb Katahdin and hike out to Abol Bridge. Next May they could go to Abol and start south two or three weeks before Katahdin opens. It should count as a thru because it will be within the same 365 day period though not in the same calander year. By doing this they will find high water in the 100 mile wilderness but will get started before the black flies get real bad. ...
The thing I like best about the above strategy is that it would be possible to take more zero days than hiking days. If few jerks on Whiteblaze say it's not a thru, it can't be that bad an idea.

I was thinking of a similar strategy for a SOBO, except trying to get well into VA before running into periods of extended bad weather. I think if I left Katahdin September 1, I would get to Washington before October 1, southern VT by October 15, Duncannon by November 15, and Pearisburg by December 15. That would leave about 6 weeks the following year. It seems to me that walking with fall is more doable because most of the high elevations are way North of Pearisburg. For NOBOs the Smokies come early. Many year lots of people go through the Smokies in shorts, while a couple of weeks later others get trapped in Gatlinburg for a week. The Smokies are too high to wait for the last snow of the year and still have cool weather on the rest of the trail.

[calearn]

Ferryman posted on Thursday that Squeaky crossed the Kennebec River at 2:00.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showpost.php?p=133219&postcount=37

[Cookerhiker]

As of this afternoon, over 400 northbounders have checked in with the Rangers at Katahdin Stream Campground! Soggy weather and highwater have slowed down many over recent days, and there are still nobos reported heading North in the 100 Mile Wilderness. "No rain, no Maine" holds true for yet another season on the Appalachian Trail!
I started at Gorham/Rt 2 Aug 17 and finished Maine September 15. In that 30 day stretch, I certainly couldn't complain about rain - I only had 4 half-days of rain plus 2 whole days: Sept. 1 during Katrina when I zeroed at Stratton and my last day Sept. 15 which really was a half day of hiking (Katahdin Stream to Abol Bridge - I leapfrogged at Abol Bridge and summitted Katahdin Sept. 14).

Ironically, the worst effect from rain was on a sunny morning after a night rain left the rocks on the south side of Bemis treacherous resulting in my falling several times.

[Cookerhiker]

I started at Gorham/Rt 2 Aug 17 and finished Maine September 15. In that 30 day stretch, I certainly couldn't complain about rain - I only had 4 half-days of rain plus 2 whole days: Sept. 1 during Katrina when I zeroed at Stratton and my last day Sept. 15 which really was a half day of hiking (Katahdin Stream to Abol Bridge - I leapfrogged at Abol Bridge and summitted Katahdin Sept. 14).

Ironically, the worst effect from rain was on a sunny morning after a night rain left the rocks on the south side of Bemis treacherous resulting in my falling several times.
Oops - make that the north side.

[Moxie00]

Katahdin is open all year. Every year my son Michael climbs it in Janurary or the first week in February and we have the summit pictures to prove it. First, you sign a waver that you will not expect rescue. Second, you have to prove you have the winter mountaineering skills and equipment for the climb. Third you have to have a support team. You have to ski or snowshoe into your base camp carrying all food and equipment. You establish a base camp within striking distance of the summit. You wait out the weather and IF you get a day where conditions are right you go for it. It is a completly different experience than we thru hikers have on the same mountain in the summer and fall but my son says it is well worth it. People who attempt Katahdin under winter conditions after October 15th tale their lives in their hands if the day turns bad. If you can't make it when the park is open you can still climb but be VERY careful and listen to the rangers. Believe what they tell you about conditions because they know the mountain better than anyone.

[weary]

Katahdin is open all year. Every year my son Michael climbs it in Janurary or the first week in February and we have the summit pictures to prove it. First, you sign a waver that you will not expect rescue. Second, you have to prove you have the winter mountaineering skills and equipment for the climb. Third you have to have a support team. You have to ski or snowshoe into your base camp carrying all food and equipment. You establish a base camp within striking distance of the summit. You wait out the weather and IF you get a day where conditions are right you go for it. It is a completly different experience than we thru hikers have on the same mountain in the summer and fall but my son says it is well worth it. People who attempt Katahdin under winter conditions after October 15th tale their lives in their hands if the day turns bad. If you can't make it when the park is open you can still climb but be VERY careful and listen to the rangers. Believe what they tell you about conditions because they know the mountain better than anyone.
The park is open year round and you can climb Katahdin year round. But you can't camp in the park between Oct. 15 and Dec. 1 as I understand the rules.

On Dec. 1 winter rules go into effect. Starting Dec. 1, you can camp at designated campsites and climb Katahdin if you meet the park qualifications.

Basically, to climb the mountain after Dec. 1 you need a leader with winter mountaineering experience, a party of at least four, and quite a bit of mountaineering equipment. You also have to make arrangements for a backup team in the event you run into trouble -- or at least that used to be the rule. I haven't checked lately.

That is the most difficult requirement, unless you have experience and know skilled groups with experience on the trail, who know your capabilities.

Few wise people will commit themselves to rescue an unknown party attempting to climb a remote and dangerous mountain in winter.

I've been above timberline on the mountain during the winter season a half dozen or more times -- and on the summit once. I've never been a leader on these trips. Each time I didn't make the summit I followed the decisions of the leader -- which every winter climber should automatically do -- whether he/she is right or not, at least when it comes to that critical decision about whether to go for the summit, or turn back.

Sometimes, I admit, that is hard to do. Once we were 10 minutes from the summit. Our leader decided the wind was just too strong to safely keep going. So we escaped down the Cathedral Trail.

Weary