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sneezer
02-25-2008, 14:01
Heres one for you folks:
does anyone ever top of their north bound thru by continuing over the Knifes Edge after summitting? I know there has to be some special considerations like weather, degree of difficulty after a big climb and return to camp afterwards. Anybody have experience with this?

warraghiyagey
02-25-2008, 14:10
Likely many NOBOs have done this. Wolf will probably know of a few.

max patch
02-25-2008, 14:21
I finished my thru on a day when K was closed (snow and ice); went up with the rangers permission and was told to carry a full pack and to come back down on the AT and to stay off knife edge.

Went back next summer with wife and did a loop; up K on the AT, then knife edge and then down on the (I think) slide trail.

Blissful
02-25-2008, 14:26
Paul Bunyan wanted to - but one look at it and we decided we'd had a great time summiting Kathdin and leave it at that (plus we had our ride waiting for us). But it did look spectacular and several day hikers talked about their hike along it while at the summit.

rafe
02-25-2008, 14:37
IIRC, the Lone Wolf makes a point of hiking Katahdin with a full pack. Not sure why he does that, but IMO, that wouldn't make for a safe trip down the knife edge.

Up and down K in one day isn't the issue. But the Knife Edge is really unlike anything you'll find on the AT. There are places where the path is less than two feet wide, and it's a 60 degree drop off either side, with nothing at all to stop a fall. In other words, almost certain death if you fall.

Venture
02-26-2008, 10:37
The chimney on the knifes edge before summitting Pamola peak could be sketchy with a full pack! Other then that if the weather permits it is certainly worth while!!

mudhead
02-26-2008, 10:45
I finished my thru on a day when K was closed (snow and ice); went up with the rangers permission and was told to carry a full pack and to come back down on the AT and to stay off knife edge.

Went back next summer with wife and did a loop; up K on the AT, then knife edge and then down on the (I think) slide trail.

At the end of the narrow part, you were on Pamola. Which direction did you go from there?

sneezer
02-26-2008, 15:08
with the 'dont tempt it with a full pack' idea in mind - can you carry light from the rangers office, summit Katahdin, traverse the Knife edge, and once down on the other side hitch a ride back, say, to The Birches? Seems like a hoof but possible with the right weather.

hobojoe
02-26-2008, 15:09
with the 'dont tempt it with a full pack' idea in mind - can you carry light from the rangers office, summit Katahdin, traverse the Knife edge, and once down on the other side hitch a ride back, say, to The Birches? Seems like a hoof but possible with the right weather.
I'm curious too, I want to do this this year.

soad
02-26-2008, 15:21
We day hiked BigK in Sep 2006. At the top we were taking to a group of 6 or 7 hikers who had just finished their thru-hike (not sure of their names). Two of them set off to hike the knife edge....about 15 minutes later they came back and said "I had enough #^&@# rocks in PA"

Thinking about it, the last quarter mile or so of the edge before you get to the top is pretty boring and rocky...

mudhead
02-26-2008, 16:24
with the 'dont tempt it with a full pack' idea in mind - can you carry light from the rangers office, summit Katahdin, traverse the Knife edge, and once down on the other side hitch a ride back, say, to The Birches? Seems like a hoof but possible with the right weather.

Sure. Last, best water is just before the campground. Dusty road.

ScottP
02-26-2008, 16:27
Heres one for you folks:
does anyone ever top of their north bound thru by continuing over the Knifes Edge after summitting? I know there has to be some special considerations like weather, degree of difficulty after a big climb and return to camp afterwards. Anybody have experience with this?


Sure. I brought my pack and gear with me, but it's pretty minimal. No big deal.

The Solemates
02-26-2008, 17:08
knife edge is awesome, but no big deal. people always react to how dangerous it seems, but its a walk in the park compared to most peaks.

sneezer
02-27-2008, 10:09
you mean a walk in the kind of park that if you stumble one foot to the left you will immediately loose 1500 feet in altitude. THAT's quite a park!

weary
02-27-2008, 13:43
IIRC, the Lone Wolf makes a point of hiking Katahdin with a full pack. Not sure why he does that, but IMO, that wouldn't make for a safe trip down the knife edge.

Up and down K in one day isn't the issue. But the Knife Edge is really unlike anything you'll find on the AT. There are places where the path is less than two feet wide, and it's a 60 degree drop off either side, with nothing at all to stop a fall. In other words, almost certain death if you fall.
But it sounds and looks more dangerous than it is. No one has ever fallen off either side and been hurt as far as I know. 40 years ago a woman deliberately walked down the side to escape a late autumn storm, and was trapped on a ledge she couldn't climb back up. Both she and the ranger that went to rescue her died.

Most of the injuries on the Knife Edge come from going straight along the trail and falling on one of the several rock scrambles. Even these are not terribly difficult. There are plenty of hand holds, but most people try to come down frontwards, making the handholds worthless. If they would just turn around it would be no more difficult than coming down a ladder. They would have to work at falling.

Weary

peakbagger
02-27-2008, 14:33
I have carried a full external frame backpack across the knifes edge twice, the only issue if that it catches the wind a bit more. (if its windy out, dont do it pakc or no pack)One thing to keep in mind is that the two trails at the end of the knifes edge end up at roaring brook campground. There are always a lot of dayhikers (if its a nice day ) and its easy to hitch back to the main gate (or to Millinocket). To get back to Katahdin Stream you will need to do another hitch from the gate but its also usually easier.

mudhead
02-27-2008, 14:41
Agree.

Hitch out of Roaring Brook. Not much "in" traffic after the lot closes.

fiddlehead
02-27-2008, 17:13
Another problem is waiting for dayhikers to go so slow over the harder parts.
Even the knife edge can get fairly crowded on a nice day.

sneezer
02-27-2008, 17:27
on a 1 to 10 scale (one being a stroll thru a real park; 10 being Mahoosic the 'toughest' stretch on the AT) where would you put the Knifes Edge? In fact, how would you rate the climb up Katahdin?

soad
02-27-2008, 18:43
it's really not THAT bad, I agree that many trails out west have much more exposure and a higher difficulty.

Toward the end of my first hike across the edge I stopped to take a picture, I looked down to notice that I had casually put my main weight bearing foot on a rock that overlooked a 2,000 foot abyss, my toes were over the edge. I was inches from death...:o

rafe
02-27-2008, 19:04
on a 1 to 10 scale (one being a stroll thru a real park; 10 being Mahoosic the 'toughest' stretch on the AT) where would you put the Knifes Edge? In fact, how would you rate the climb up Katahdin?

It was too long ago for me to cite numbers. There are a number of images on Google (images.google.com) and videos on youtube (youtube.com) that give a rough idea of what it's like. Search on "knife edge katahdin".

For example, the video at this link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s98LMMCQ4KA&feature=related) gives a good impression of the sharp drop off both sides. Here's another (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKRZiy_sLcg).

It's not technical climbing by any means, but you do need to be very careful.

weary
02-27-2008, 22:09
Look carefully at the video, and you will notice that the slope is really not severe off the Knife Edge. I've done the Knife Edge several times. There is one eight-foot spot where if you are careless you might fall many hundreds of feet. But to the right of the trail there (heading north) are numerous hand holds for getting you by safely.

For most of the mile long Knife Edge trail, you would have to deliberately keep rolling if you fell. before you could suffer more than a couple of bruises. A fall on a 60 degree rocky slope is not life threatening. You just carefully pick yourself up and walk 15 feet, or less, back to the trail.

Yes. Heavy winds, cold, and the tension of fear complicates crossing the Knife edge. But for people with the ability to use common sense, the danger is minimal, fun, but minimal, very minimal..

Weary

camojack
02-27-2008, 22:17
Heres one for you folks:
does anyone ever top of their north bound thru by continuing over the Knifes Edge after summitting? I know there has to be some special considerations like weather, degree of difficulty after a big climb and return to camp afterwards. Anybody have experience with this?
I would say go for it, conditions permitting...I did.

It seems wider when you're actually on it, but you could plummet to your death if you don't pay attention to what you're doing.

That being said, it's less difficult than climbing up Katahdin via the AT in the first place...

soad
02-27-2008, 22:29
hey guys, im thinking of doing the Cathedral Trail up Big K this year. How difficult of a hike is it? Exposure? Class 2 or Class 3? thanks!

weary
02-27-2008, 22:38
hey guys, im thinking of doing the Cathedral Trail up Big K this year. How difficult of a hike is it? Exposure? Class 2 or Class 3? thanks!
Again. I'm no technical hiker. But I've done the Cathedral numerous times -- once descending in winter. Though we didn't follow the footpath but roped down the snow slope to the right to near Chimney Pond. Frankly, as Como said, the Cathedral is no more difficult that the Hunt Trail (AT) to the summit.

Weary

fiddlehead
02-28-2008, 00:29
I loved the Cathedral trail. I don't remember it as being all that hard. We were starting a SOBO hike and a bit out of shape perhaps also. It was a beautiful day in Oct and there was a ranger going up that way just behind us. (i remember she yelled at us at the top for sitting on some grass)
I love a challenge so will usually take the more extreme/scenic/shorter way up a mtn. if given a choice.