the beginning sounds confusing

[Thumper 2006]

I have been reading the ALDA and it recommends that i should be getting ready to place reservations at Baxter State Park. Being a southbounder i also have been reading that you have to summit Katahdin turn back around and hike back down the way you came, if so why? I thought that it was near the beginning of the 100 Mile Wildnerness. Can someone give me some input on making these reservations. If this is a necessity to a thru-hike how many reservations should i make and where? :-?

[mdjeeper]

To get to the start of the northern end of the AT you have to summit Katahdin. Thats the actual beginning of the trail at this end, so to start your hike you do have to go up the mtn and then back down. if you didnt want to go up the same that that you are coming down, you could always head up Katahdin from the otherside and come down the AT

[Peaks]

First, as posted, the end (or start) of the AT is the summit of Katahdin. So, either go up the Hunt Trail, which is the AT, or go up one of the other trails to reach the start of the AT. The 100 miles wilderness starts at the boundry of Baxter State Park at Abol Bridge.

If you plan to stay in Baxter State Park, and you have not hiked in from at least Monson, then you need a campsite reservation. Other than that, parking lots in Baxter State Park can fill early. Once they are filled, then no more parking at that trailhead. So, if driving in, be in line early when the gates open.

[rickb]

I didn't have the benefit of White Blaze, so I just looked at a map and decided that I'd start on the North (which may well actually be East, thru hikers just think in two directions) side of the mountain. That was rather dumb-- not so much because a full pack is not an easy way to climb Katahadin, but rather because itdoing so could create a real possiblity of injurying/pulling something on an untoned body and set of knees.

Climbing from the far side of Katahdin with a day pack would be a great choice, but only if you had someone to get your full pack to the other side. As a practical matter I think that would mean family of friends where dropping you off. If you start from Roaring Brook as I did, you could go over the mile long knife edge (a bit scarry for many) or take an alternatve trail up by way of Chimney Pond. But if you arrive in the park alone, it would likely be tough to get your stuff around.

So, chances are you would start up either the Hunt Trail (wich is the AT), or the Abol Slide Trail, which joins the AT near the AT's terminus. Then you around and come back the AT (AKA the Hunyt Trail). Your choice, but personally, I would go up the AT. The Abol Slide Trail is not great (IMHO) and has a lot of loose tallus. Besides, the AT/Hunt Trail is so magnificent in that section that it is very worth of weeing in both direction.

If you take the Hunt/AT trail, you will probably want to have reservations at Katahdin Stream Campground for two nights. Why? Simply because you will want to start your climb early in the morning (the roads inside the Park are much slower than they look on a map), and when you get back down you will be too tired to go any farther.

Reservations are made on a rolling basis, and details can be found on this site or by dooing a googlel on Baxter State Park AUthority. If you have a specific date to arrive at Baxter, then you would want to make your reservations at a specific date (4 Months in advance I think) to have the best shot at a place. FWIW, if you have friends or family that might make a vacation of things and drop you off Baxter has some great Lakeside Cabins that would be worth looking into-- as a hiker without a family member to serve as a taxi driver, you would want to stay right at the base of the mountain and right on the AT-- WHich means Katahdin Stream CG.

Rick B

[rickb]

Where is an edit buttom when you need one?

[TJ aka Teej]

I have been reading the ALDA and it recommends that i should be getting ready to place reservations at Baxter State Park. Being a southbounder i also have been reading that you have to summit Katahdin turn back around and hike back down the way you came, if so why? I thought that it was near the beginning of the 100 Mile Wildnerness. Can someone give me some input on making these reservations. If this is a necessity to a thru-hike how many reservations should i make and where? :-?
The Appalachian Trail ends on the tops of two mountains, Springer in Georgia and Katahdin in Maine. Northbounders must climb Springer to begin their hike just as southbounders must climb to Baxter Peak on Katahdin. The reason a sobo (MEGA) goes up and down the same trail is that due to weather considerations in late May/early June the A.T. is usually the only open trail on the Mountain. The Hunt Trail (the A.T. might not open before Memorial Day weekend. (By the way, call it Katahdin, not "Mount" Katahdin. Katahdin is an Indian term that means "the greatest mountain," and that's the traditional and local name for the Mountain.) MEGA hikers can't stay at the Birches Longdistance Hiker site in Baxter Park. That site, about a 1/2 mile south of the Ranger's Cabin in Katahdin Stream Campground, is reserved for nobo (GAME) AT users who hike in from at least 100 miles away. I always recommend that MEGAs stay two nights, before and after their climb, at Katahdin Stream Campground at the base of Katahdin. The Appalachian Trail travels through Katahdin Stream Campground, and from the trailhead Baxter Peak is 5.2 miles away via the Hunt Trail. Fit and excited northbounders sometimes fly up and down the Hunt Trail in less than 5 hours. A just-off-the-couch day hiker might take 10 hours. It is a serious mountain, people die here, talk with the Ranger and be prepared.
Random thoughts:
a The bus from Bangor gets in after suppertime, 30 miles from the Park. You should plan on a motel after you get in and a Taxi ride the next day, or arrange ahead of time with the Taxi service to pick you up at the bus stop and drop you off outside the park at a legal campsite (where you'll set up in the dark) from which you'll make your way into the Park the next morning.
b Try to hook up with another MEGA to share the expense of the campsite in Baxter State Park. Single or double costs the same.
c Get a lean-to and not a tent site in case it rains, you don't want to start out with soaking wet gear.
d After your climb, the Abol Bridge ("Linda's")Store and Campground is a 3 1/2 or 4 hour hike on the A.T. from your site at Katahdin Stream Campground. Stop there and enjoy a fresh sub and cold drink or two, and maybe buy some very short term supplies. The 100 Mile Wilderness trailhead is across the bridge from the store, less than a 1/2 mile away on the left, and Hurd Brook Lean-to is about 3 1.2 miles in.
e Try to visit the Park Headquarters in Millinocket, and introduce yourself to the nice folks behind the counter. They are extremely knowledgeable and live to help Park visitors. Talk with Bruce White, the Head Ranger at Katahdin Stream Campground, he's one of the Good Guys.
f Have the time of your life! Maine in the Spring is beautiful, you'll never regret seeing the woods wake up after a long winter.
g www.baxterstateparkauthority.com (http://www.baxterstateparkauthority.com) has all the info on the new reservation policy for this year. If you need any help, just call the Park or email me at [email protected]

hope this helps a bit,

[TJ aka Teej]

Where is an edit buttom when you need one?
Mine comes and goes, Rick. It's only there if I don't need it! :D

[SGT Rock]

That isn't right...

[The Old Fhart]

SGT Rock, When you say it isn't right, it doesn't seem to be in all threads. I just entered a reply in the "media" thread and the edit button is still there. Not that I ever kneed one. :)

[SGT Rock]

I thought we gave everyone the edit function. What sounds odd is it is in some places and not others. Maybe Rick B just pissed the server off and it didn't give it to him. Finicky computers...

[Mountain Dew]

This thread is why GA -> Me is the only way to go... :D

[Grampie]

During my thru in 2001 I flip-floped. After hiking NOBO to Duncannon I went to Maine to become a SOBO. My wife drove us up to Millinocket, spent the night in town and in the morning she drove, me, Texas Jack and a friend, to Baxter so that we could hike Katahdin. We got to the park gate at 5:30 AM to see a line of about twenty cars wanting to go into the park. When it became our turn, at the gate, the park ranger informed us that we would not be allowed to go to the AT trail at Katahdin Stream because it was full. I told her we were on a thru-hike and just wanted to be left off but it fell on deaf ears. She told us to come back the next day earlier and get in line again. My wife needed to get back home and we didn't want to waste another day so I approached the attendant and asked her if we could hike another part of the park. She said we could so we gained entry to Baxter. Our plan was, once we saw the white blaze we would jump out of the car and start hiking up Katahdin. From talking to the ranger, at the gate, I was led to believe that someone would check to see if we had the proper permit to go up. We ended up not having any problems. We were dropped off at Katahdin Spring camp grounds, we hiked Katahdin, class I day, and my wife picked us up at the end of the day in the campgroung.
The next morning, after another night in town, we returned to the trail and headed SOBO. :clap

[TJ aka Teej]

When it became our turn, at the gate, the park ranger informed us that we would not be allowed to go to the AT trail at Katahdin Stream because it was full.
Even if the parking lot at Katahdin Stream is full, the rules allow hikers to be dropped off outside the campground on the AT. Taxi (it's a van, actually) drivers and shuttles do this quite often. The Ranger was probably thinking that you needed a place to park the car you were in.

[JoeHiker]

I thought we gave everyone the edit function. What sounds odd is it is in some places and not others. Maybe Rick B just pissed the server off and it didn't give it to him. Finicky computers...Could it (the ability to have an edit button) be a per-forum setting? My vague impression is that that is the case. I haven't exactly spent a lot of time trying to verify this though.

[SGT Rock]

Well you can do that,but that would be very tedious to have to set it to each individual forum.The setting place is actually under user group permissions. That way any registered user gets a global permission.