Looking to climb Mount Katahdin as a group of 4, 2 dads and 2 daughters.
Visited these sites already...
http://www.baxterstateparkauthority....ing/index.html
http://region.katahdincommons.com/in...Mount_Katahdin

Our plan is to drive from Saint John New Brunswick on Saturday May 16th,
camp one night, climb on the 17th, and then drive to a motel in Bangor to swim in pool and hook-up with shopping wives. It is the Canadian long weekend the week before the Memorial Day Weekend, but the first week that most of the camp-sites are open. I think we want to park where we camp, then basically day-hike it leaving shortly after 7am, if the mountain is open, and then return to the car and drive to Bangor.

Questions:
1. Understand we will need to make a last minute reservation for the 4 of us, less than 14 days in advance. Is that right? Am I missing anything?

2. Is that a busy weekend? How likely will we to get a campsite?

3. What campsite should we try for? Roaring Brook?

4. What are the odds of the mountain being closed in May?

5. What trails should we take?
Chimney Pond Up, possibly the Knife Edge and Helen n. Taylor back?

6. What is a good plan B for a day of hiking if mountain is closed.

I'm not going to ask how long it will take, because my daughter hasn't told me yet, but our goal would be to peak by noon, but turn around and start heading back no later than 5 hours after we start, and to only do the knife edge if the weather and the girls are still up for it after Baxter's Peak.

7. How long is the trip back compared to the trip up?

8. Is there any gear they are particularly fussy about, or that we should be, compared to our usual hiking gear for Fundy Footpath, etc. The site days they don't like tennis shoes. Do they consider trail runners to be 'tennis shoes'.

9. How much water will we be carrying, and where do we do our final fill up?

10. All comments welcome.