Katahdin Summit
I read in the ATN that the rangers at Katahdin recommend you take a day pack up to the summit. How many thru-hikers or LDH's summited with their packs? How many with a day pack?
They have a number of loaner day packs at the Ranger Station. I borrowed one. My adrenaline rush was so intense, that I filled my water bottles at Katahdin Stream, and didn't take the first sip of water until I got back to the campground early that afternoon.Originally Posted by shadesofblue68
'All my lies are always wishes" ~Jeff Tweedy~
Only a fool climbs Katahdin without some emergency gear. Yeah, I know. God protects fools and dogs -- or something anyway. But if you are not quite sure of your category, I wouldn't risk it.
Weary
Full pack
I climbed K with one other t-hiker on a day K was closed (with the rangers permission). We were required to carry our full packs. Paraphrasing slightly, after checking our gear the ranger said: "You can climb K but you need to carry all your gear. If you should slip on the ice and can't get down we'll come get you tomorrow. But you won't survive the night without your bag and tent." We had no problem carrying our packs after hearing that!
Deep blue sky and unlimited visability. Nobody else on the mountain. An unforgettable way to end the hike.
the lid of my gregory converts into a fanny pack. i guess that counts as daypack
4 times with a full pack, 6 times with a weenie pack.
My full pack. Start to finish.
We decided to go down the Knife Edge trail on the other side. As such, I had no choice but to carry my full pack up. I don't know if I would have carried the whole thing up or not if I were just going to hike back down the AT again, but it certainly seems kind of fitting to lug the thing to the finish.
-howie
I plan on hiking Katahdin in May or June for my first time. I planned on using just my Camelbak daypack. It has enough room for emergency gear, do you guys think it will do the trick??
Katahdin usually isn't open until early June.I plan on hiking Katahdin in May or June for my first time. I planned on using just my Camelbak daypack. It has enough room for emergency gear, do you guys think it will do the trick??
It's exposed on top. YOu need room for food and extra clothing.
Yup,
Tried to hike Katahdin on June 1 about 10 years ago, but the trail was closed due to snow.
However, after talking to a ranger a while, he said, "You guys look like you know what you're doing, so go ahead, just sign the register, try to stay on the trail (above tree-line), and be careful".
It turned out to be a great hike up the hunt trail to the summit and to south peak.
Some other people tried to hike Abol Slide, but couldn't make it due to deep snow.
I pulled the lid off my Gregory pack and trotted up to the summit. It was the only time I didn't carry my pack on the entire hike. Between adrenaline and the light load, I felt like I was flying.
Pack
I used my pack, but left a little bit of gear back at the station
Full pack the first time, but not because I had carried it the whole way or anything. Weather was a factor.
Backpack with some useful stuff removed and some useless stuff added the second time. Well, not useless, exactly. I mean, we DID use what I brought.
Katahdin closed, I don't like seeing that. Winter rules.
- Tramper Al
Many years ago I spent a June 11 weekend at Chimney Pond, intending to climb the mountain. We had eight inches of new snow. For years the newspaper used a photo I took that weekend whenever it needed a "winter" scene of Katahdin.
Eventually I got into winter hiking and got a real winter photo.
It was a valuable weekend anyway. Along was a new assistant attorney general, who had just come to Maine from Texas. A few weeks later he was assigned to investigate Maine's long lost public lots -- 400,000 acres the state had saved when it sold its public domain 150 years earlier, and then somehow had forgotten about.
A guy who lived in a one-room tarpaper shack had told me about the lands and nine years later I finally did a little feature on them. My editors and the rest of the world thought it was a silly story. Luckily my new friend from Texas didn't. It was his legal research that provided the basis for a Maine Supreme Court decision a decade later. The court ruled that the lands were indeed still owned by Maine.
There ensued a variety of land swaps and deeds that eventually resulted in the 45,000 acre Mahoosuc Preserve, Bigelow Preserve, Four Pond Preserve and the Nahmakanta Preserve, all protecting critical parts of the Appalachian Trail in Maine.
When the Supreme Court made it's judgment, I got a phone call from the state's lawyer (not my hiking friend. He had long since gone back to Texas).
The message was brief. "Bob. To the surprise of everyone in the world, including me, we won."
Weary
I used the pack I had hike wtih since Springer.
Most of my gear was removed, but I did pack a ful watermelon up the Big K.
Glorious day. Weather was beautiful, sky was blue, slices of watermelon delicious.
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