Katahdin: The Moose Is Loose

“Slasher and I made it to Baxter. The trip started out rather ominously, we hit the outhouse and came out to a flat tire. I changed it and headed to the shelter. We set up camp right next to Roaring Brook and cooked up some bar-b-que pork cutlets. As we set up camp, we realized we had no coffee or hot chocolate. Oh well. Then we needed some antacid, so a trip into town was required. After some pepto and a fire with marshmallows, we hit the hay early.

We set out at 7:30, clear blue sky, up the trail to Chimney Pond. Arriving at halfway rock overlook, we traded camera favors with other hikers. The views of the mountains were just something else!

Taking a break at Chimney Pond, Momma Moose and Baby Moose were munching the fir trees. About 30 of us were peering through the brush and snapping pictures. They seemed totally unconcerned and walked about 5 feet away from us. We topped off our camelbacks and admired the mountains, knowing that we would soon be looking back down. Still in awe of them we headed up the Cathedral trail and met the moose again! We slowed the pace as we passed them, amazed at the sight,thankful for our good fortune.

We had heard that Cathedral would be easier than Saddle, as Saddle was loose gravel, and Cathedral was rocky with SOME hand over hand. It took us 4 HOURS to traverse the 1.1 miles. Slasher has a problem with heights near the edge and by the time we realized how difficult it was, it was too late to turn around. It was more difficult than we had anticipated and took up all our time, and the adrenalin ate up all our energy.

Took a break at the Saddle cut off. Awesome views from up there. Exhausted, we dug out the bread and peanut butter and jelly.... and yuck! We brought the jelly up in a JAR!!! It broke! It was all over the inside of the pack. So we had peanut butter sandwiches. A mere half mile from the top, we checked the time. We really had to turn around. Oh so close, and .... Common sense won out and we turned around.

Actually, we headed down the Saddle trail, bemoaning the thought that we could have done THIS trail and made it to the top. We got back to Chimney Pond and checked in. The ranger asked us if we had enough water and flashlights. I assured her that we did and we rested a bit. It was now about 5PM and we were a bit spent. Saw some bunnies romping around, but had to move on back to camp.

It took us 3 hours to get back to camp. On the way, we were leapfrogging a family of 3 adults and an 8 year old girl. The Uncle mentioned how the trails was busting his balls!!!! We busted a gut while the mother looked at her brother, and he explained "The balls of my feet!!!" We were a bit rubber legged and hiking in the dark by flashlite. We were punchy and getting silly and kept remembering how his balls were getting busted! It kept our spirits high. We checked in at Roaring brook and went to the campsite. (We had to move it, and had not yet set it up). Just what we wanted to do in the dark. First up was the light, then the stove and grill. The spinach and cube steaks were ravinouslly inhaled, and the potatoes were finished off just as fast. We got camp set up , got the fire going and the marshmallows too.

As we crawled into bed, exhausted, we tried to stretch a bit but could only think of that poor guys.....uh...FEET! We're still laughing now as we type this. We soon slept soundly til morning. In the morning we slowly moved about, stretching and manipulating our legs - oh-h-h so gently. We got breakfast and broke camp, but not before going to Big Rock on Sand Pond. We had the pond to ourselves and just enjoyed the views and each other.

We did enjoy the high points, and will remember the experiences of the the school of hard knocks. Overall, it was a good weekend, but we kinda wished we'd made it to the top. Oh well, there is always next year!!

P.S. I'll get the pics developed and scanned. I'll give a link as soon as I do.

Happy Trails”

“you forgot the coffeee?!?! Well, no good trip is complete without some hardships to endure I guess.

Good job, B! It sounds like a good trip, even if the "goal" was somewhat redefined. It sounds like you had a lot of fun. :o)

I can't wait to see the moose pics!!”

“No coffee? Who hikes with no coffee? A sham report! I didn't even read it.”

“Cathedral easier than Saddle ? ? Someone was really pulling your leg!

Last time I did Katahdin (did it this year in July and August), three in my party went up Dudley (similar to Cathedral) with plans to cross the knife edge, and I went up Saddle, and we all planned on heading down Saddle. The other party didn't want to commit to a meeting time, since I was headed off to the North Peaks, the Northwest Basin Trails, and Hamlin Peak, ~8 miles compared to their 3.5. I was on my way to Baxter Peak thinking I'd missed them at the trailhead on Saddle, and met them at the .2 mile mark. They waited while I scooted up to Baxter Peak and we had a great hike down together.

That night (we stayed the weekend at Chimney Pond) a cow and calf kept us awake most of the night feeding, grunting and frolicking 10 ft from our lean to.

Seriously though, I can't believe you didn't read the guidebook first - so easy to underestimate AND/OR get lost there.”

“That's quite a report, Uphill Klimber, with a Shakespearean bouquet of comedy and drama! I appreciated reading it, though, because that hike is one of my longer-term goals. And if the weather in Millinocket was anything like it was here on the coast, you chose the right weekend!”

“Twigeater, good to hear from you! Yeah, we did read the report and had a map with us. We were chatting with a couple (daughter and father) who were regulars there. We had hiked with them for a while and a little trust grew there. We were a bit upset that they mislead us and had we met them again we would have given them a piece of our mind, but we tried to keep it enjoyable, since that was where we were. Next time, I think we'll stick to our plan, unless I personally know the "advisor". One man's idea of SOME hand over hand, is another's ALOT. Sure we were pi$$ed but we chose to enjoy it just the same. I wasn't really worried any where along the way. I know when to say it's time to turn back. But I really hated to turn back so close to the goal. Oh well, I'll be back.”

“I'm with you there, Klimber - personally knowing the advisor that is. I get vertigo, something that people who don't have it don't understand, so some people's idea of a "fun" trail can be a nightmare for me. I've done all the currently open trails on Katahdin (except Helon Taylor) at least once, and the only thing I know (almost for sure) is that I never need to do the Knife Edge again!

Glad to hear you made the most of your trip - never hurts to save something for next time! And I'll tell ya, if you want solitude and wild beauty, do the North Peaks Trail sometime - it gives ya a whole different perspecitve of the mountain. Plus if you count peaks you can get 4 or 5 of the 10 peaks on Katahdin in one hike.”

“Twigeater, Helon Taylor is a very easy nice walk, well, practically speaking. Once you clear the knife edge, it's a cake walk. Last year we went up Abol and down Helon Taylor. I look for gentle downhills, gotta watch the knees, and Helon Taylor fit the bill.....Of course... you gotta cross the knife edge to to get to it.... ;p

Happy Trails”

“No ya don't - the Dudley trail from Chimney Pond takes you to Pamola Peak, just like Helon Taylor.”

“Nice report UK! Glad you kept your sense of humor!
(It just occured to me that a good sense of humor is a very important and lightwieght piece of gear to take with you when you back pack. I guess that could greatly expand the definition of a "gear thread" eh?).

I'm planning on visiting Katahdin next summer. I need Abol bridge to Katahdin and Grafton Notch to the NH line to complete the Maine AT.”

“connecting the dots, eh Ped”

“Okay, the knife edge thing piqued my interest. So I went looking around. Here's some photos.

Shot 1

Shot 2”

“http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1022829&a=8704794&p=32022345&f=0

Tekapo, copy and paste this into your browser. It's a shot I took of the knife edge last year. It's pretty awe inspiring. I couldn't quite get my camera high enough to show the sheer drop-off on both sides, some 1800 feet , plus or minus, both sides. It is aptly named.”

“Great pictures UK ! #20 is a nice picture.”

“Tekapo --

At the beginning of the Knife's Edge from Pamola peak you have to navigate "the Chimney". It's a steep cliff section down and up that looks like someone whacked that narrow "knife's edge" crosswise with a meat cleaver.

I did it with a woman who refused to stand erect (erect?!!) the whole mile length of the knife's edge. She did it crab walk style . . .hands and feet. AND, she yelled at me for strolling along upright because it was making HER dizzy.

Meeting people coming the other way turned into a major negoiation. WHo clung to what rock while who schooched past them.

Awesome awesome awesome . . .if you like that stuff.

The Cathedral trail referenced by Uphill goes up the peak at the other end of the knife's edge Baxter peak.

Just goes straight up the bony spine of a ridge. The "Cathedrals" are 3 or 4 big lumps of rocks cliff you have to get around. Its all hand over hand scramblinb. Again . . .AWESOME . . .if you like that stuff.”

“Gotta say it again . .AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME

In the real sense of the word . . .not the california valley sense . . .dude.”

“Tke a look at the picture from UK's albumn. Unless I miss my guess, the ridge in the back of the picture that goes up diagonally from bottom right to top left is the the Cathedral trail

Cathedral Ridge”

“lee, funny story. Which reminded me - twice this year we saw sobbing women on Katahdin, both with what we assumed were their boyfriends. We bet on who'd still be together at the bottom. One had come up the Saddle trail, crying "it's just that *sniff* everything hurts" - now this guy still had a chance, 'cause at least he was comforting her. The other one was coming off the Knife Edge and that guy was done for - she was red eyed, po'd, scared, and NOT stopping. The funniest part was the guilty, sheepish, "I'm never gettin' laid again" looks on the guys faces.”

“Twig--

My trip up Cathedral - -- -with a friend and his wife. She was scared of heights!!!! I was behind her the whole way . . .moving her feet!! I had one hand on each heel of her boots holding her feet in place on the rocks. My friend was ahead of us, just out of stones throw range. She was swearing and crying and threatening divorce. Yup - - - they are now divorced.

It was, coincidentaltly only a few weeks latere I was up n kife edge”

“more . . .
With the friend and his wife we came down off baxter across the saddle and on the trail that is on the other side of the one that goes up the ravine (??))

We got back to roaring brook at 9:30 pm. more than 14 hours on the trail.”

“Hope I do not cry! LOL”

“Got my pictures back of the moose. I'll try to scan and load them this weekend.

Just for the record, I was helping, holding and huggin slasher plenty on the way up cathedral. We were too far to turn back and I really felt awful. This weekend, it's biking on an island!!!!”

“Tekapo, where'd you get that pic in shot 1. It looks like it was taken from the same spot as my #20!!! On the same day no less.”

“http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1022829&a=13731563&f=0

Here's some MOOSE Pics!!! Also a pic of Slasher and me.”

“Hey UK, the shot came from www.maineoutdoors.org. It's a personal photo from someone I'd imagine. No one I know.

Nice pics of the moose. Look's like you could have reached out and climbed on! That was a pretty good shot of you too. Nice shades.”

“lee - That kinda reminds me of when you try and pick up a scared cat up off a carpet. They just sort of dig their nails in and freeze up.

With that kind of terrain, your okay if your confidence is up. But, I've been on fixed lines that were less hairy than that appears.

BTW, I heard you're born with acrophobia. Is that true?”