After Soaking at Baxter's

OK.  Most of you aren't old enough for the Jefferson Airplane reference.  I was amused.

Anyway, my original plan was to hike Baxter State Park from top to bottom and then continue on the Appalachian Trail all the way to New Hampshire.  What I didn't count on was having to return home to have some stitches removed from minor surgery.  As it turned out I was quite happy to return home after five days of wet feet and more than a couple of strenuous days.

 The trip started at the much quieter northern entrance to the park for a hike along the Freezeout Trail.  Fernwood has done this as a three-day backpacking trip so I've always been curious what it was like.  The trail meanders through the woods above the shores of Lake Matagamon before coming out on the Lakeside at Northwest Cove.  It then follows Webster Stream then loops back down to the park road.  When I was there the trail was quite wet and given that there's a lot of length and not a lot of traffic it was more like a shallow stream for several stretches.  However it also meant that Webster Stream was riding high and the Grand Pitch falls were really roaring. 

The next big attraction was an extinct volcano called The Traveler.  There was even a talk by a state geologist the night before at the campground to point out some of the local features.  By now the lingering showers from hurricanes Katia and Lee had passed and the weather going over the three peaks was quite nice.  The two trails up the main peaks have now been connected to form a very scenic if challenging loop with views of Katahdin, Lake Matagamon and the East Branch of the Penobscot.

Finally a hike up Katahdin from the northwest staying the night at the Davis Pond Lean-To.  It's  much like Chimney Pond with a lot more solitude.  Initially when I got above treeline I was in the clouds all the way up to Hamlin Peak.  But as I approached the Saddle the weather cleared and I had unlimited visibility for the rest of the day. 

And just to give myself a little icing on the cake I descended using the Abol Slide. It's a rockslide that involves more than a little creative route finding within the slide area. It's also REALLY steep at the top. There were several sit-downs and a couple of backpack tosses involved getting down but I can now say I've done all the trails on Katahdin as well as having hiked the entire length of the park. 

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