Mighty Mt. Katahdin Part 4

The Sign!

We were at the sign on the summit of Mt. Katahdin. It was about 15:30 and late in the day for a descent down the mountain. It would probably be dark by the time we got to our reserved shelter. We needed a break…

The real problem was that I was completely exhausted. The climb up had taken more out of me than I had expected and I didn’t think it was safe for me to climb back down that trail. I didn’t know what to do (as usual…). So I sat and prayed.

While praying and awaiting an answer from God, I heard a childish whoop behind me. I turned towards the sound and couldn’t believe my eyes when up a side trail came a father and his ten year old son. They walked to the sign and started taking pictures. I was stunned! What trail did they come up? Whatever trail it was, that was the trail I wanted to go down!

Thank God for His amazing answers!

Just at that moment the father and daughter from earlier came from another trail. They had walked from the summit out to another peak on Katahdin.

Through our conversation, I learned the father and son had hiked up the Saddle trail; the very same trail the daughter had hiked up and down on her school trip when she was a teenager. They were all going down the Saddle trail. The problem… It was 18 miles from the Saddle trailhead to our shelter. If we hiked down that trail we would be stranded 18 miles from our shelter and gear. But there was a parking lot there. Well then, I’ll sit at the parking lot till I get us a ride! Better safe than Sorry!

I sent Off down the Hunt Trail to retrieve our trekking poles and to inform the park rangers that Gig, Tink, and I were going down the other trail and that we were not lost in the mountains. Gig, Tink, and I would hike down the Saddle and then get a ride to the shelter. That was the plan.

We would hike down this:

The Saddle Trail

See the white line going down into the valley? That is the “safer” trail…

Well, it was much safer. It was an old land slide. All we had to do was sit and slide from rock to rock down to the treeline. At the treeline the rock-slide turned to a boulder trail. And from there, we hiked on . . . Till it got dark. So we hiked on with headlamps and had to take many breaks due exhaustion.

At about 21:00 we took a break and I sat down to roll a smoke. At my feet I saw something metallic on the trail. Gig and I looked it over and found that it was an expensive tactical flashlight. It was nice, so, we packed it and forgot about it as we finished our break and started hiking again.

About twenty minutes later I saw my headlamp’s light reflect off of something in the distance. I stopped and looked more carefully down the trail. I knew what I was seeing then, and didn’t like it. It was reflectors on someone’s shoes. Someone who was walking at night, in the dark, in the woods of Maine.

I told Gig to get ready. I got ready. I told Tink to walk a little behind us and be ready to run if something happened. Gig and I would slow whoever it was down if we needed too. Everyone ready, we walked on cautiously.

Then I noticed that the person had noticed us and was waiting by the trail. My light flashed across his face. It was a man. But, he was an old man and I could see he was scared of who he had run into walking at night, in the dark, in the woods of Maine.

“Are you okay?” I asked in the hopes of calming him.

“Yes.” he said slowly as we walked up to him. I think he realized we were leery of him and his situation, because he continued, lowering his head, “But, I lost my flashlight somewhere back on the trail.”

“No you didn’t.” I said quickly and I reached for the light we had found. “It’s right here.” I said lifting it up to him and smiling. He just stood there stunned. Then after a few seconds he reached out and slowly took the flashlight. I could tell he couldn’t believe the situation.

Isn’t God amazing? He uses us even when we think we are doing crazy things; like hiking the wrong trail down a mountain only to be 18 miles from where you want to be.  Who decides to walk into the unknown, knowingly, because he knows God will knowingly use the unknown? Well . . . Me! With all that God does, what else is there to do? God wanted us to save that man by having us take the Saddle trail and take a break at the exact spot the man had dropped his flashlight.

“Thank you.” The man said. I said, “Your welcome,” as Gig, Tink, and I hiked on.

We hiked on for awhile with the man following slowly. But we kept getting further and further ahead. So I told Gig and Tink we needed to slow down and walk with the guy. So we let him catch up to us and we used his pace to keep going.

We learned that he and his wife had hiked Katahdin that day. He had gotten tired and sent his wife ahead. Then he lost his flashlight. He had been walking in the dark for an hour or so trying not to get lost when we showed up. His wife would be waiting for him at their car. He told us he would love to give us a ride to our shelter on the other side of the park. God again…

So the four of us hiked on…

At about 22:30 we stepped out of the woods and onto a road. We could see a building up ahead. As we walked to the building a park ranger called to us and asked us our names. We told him. He had been waiting for us and the man to come off of the trail. The man’s wife had informed the ranger her husband was still on the trail. The ranger knew about Gig, Tink, and I from Off. Oh yeah, Off…

Off had made it. He had hiked down the Hunt Trail, got our trekking poles, and found a ranger. He told the ranger we would be hiking down the Saddle. The rangers looked at the list for a bunkhouse where we would be and found that it would be empty. They decided to let us stay in the bunkhouse for the night for free. Then they sent a truck to pick up our gear and bring it to the bunkhouse for when we got there. After telling the rangers, Off went to sleep in the shelter we reserved.

We decided to stay in the bunkhouse instead of riding with the man. After all the the Baxter State Park Rangers had done to accommodate my family and I, I couldn’t refuse.

We thanked the man for offering us a ride, but, we told him, he needed to get himself and his wife home to get some rest. He thanked us for his flashlight, we shook hands, and he headed for the parking lot. Then the Ranger took us to the bunkhouse.

At the bunkhouse we ate Ramen and went to sleep. We had hiked a total of 10.7 miles.

It was an amazing day . . . Just unbelievable! Filled with God and His Will…