Mighty Mt. Katahdin Part 2

From the Ranger Station we hiked through Katahdin Stream Campground, where we had reserved a shelter for two nights, to the beginning of the Hunt trail. The people who were finding a route for the AT’s northern terminus chose the Hunt trail for the hike up Katahdin. It is named after the man who first found and hiked that particular trail up the mountain.

Where the campground ends and the woods begin there is a plaque with a quote from the man who donated the land of Baxter State Park to the State of Maine embedded into a boulder:

And so, we passed the boulder and stepped onto the trail and into the woods.

We hiked for a few hundred yards and came to this warning sign.

Okay then… On we go…

The trail was pretty easy going compared to what we had hiked in the past. As a result, we all relaxed and enjoyed the hike. We took our time. We took breaks often. We smiled at the other hikers rushing passed us. We let morning turn to afternoon as we neared the treeline. Which is the part of the mountain where trees stop growing and the mountain turns into a giant boulder pile. But we couldn’t see that yet, we had gotten complacent.

Took this pic just before we hit the treeline:

Just after this view the trail began to get more and more difficult. It got to the point that our trekking poles only hindered us from climbing up and over the trail boulders. Then we got above the treeline.

Now if you didn’t know, I am afraid of heights. Yes it’s true that I used jump out of airplanes. But I did that to get over my fear of heights. It didn’t work. They say that true courage is not lack of fear, true courage is the ability to keep going even though you are afraid. But one doesn’t feel very courageous when when all you feel is your heart pounding out of your throat and all you hear is your pitiful mental screams begging God to not let you die.

This trail above the treeline was taking me to the edge of my limits. In a plane you get to jump out of the high place, suffer in the sky for a minute or so and then happily slam into the saftey of the ground. But you don’t get to jump off the mountain… It is just one torturous step up after another with no relief. The worst thing for me was that Gig, Tink, and Off seemed unphased by it all. 

Then we came to a switch-back and the trail turned left onto a four foot ledge that hugged a rock-face. I stepped onto the ledge just as a gust of wind hit the mountainside and pushed me off balance; I knew this was beyond my ability. I stopped and bravely exclaimed, “Break! Let’s take a break.” I led everyone back to the corner of the switch-back and sat down for a smoke. I did not know what I was going to do.

As we breaked on slim-jims and cigarettes, I thought about all that I had done in my life and compared it to the situation I was in now. I had been in fist-fights and car wrecks, jumped out of airplanes and unsafely handled explosives, and lived through bullets and bombs; and a four foot cliff on a mountain was going to beat me? Not in this lifetime… “All right I’ll go forward and check the trail ahead; you guys wait here.” I said.

I got up and confidently walked out of their sight, and I stood at the edge of the cliff. Then as bravely as I could, my heart pounding and my head praying, I crawled on my hands and knees out onto the cliff. I crawled along the cliff for a few feet and then it ended at a drop off.

What the? Where are we supposed to go? I backed up and looked all around me, but there was nowhere to go. Then I looked up and I saw it. There was a u shaped metal bar bolted to the rock-face. Who came up with this? We had to use the bar to climb up off the cliff.  So, I crawled back off of the cliff, then stood up and walked back to the group.

I stated, “Alright, one more smoke and then we’ll hit it. I found the way and it ain’t too bad. We won’t need the trekking poles so stash them in that cave over there. We will get them on the way back down.”

So I sat down and lit a smoke. While smoking a father and his daughter came up the trail. We smiled and waved at each other and they turned the corner. Then we heard their conversation…

Dad: How do we get up there?

Daughter: I don’t know.

Dad: You hiked this on a school trip when you were younger. You should know the way. 

Daughter: I know, but we didn’t take this trail, we went up the other side of the mountain. It’s easier over there.

Dad: Wait, there’s a bar there, I think we go up that.

Daughter: I can’t do that, I can’t reach it.

Dad: Yes you can, I’ll help you.

Daughter: Okay . . . aghhh…. Eeeeeehhh… Don’t let go.

Dad: I won’t, keep going, you can do it. Don’t look down.

Daughter: I’m scared. I can’t do this.

Dad: Yes you can, your almost there.

Daughter: Yayyyyyyy…. I did it….

We sat and listened to this as it went on. Then there was silence. But after the pause we heard them hit the next leg. It sounded much worse. We  listened to this woman and her Dad go through it again. As I listened my confidence in all that I had done in my life and the adrenaline that had built up in my blood drained out of me. I was defeated. That woman’s primal whinnings awakened in me a fear that went down to my core in way I can not explain. I knew then I could not go on.

“Look,” I said, “I can’t do this. Gig and Off, I don’t want you to stop. I know you guys can do it. So you guys go on ahead and we’ll be here waiting for you. Tink stay with me till they get back, I don’t want to worry about you up there. Okay?”

They all understood. Gig and Off got up and headed off. Tink came over and sat beside me to help me feel better. I angrily lit up a smoke.

To be continued…