Every summer, hordes of people flock to Maine. So many people come, in fact, that the Pine Tree State has another eponym: Vacationland. The state has many mountains to enjoy, including the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, which also happens to be the highest point in the state. Mount Katahdin, located within Baxter State Park in Piscataquis County (that’s pronounced pis-CAT-uh-quah), towers like a triple ice cream cone. The mountain boasts five peaks: Baxter, Pamola, South, Howe, and Hamlin. Baxter is the summit, at 5,267 feet (1,605 m), and is accessible via 5 different trails ranging in difficulty.
The most famous of the trails to Baxter Peak is Knife Edge, which crosses the mountain from Pamola Peak to Baxter along a jagged route that is so narrow and with such a steep drop to either side that the parks service closes it when the wind kicks up and they deem it unsafe. Many people have lost their lives attempting the traverse, which can be quite nice when the weather is good.
The Hunt Trail is a little over five miles, taking hikers up to Baxter Summit via a very pleasant path through the woods, over streams and waterfalls, which open out to an exciting climb up the boulders past the tree line. The Abol Trail is shorter, at under four miles, but is more consistently steep, and has hikers battling gravity with a scree-lined path. For a more strenuous Katahdin experience, the 17-mile Mount Katahdin Loop takes hikers from Hunt Trail to Knife Edge, with a looping return back to Hunt. No matter how you get to the summit, Katahdin is beautiful and beastly, a humbling experience at the kneecaps of the universe.
The finicky weather cannot be underestimated. Every child in the state of Maine learns this as they read Donn Fendler’s Lost on a Mountain in Maine as part of the school curriculum. The book is a biographical story of how Fendler, while hiking Katahdin at age twelve, was separated from his family. A storm came and turned his disorientation into an almost two-week ordeal in the wilderness. The story, originally published in 1939, is a reminder of the unforgiving nature of the Maine wilderness. Hiking Katahdin can be a wonderful experience… just stay on the trail. If you visit in the warmer months, be sure to come prepared for the black flies.
Henry David Thoreau appreciated the awe of Katahdin, referring to his 1846 excursion to the mountain’s summit in Ktaadn, published in 1848. Thoreau wrote of Man as the source of evil in the world, particularly for believing it appropriate, possible, and worthwhile to tame nature. Thoreau found a sense of glee – sometimes interpreted as a tenuous grasp of sanity – in Katahdin’s refusal to be tamed. Anyone climbing the mountain as the clouds are rolling in will understand. Needless to say, when hiking Katahdin, do not take any warnings lightly.
