Starting location: Katahdin Stream Campground
Ending location: Katahdin
State: ME
Miles today: 5.2
Miles total: 2,179.1
It rained pretty hard all night long, but by 7:45 AM it ended. It was still overcast, damp and foggy, however we still got packed up and headed to the trailhead. We were all so excited to climb this mountain, it didn't matter what the weather was like.
We've had an inside joke with Thunder and Daytripper since Virginia, that when someone gets too far in front or hikes too fast we all yell, "See you at Katahdin!". Here we all were actually climbing Katahdin, so we preceeded to say it all morning as we hiked along.
The first 2 miles of the hike were well graded and not too steep. It was great hiking. But as we neared the 3 mile mark we were assaulted with huge boulders and rock scrambles. It was full body rock climbing and although it was difficult, it was fun too.
By the time we reached the treeline, the clouds had dissapated and we could lots of blue skies. It was turning out to be a beautiful day. We were so lucky!
Finally we reached the "Tableland" and the terrain flatten out as we were now just walking along the ridge to reach the summit. All of us were getting anxious as we got closer and closer to the top. Then in the distance we saw a group of people and we knew that had to be the summit.
Sure enough the Katahdin sign came into view. It was surreal. Jason and I had literally walked from Georgia to Maine, together. I lost it as soon as I saw the sign. We had finally made it!
Not only was the weather great, but luck had it that we summitted with Skippy, Daytripper and Thunder, all of whom were our closest friends on the trail. Just the fact that we were all together in the end made for a great day.
We took lots of pictures on the summit and then began our trek back towards the campground. A few hours later we were off the mountain and were greeted by Jason's parents who came to pick us up. We said our goodbyes to our friends and headed towards the coast for vacation!
Jason and I will both do a post with our own summary of our adventure, but first let us enjoy a few days on holiday! Stay tuned!
"I am pretty tired, I think I will go home now." --Forest Gump
Getting there!
We made it!
The champagne may have been extra weight in our packs, but celebrating was well worth it!
Conan + Backwards
4 comments:
Congratulations. I have "found" your blog a month ago and have been an avid follower since. You must feel wonderful.
Congratulations ya'll! Ben and I have been following you the whole way and are so excited for you guys! And I LOVED the champagne!
What an incredible accomplishment!! I know you both must be on cloud 9 :) Hope you enjoy your vacation! Congratulations!!!
I got chill bumps reading your post :) So proud of you BOTH!! Enjoy your Maine holiday!
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