Hiking the Hunt Trail on Mount Katahdin
Jun. 23rd, 2007 10:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eorThe short version:
Despite less than ideal weather, an unfamiliar climb and being completely out of shape we made a good show of almost reaching the highest point in Maine. The Hunt Trail is 5.4 miles long and about 4200 vertical feet elevation gain. We made it about 4.9 miles and less than 500 vertical feet from the summit before turning back. At one point we actually stopped and downclimbed a bit because the weather was causing us concern. If we hadn't had that delay we might have made the summit, or maybe not, we pushed ourselves to our limits with this one so early in the season.
We arrived on Wednesday at about 2pm, a five hour drive form Portland. By the time we reached the park there was a steady rain. When we first stepped outside we were accosted by a such a collection of biting insects we now look like we have chickenpox. We parked the van, pitched the tarp, had supper, and went through our packs in final preparation for the hike. As soon as it began to get dark we crashed with the alarm set for 4am.
Thursday, hike day:
Up with the first bird songs, dressed, hydrated, lunch made, and ready to roll. It still took us an hour to get up, out, and to the trailhead, but we were off up the trail at 5am. The first mile of the trail is a mild up slope to the Katahdin Stream crossing. It was a bad sign that it took us an hour to cover this distance. The weather was pleasantly cool and the mosquitoes were motivation to keep moving. We did see our first non-insect wildlife in this section, a desert colored toad was feasting on the plentiful insect life.
The second leg of the trail is slightly more steep, a lot of stairstep like terrain through the forest above the stream then turning further up along the edge of an arete. During this leg the wind came up a bit and the day was still cool. We slowed considerably during this section, crossing the stream at 2.1 miles after an additional hour and half (7:30am). The climbing became more steep, taller stairs and less soil between them, as the trail heads for treeline.
The treeline transition on this trail is the most marked I've ever seen. As the trees begin to shorten and develop the alpine look the trail suddenly turns into the boulder field at the top of the arete. The first time we hit this point we came out of the trees in shirtsleeves, sweaty from climbing, and were hit by a wind of at least 40mph, the dark bellies of clouds, and temps hovering around 50F. After a rest we started into the boulder field and promptly turned around. The wind was so strong and the start of the boulder field so intimidating we decided we wouldn't face another two miles of that. (9am)
We downclimbed into the trees and met up with someone who was familiar with the trail. He let us know that the wind speed was a localized thing and it would abate once we got past the first bit of the boulder field. We decided to go up, playing leapfrog with his group for the next 1,500 vertical feet as we worked our way through the boulder field and along the arete.
The first part of the boulder field is known as the Iron Ladder. This is because some parts are so sketchy there are iron fixtures mounted into the sides of boulders to aid climbers. The wind was fierce. I don't have any pictures from this area because I was busy getting my butt through it. The sense of relief when you reach the small plateau at the top of this area is awesome.(10am) At this elevation the views are impressive and you can see the way ahead clearly. The next section look deceivingly straightforward. It is in fact 1,000 vertical feet of boulder scramble, occasionally passing through narrow sections that channel the slightest breeze into 40mph gusts. It took us until 11am to reach the end of this steep section.
Passing over the crest of this long arete we stepped into a surreal landscape. The Tableland is appropriately named. I almost expected to see people with picnic baskets and croquet mallets. This was an easy walk across to Thoreau Spring in the middle of the table, but at this point we were completely wiped out (11:30am). We were near the end of our rope, but we pushed on and got within a half mile of the summit, about 500 vertical feet, before we decided we would not make it before our agreed upon cutoff time (noon). We could have pushed on, but we were both very tired and we had set noon as our latest time to turn back.
The downhike was long and tiring, but uneventful. The clouds lifted a little, the wind dropped a tiny bit, and we got some more sun on the way down. We got through the tricky parts of the boulder field and the Iron Ladder without any surprises. The iron ladder was actually less scary than thinking about it had been.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
derien had to put on a knee brace just before the Iron Ladder and wanted to kill me most of the way down. My knees held up relatively well. The worst part of the descent for us wasn't the boulder field but the staircase stuff between treeline and the Katahdin Stream crossing. We made it back at about 5:30pm, had supper, massaged each others legs and fell asleep at dark.
It is disappointing to have put in that much effort and only miss the summit by 500 feet, but the mountain will be there tomorrow, next year, and the next. I'd rather face it another day than have to spend the night on the mountain or get carried off it on a stretcher. We made the right call even if we didn't like making it.
I was surprised we didn't see more people. In total we probably encountered 25 people all day.
Friday: We woke up fairly early and moved very slowly. We had breakfast, took down the tarp, took a couple of little walks around the campground to stretch stiff muscles, then began the long trip home. We arrived home around 4pm.
Pictures (I decided not to inline them because they are very large the post was long enough already):
The beginning of the boulder field below the Iron Ladder
A progression of pictures to show the scale of the boulder field. First pic isderien in some boulders, see if you can find where the first picture was taken in the second picture. The third and final pictures give you closeups.
Derien in boulder field, first in progression
Looking up at the boulder field, second in progression
Close up highlighted, boulder field, third in progression
Close up, boulder field, final in progression The arrow marks the camera position.
Tableland in the cloud.
The view west from above the Iron Ladder
A hardy little bird above treeline
One of the many butterflies
Despite less than ideal weather, an unfamiliar climb and being completely out of shape we made a good show of almost reaching the highest point in Maine. The Hunt Trail is 5.4 miles long and about 4200 vertical feet elevation gain. We made it about 4.9 miles and less than 500 vertical feet from the summit before turning back. At one point we actually stopped and downclimbed a bit because the weather was causing us concern. If we hadn't had that delay we might have made the summit, or maybe not, we pushed ourselves to our limits with this one so early in the season.
We arrived on Wednesday at about 2pm, a five hour drive form Portland. By the time we reached the park there was a steady rain. When we first stepped outside we were accosted by a such a collection of biting insects we now look like we have chickenpox. We parked the van, pitched the tarp, had supper, and went through our packs in final preparation for the hike. As soon as it began to get dark we crashed with the alarm set for 4am.
Thursday, hike day:
Up with the first bird songs, dressed, hydrated, lunch made, and ready to roll. It still took us an hour to get up, out, and to the trailhead, but we were off up the trail at 5am. The first mile of the trail is a mild up slope to the Katahdin Stream crossing. It was a bad sign that it took us an hour to cover this distance. The weather was pleasantly cool and the mosquitoes were motivation to keep moving. We did see our first non-insect wildlife in this section, a desert colored toad was feasting on the plentiful insect life.
The second leg of the trail is slightly more steep, a lot of stairstep like terrain through the forest above the stream then turning further up along the edge of an arete. During this leg the wind came up a bit and the day was still cool. We slowed considerably during this section, crossing the stream at 2.1 miles after an additional hour and half (7:30am). The climbing became more steep, taller stairs and less soil between them, as the trail heads for treeline.
The treeline transition on this trail is the most marked I've ever seen. As the trees begin to shorten and develop the alpine look the trail suddenly turns into the boulder field at the top of the arete. The first time we hit this point we came out of the trees in shirtsleeves, sweaty from climbing, and were hit by a wind of at least 40mph, the dark bellies of clouds, and temps hovering around 50F. After a rest we started into the boulder field and promptly turned around. The wind was so strong and the start of the boulder field so intimidating we decided we wouldn't face another two miles of that. (9am)
We downclimbed into the trees and met up with someone who was familiar with the trail. He let us know that the wind speed was a localized thing and it would abate once we got past the first bit of the boulder field. We decided to go up, playing leapfrog with his group for the next 1,500 vertical feet as we worked our way through the boulder field and along the arete.
The first part of the boulder field is known as the Iron Ladder. This is because some parts are so sketchy there are iron fixtures mounted into the sides of boulders to aid climbers. The wind was fierce. I don't have any pictures from this area because I was busy getting my butt through it. The sense of relief when you reach the small plateau at the top of this area is awesome.(10am) At this elevation the views are impressive and you can see the way ahead clearly. The next section look deceivingly straightforward. It is in fact 1,000 vertical feet of boulder scramble, occasionally passing through narrow sections that channel the slightest breeze into 40mph gusts. It took us until 11am to reach the end of this steep section.
Passing over the crest of this long arete we stepped into a surreal landscape. The Tableland is appropriately named. I almost expected to see people with picnic baskets and croquet mallets. This was an easy walk across to Thoreau Spring in the middle of the table, but at this point we were completely wiped out (11:30am). We were near the end of our rope, but we pushed on and got within a half mile of the summit, about 500 vertical feet, before we decided we would not make it before our agreed upon cutoff time (noon). We could have pushed on, but we were both very tired and we had set noon as our latest time to turn back.
The downhike was long and tiring, but uneventful. The clouds lifted a little, the wind dropped a tiny bit, and we got some more sun on the way down. We got through the tricky parts of the boulder field and the Iron Ladder without any surprises. The iron ladder was actually less scary than thinking about it had been.
derien had to put on a knee brace just before the Iron Ladder and wanted to kill me most of the way down. My knees held up relatively well. The worst part of the descent for us wasn't the boulder field but the staircase stuff between treeline and the Katahdin Stream crossing. We made it back at about 5:30pm, had supper, massaged each others legs and fell asleep at dark.It is disappointing to have put in that much effort and only miss the summit by 500 feet, but the mountain will be there tomorrow, next year, and the next. I'd rather face it another day than have to spend the night on the mountain or get carried off it on a stretcher. We made the right call even if we didn't like making it.
I was surprised we didn't see more people. In total we probably encountered 25 people all day.
Friday: We woke up fairly early and moved very slowly. We had breakfast, took down the tarp, took a couple of little walks around the campground to stretch stiff muscles, then began the long trip home. We arrived home around 4pm.
Pictures (I decided not to inline them because they are very large the post was long enough already):
The beginning of the boulder field below the Iron Ladder
A progression of pictures to show the scale of the boulder field. First pic is
derien in some boulders, see if you can find where the first picture was taken in the second picture. The third and final pictures give you closeups.Derien in boulder field, first in progression
Looking up at the boulder field, second in progression
Close up highlighted, boulder field, third in progression
Close up, boulder field, final in progression The arrow marks the camera position.
Tableland in the cloud.
The view west from above the Iron Ladder
A hardy little bird above treeline
One of the many butterflies
