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| South Peak |
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| The Rocket on Katahdin |
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| The Knife Edge |
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| On the Knife Edge |
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| Chimney Pond |
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| The Canadians making their way |
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| Johnny Rocket scrambling |
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| Walking along a sketchy section |
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| Taking a break, not looking down |
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| Pamola and the chimney |
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| A look back |
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| A narrow section |
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| Some more scrambling |
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| A great ridge walk |
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| The Canadians making their way down the chimney |
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| Heading up Pamola Peak |
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| The Rocket lives! |
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| Looking back at the Knife Edge |
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| Big Bad Katahdin |
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| Hamlin Peak |
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| A good look back |
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| The chimney |
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| the Rocket on Pamola |
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| Looking towards the chimney from Pamola |
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| Chris Hiker with Katahdin in the background |
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| It's all down from here |
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| A balanced rock |
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| Modern rock art |
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| Millinocket Lake |
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| South Turner |
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| Helon Taylor Trail |
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| Pockwockamus Pond |
Johnny Rocket and I descended down the Knife Edge from the summit of Katahdin. It did not take long for the trail to narrow. There were countless ups and downs along the way. Any bouts of vertigo would be countered with the scrambling involved. Angel's Landing dropped off far more sharply, but envisioning the fall off the Knife Edge did not provide comfort. The 2,500 foot drop looked like it'd be far more painful.
There were a few tricky sections along the way. But by far the hardest sections were the descent of the formation called the chimney and the ascent of Pamola Peak. I had to lower myself with my stomach facing into the rock to get down a section on the Chimney. The Rocket took his backpack off to negotiate this section. The ascent up Pamola, though tricky, would have provided far more difficulty descending. Maybe next time.
The view from Pamola is one of the best. It's a place I'd like to be for sunrise. The views from here of the Knife Edge cannot be surpassed. There's an excellent view of the sketchy walk along the cliff. From here there's a great view of Katahdin and it's massive wall that drops over 2,000 feet to Chimney Pond.
From here, The Rocket and I headed down the Helon Taylor Trail. This trail we'd thought would be easy. No such luck. It was almost as rugged as the others. It would take over 2 miles of scrambling before the trail resembled a normal one. This trail provided some great views of the Turner Mountains to the west, which worked out well since the sun was setting. This would be a great trail to end a remarkable day.
“One day's exposure to mountains is better than a cartload of books.” -John Muir
Wow. Baxter looks so incredible. The hike looks so rugged, like one boulder field after another. Were you sore after all the scrambling? Big ups to the rocket for completing the journey. Can't say I've ever done anything as hardcore as Baxter.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say this most likely was the most hardcore hike I've done. But like I said, some of the stuff we've done in winter were a bit more serious.
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