Most of the crew got up early to get the breakfast buffet at Abol Bridge Store but I had enough food to skip it and sleep in. I left my last LotR book in the shelter and left a note with it hoping my friend Pipes would find it. He's been picking up my books since The Hobbit and now he was a week or so behind me. I also left my last trail log entry, using my go-to the Hunter S. Thompson quote accompanied by advice to continue adventuring, don't go back to a boring job and let the AT be the only crazy experience you do with your life. It was a beautiful and sunny day so the crew and I day drank outside the store and went swimming in the Penobscot River near Abol Bridge Campground. We all pitched in some money to buy a TON of hot dogs, s'mores supplies, and beer so we could party it up on our last night on the trail. The 10 miles to Katahdin Steam Campground flew by and we took a break to slide down Little Niagara Falls...same name but much smaller than the one you're thinking of.
View of Mount Katahdin as I crossed Abol Bridge
We had a campsite at the Katahdin Stream Campground where we drank the PBRs and devoured hot dogs until we were completely stuffed. Some went down to a bridge for star gazing while some stayed to share stories around the fire. Most of the crew cowboy camped on the gravel pad on the campsite and I, of course, hammocked nearby because I am not a dirty ground peasant! The next morning we ate some more hot dogs for breakfast and departed in waves to make the final ascent up to the Northern Terminus. I snapped some pictures of Katahdin Stream Falls and chatted with Sprinkles for a bit before pushing on to the climb. I leapfrogged a few of the crew and then caught everyone as we took a break at the tabletop, which is where the crazy rock scrambles end.
Katahdin Stream Falls, at the base of the mountain.
A smorgasbord of emotions as we hike the final miles.
After the break I took off with Fancy and Log Jam to hike the final mile which was rocky, barren, and mars-like and soon the crowd at the summit appeared on the horizon. We could see the finish line. We finally made it...2,189.8 miles. Log Jam surprised everyone with a bottle of, shall I say, non-alcoholic celebration juice that he had been hauling for almost 300 miles as he was determined to celebrate in style. We posed for tons of pictures and had numerous laps of hugs, high fives, and 'remember that one time?'s.
First glimpse of the summit. Fancy and Log Jam just ahead.
MY SUMMIT CREW! Below, clockwise, starting with me: Space Jam, Ellis, Fancy, Sprinkles, Scallywag, Log Jam, Juan Gone, Juke Box, One Night Stand, Pigasus, Giggles, Hair Candy, Hubbahubba.
BONUS LEVEL: THE KNIFE'S EDGE
After lots of photos and celebrations at the famous Mount Katahdin sign we again started to peel off in waves to tackle the notoriously dangerous Knife's Edge, an alternate route down from the summit. It connects Baxter Peak to Pamola Peak and then you have to take the Heelon Taylor trail back down since the Dudley Trail was closed due to rock slides. It felt pretty weird walking this very technical and tricky terrain because I was in peak hiking form, but no longer an AT Thru Hiker. That journey was over. I beat the final boss that I've been hiking towards for 163 days and now I'm back to being just another day hiker.
The Knife's Edge ends at Pamola Peak and the (recently indefinitely closed) Dudley Trail sweeps down to the pond on the left.
Can you see me?
What about now? Thanks Ellis for taking these shots!
A few parents of my summit crew were there to scoop their kid and pile as many smelly hikers as they could fit to give us a ride back to Millinocket. I stayed in town for their 'Trails End' festival expecting it to be more like Damascus's 'Trail Days' with gear vendors and tons of hikers...but it was quite the opposite. Mostly only locals partook with a few hikers peppered in to enjoy the live music, food trucks, and pub crawl. Trail Mix's buddy drove up from PA to give him a ride home and before we left we decided to go bridge jumping for one last hurrah. A park ranger said the bridge on Grant Brook Road (about a 20 minute drive on a gravel road) was a great jumping spot so we went to check it out but there were no locals jumping, we didn't know how deep the river was was, there was only on entry/exit point to the water and the current was too strong to swim upstream to check out the landing spot. All these factors made it a scary jump even though it wasn't very high.