August 31, 2008
I had a tough decision to make this morning. Our group assembled two teams for our assault on Katahdin. A group of four headed by Bob would be going up Abol Slide to Baxter Peak, across the Knife Edge, back across the Knife Edge, and down. Darcy and Al were planning a similar hike only after crossing the Knife Edge they would drop down to Chimney Pond, climb back up toward Baxter Peak via the Cathedral Trail, and then back down Abol Slide. The first group had Mike in it. He is somewhat afraid of heights yet always goes back to the Knife Edge. The second group had Darcy who is an exceptionally fast hiker. In short, the first group would be the 'entertainment package' with lots of comedy while the second group would be the 'value package' by getting in more miles. It was tough but I decided to join the second group. Bob called his group the A Team.
"Well, then our group needs a name," I said.
"You're the A+ Team," said Bob.
"More like the Psycho Team," added Darcy.
Our team of three headed out just before the A-Team.
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I climbed Katahdin last year up the Hunt Trail (Appalachian Trail) and down the Helon Taylor trail, so this was a new trail for me.
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Looking up to the top of Abol Slide.
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View from the slide
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Al and Darcy
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Nearing the top of the slide
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We reached the flat plateau at the top of the slide in about 2 hours. "That's the fastest I've ever done it," I joked. (Remember this was a new trail for me.) The wind really picked up. We made our way over to Thoreau Spring.
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From there we took the Appalchian Trail to the top of Baxter Peak.
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Baxter Peak was fogged in so I didn't take any pictures. Then just before the Knife Edge my camera stopped working. What a bummer! I tried another set of batteries. Nope. Darcy offered me hers. Before I took her up on her offer, Al offered me some batteries. That did the trick. I guess my backup set was no good.
"Can I give you some money for the batteries?" I asked.
"As they say in New York, forget about it," Al replied.
Thanks Al. You saved Eric Explores. I was really hoping for some video clips of the Knife Edge. Thanks to Al, I was able to get a couple.
Clip 1
Clip 2
Crossing the Knife Edge
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Darcy can really move across this thing. Once she did it in 35 minutes. Wow!
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Coming down the Chimney after a brief hailstorm.
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We reached Pamola Peak, the other end of the Knife Edge.
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"Why wasn't there a sign like this on the other end," joked Darcy regarding the bad weather we encountered.
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We began the steep climb down the Dudley Trail.
Al by Index Rock.
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Down . . .
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. . . down . . .
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. . . down to Chimney Pond
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Looking back up to the Knife Edge.
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We had a brief rest at Chimney Pond. For a clip click here.
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Remember the old saying what goes up must come down. Well, we've got it backwards. Today it is what comes down must go up. It was time to head up the Cathedral Trail.
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There's first Cathedral.
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On more than one occasion we were asked by hikers coming down where we started. You should have seen their confused looks when we responded with Abol Campground.
"The worst part is," said Darcy, "we did it on purpose."
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Looking across to the Knife Edge
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We didn't go all the way back up to the top of Baxter Peak, but took the cut-offs.
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For a clip near Baxter Peak click here.
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We completed our loop and headed back down Abol Slide. A few minutes before the end, we caught up with the A-Team. We hiked with them back to the trailhead. They had a turn around time of 1:30. They made it about 3/4ths of the way across the Knife Edge before turning back. Congratulations to Leslie for her first climb of Katahdin!! Side note: each year Mike picks a woman to call Carol. (Who knows why?) This year Leslie was chosen to be Carol.
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That evening just before supper a few raindrops fell followed by a beautiful rainbow.
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How was the hike? Great other than the fact that Darcy tried to kill me with all the change in elevation, rocky scrambles, and quick pace. Just kidding. It was an awesome day!
That night after I went to bed I heard Ed's voice, "The moose is back in the camp."
I got out of my warm sleeping bag and out into the cold to take a peek. Leslie, who was on a mission to see a moose, came out a few minutes later. She did get a good view of the moose, but a moment later the moose left.
"Leslie shows up and the moose leaves," said Bob.
"What are you moose repellent?" I joked.
We were very happy that Leslie got to see her moose.
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