Mission Accomplished

This past Saturday I completed my Appalachian Trail thru-hike. Getting to the final summit proved to be more challenging than expected. Ever since Caratunk (about 150 miles from the end), the trail has thrown one obstacle after another in my way, but I'm proud to say I was able to push through all the challenges.

Success!

When I arrived in Caratunk, it began to rain, and that rain continued for more than 24 hours. I ended up taking a zero day (no hiking) in order to avoid the rain and allow my feet to rest. My feet were issue #2, because at this point they were in constant pain. My visibly swollen feet resembled those of a pregnant woman for the last few days of the trail, and walking on them for 20 miles a day was taking a toll on me physically and mentally. As much as I love trail life, I was just exhausted. Unlike most people who take 5-6 months to hike the Appalachian Trail, I was about to complete my journey in just over 4 months, and my body was definitely feeling it.

In addition to being in physical pain and being mentally drained, the torrential downpour of rain caused all of the river levels to rise dramatically. As I hiked through the 100 mile wilderness (a difficult stretch of trail just before the end of the Appalachian Trail), I was faced with many roaring rivers with strong currents. Fall temperatures made jumping into cold water  more than a little unpleasant, and sometimes downright dangerous.

Transporting packs across one of the deeper rivers. This one was waist deep in the middle.

Luckily, just as my morale was reaching a low point, I was lucky enough to be surprised by my older brother, Adam, doing trail magic for me near the end of the 100 mile wilderness. He set up a campsite with a blazing fire, propane gas stove for cooking warm food, and tons of delicious snacks. It was exactly what I needed to reinvigorate me for the final stretch of my epic adventure.

Adam making breakfast in the 100 mile wilderness.

After my half-day vacation at Adam's luxurious campsite, I only had one day's worth of hiking left before meeting my parents at Abol Bridge campground, the final campsite before climbing Mt. Katahdin. The original plan was to camp with them on Thursday and then hike up Katahdin with Adam and my dad on Friday, but unfortunately the weather was not agreeable so me had to delay our summit. This caused a slew of issues with our parking reservations at Baxter State Park, which has the most ridiculous rules of any part of the Appalachian Trail. Luckily we were eventually able to sort out all the reservations and as the rain poured on Friday, we lounged around a hotel room and hoped for better weather.

Beautiful view of Mt. Katahdin from our Abol Bridge campsite.

Saturday morning was luckily dry, but our hike did not start out too well. We arrived at Baxter State Park around 6:30am, but than had to wait in a long line of cars trying to get into the park. After being interrogated by 2 separate park officials we were finally on our way to the trailhead parking lot. The previous day's rain had brought in a cold front, so once parked, we bundled up in several layers and began our trek up the mountain. It was odd hiking without Roxy, who stayed at the hotel with my mom due to the fact that this section of trail is renowned as one of the most difficult parts of the Appalachian Trail. Despite not having my best friend with me, I was very happy to have Adam and my dad along for the journey.

Ready to hike up the final mountain!

As we hiked up the mountain, our spirits were high despite temperatures being low. However, after about 2 miles we started seeing people coming back down the mountain. Everyone who passed us let us know that weather conditions were too treacherous above treeline so reaching the summit was not possible. Despite their warnings, we pushed on determined to see for ourselves. Upon reaching treeline, we were hit with forceful winds above 45mph. It truly was impossible to stand upright due to the strength of the wind. Dejected, we hiked a few feet back down and tried to come up with plan B. Some hikers were sitting around determined to wait out the wind, but at the high elevations it was too cold for me to just sit around. So we decided to hike back down the mountain and try to find a warmer spot to take a break.

Everything was coated in ice.

 Unfortunately with the unpleasant weather, we were not able to find warmth until we were nearly back at the beginning of the trail. We found a massive boulder which was bathed in sunlight. After climbing on top of it, we finally were able to warm up a bit and think about our next move. Dad thought it would be best to just go home and come back in the Spring to climb the mountains, but Adam was eager to just wait an hour or two and then try to climb up again. After eating lunch and basking in the sun for awhile, we decided to give it another go.

Frozen wonderland above treeline.

This pile of rocks is the trail. If you look closely you can see a white blaze, and Adam and Dad further up.

 While attempting ascent #2, we did not see anyone coming back down the mountain, so we knew that the must have continued on above treeline. Sure enough when we reached treeline, we were shocked that the winds had died down significantly. Despite the morning's terrifying conditions, it was now possible to safely walk the remainder of the trail. Even though the winds had died down, the trail was far from easy. Nearly a mile of the hike was just a steep pile of boulders that needed to be climbed. After many hours and quite a bit of struggling, we all made it to the summit.