Riding the Katahdin Dragon

To say that we went on an adventure, will be an understatement. To say that we all came back with a sense of accomplishing something bigger than ourselves would be totally correct.

Katahdin to different people means different things. For the NOBO Thru Hiker, it is the culmination of the Appalachian Trail and the final destination after being on the trail for months. For the native Americans in the region, it was the “The Greatest Mountain”. After October 9, Desi DOERS hikers now know why that name is so apt.

This massive granite mountain tempted us, lured us, thrilled us and after a wild ride, finally exhausted us.  Psst, I mean the hiking guys!

But let me start from the beginning to recount our unforgettable adventure. All of us who had signed up for this Desi Meetup event, were keenly looking forward to this mid-October hike when we knew the fall foliage in New England would be at its peak.  Our group leaders Karthik and Vivek Jain, kept sending instructions on what to pack, what to expect, how to prep for the hike, which trail we would be taking and what to expect. Soon carpooling groups were finalized amongst ourselves and as we were all camping inside the park, our weather watch started. We were lucky, weather was supposed to be cool, sunny and dry – optimum hiking as well as camping conditions.

It’s a 10-hour drive to Baxter State Park from New Jersey and with breaks and traffic can turn into a 12-hour drive. Pankaj and I were the first to arrive at Bear Brook Camp Ground inside the park and did some exploring. Pankaj pitched his tent and soon Swati, Parul and Paresh arrived. Soon the camp was a beehive of activity. We all wanted to pitch our tents, get the sleeping bags in and start prepping for the hike next day. After dinner, Vivek and Karthik gathered everyone around and asked us all to introduce ourselves. We were broken up into Group 1 (slow hikers) and group 2 (fast hikers). I was in Group 1 who was supposed to start at 6 am from Roaring Brook Campground. After finalizing our carpools for the next morning, everyone headed back to their tents.

Next morning dawned clear, cool and crisp and soon the Group 1 cars were heading out to the trailhead at 5.30 am. We were starting off on the Chimney Pond Trail and leaving it after 0.2 miles or so to take the Helon Taylor trail to the Pamola Peak. As it was still dark, everyone had their headlamps on. It was 6 am. Helon Taylor trail gradually ascends through the wilderness and up the stony mountain. Once you reach the tree line, it again changes its terrain and vegetation and you see the Pamola peak beckoning you.

The sun had now risen and we kept looking back to see the fall foliage unfold before our eyes. Trail was much rockier with massive boulders through which you had to find your way up. It was still not very steep but maneuvering through the boulders was tricky at times. At around 10.30 am Jolly and I reached Pamola.  It had taken us 4.5 hours of steady climbing to get here. A lot of people from our group were already here – Parul, Paresh, Katrhik, Krithika, Swagatha, Mindy and Charu. Swati, Siraj and Vineet who were in our group were behind us. Vishnu, Dayanan and Melanie, from Group 2 had already overtaken us and we had met Vivu on our way up. We could see for miles around us courtesy of the beautiful weather with not a wisp of cloud in the sky nor a gust to fell a leaf.

Knife Edge trail begins (or ends) from the Pamola peak and takes you all the way to South Peak and Baxter Peak, also known as Katahdin. The curvilinear view of the Knife Edge trail was surreal. All the Game of Throne fans out there will understand when I say that the mountain range looked like Daenerys’s dragon getting ready to pounce. The curved line resembled a dragon back with the spiky rocks emanating from it. The mountain itself looks like a leaving breathing creature that could easily uncoil and start breathing fire. The golden orange Fall foliage in the valley seemed akin to the fire breathed out by a dragon.

But now came the most dangerous part on the trail – descending Pamola and ascending Chimney Rock. When you climb up Pamola, you feel great, but when you look down the other side to see how you are going to descend, your heart will come to a screeching halt. It’s a steep drop on a sheer rock face and a line was forming for people getting down Pamola to go to the base of Chimney rock. With Karthik, Paresh bhai and Ganesh’s help we all safely made it down struggling to get a foothold and trying to make up our minds whether it was safer climbing down backwards or climbing down face forward. You definitely need help going down here and then again climbing up Chimney Rock.

Slowly our group climbed up and down Chimney Rock and soon started traversing Knife Edge from the other side of Chimney Rock. How can it be a mile I thought? It looked intimidating with multiple rocky outcrops as it weaves it way up South Peak. Views are stunning whichever way you look and the miles of fall foliage seen on either sides mesmerizes you. Now also came the arduous task of traversing to the other side where South Peak and Katahdin are. Everyone helped each other and slowly but steadily we all made our way across. I suddenly realized that I had not eaten any lunch and around noon time we all sat down to grab lunch.  The entire Knife Edge trail is tricky and your mind really needs to be focused less on taking pictures but more on where your next foothold would be. I cannot imagine doing this in foggy, windy or rainy conditions.

It must have taken us at least 2 hours (with snack and lunch breaks) to complete the one-mile trail to reach South peak. It was a heady feeling and the views were astonishing.  We all started hurrying to Katahdin now and within 15 -20 minutes finally summited Katahdin.  The top is wider, much wider than Knife Edge at least and we finally caught up with the rest of the members of the group who were ahead of us.  After the mandatory and celebratory summit pics at Katahdin, we waited for Group 2 members to arrive and they were soon trickling in. It was a great feeling to see that the entire group made it to the summit of Katahdin and we took multiple pictures there.

Now everyone started getting antsy about heading back as it was nearing 3 pm and we knew it would take at least 4-5 hours to reach the Roaring Brook campground/parking lot. Karthik soon led a bunch of us down to the Saddle Trail junction. I had heard that the trail was gravelly and treacherous and soon understood why.  Extremely unstable terrain with sand and rocks sliding as you are climbing steeply down. This supposedly 1 mile stretch soon slowed every one down as we tried hard to keep our balance and not sustain any injury.

Soon the steepness tapered off and we could see Chimney Pond Ranger Station and Chimney Pond in the wilderness below.  We all steadily kept going till we reached Chimney Pond.  We were there at 5 pm and as we still had daylight, we all headed off to the Pond to see the reflection of the mountain in the pond and marvel at the fact that we were up there traversing the ridgeline.

After taking some pictures here, our group finally started descending the via the Chimney Pond trail to the parking lot. It must have been the longest 3 miles as were tired and kept hearing the noise of nearby brooks and kept thinking that we were getting closer to Roaring Brook. The last 2 miles were walked in complete darkness. Our feet were sore, it was starting to get cold and we were plain exhausted. We were all hoping that the rest of the group that was still on Katahdin when we left had also made the decision to leave soon and were on their way. As the WiFi connection is non-existent and there is no phone service, it was difficult to reach out to anyone.

We reached the parking lot at 7.50 pm and it was pitch dark there. The Ranger came out of the Ranger Station to talk to us and informed us of the time that the last person from our group left Chimney Pond. We waited for another 40 mins or so for some folks who were almost going to reach and then left for the campsite.  It felt so good to remove my shoes finally!

We had an estimate of when the rest of the group would trickle in. But it was still very late when the last of our warriors came in.  Someone from our group had injured his knee going up Pamola and therefore was coming down slowly. It is a credit to the organizers – Vivek and Karthik – who ensured that each and every person made is safely back and was also picked up from the parking lot even though it was late. Most of the team stayed up late to welcome the people coming in, feed them and help them get settled in the campsite. It was a very well planned event and the memories made here will stay with us for a lifetime. The stories of Katahdin will be retold at each campsite gathering. Each of us is unique and our idiosyncrasies made for an awful lot of stories, quite simply too many to be told here. A big shout out to SIraj Merchant for sticking with our wounded warrior, Vivu and making sure they both reached the Parking Lot safely.

This was my third time at Katahdin and my first time completing the entire loop.  I am grateful to the mountain for letting me complete the entire loop this time and to our entire team for their company along the way. A big thanks to Vivek Jain and Karhik K for organizing, teaching/advising and leading the group together as one.

Cheers and happy trails!

• Date: Oct 9, 2021
• Trails taken: Up Helon Taylor and across Knife Edge from Pamola to South Peak to Baxter; Coming down Saddle and then Chimney Pond trails
• Total number of hikers: 26 (Vivek, Karthik, Dash, Paresh, Parul, Pankaj, Vishnu, Ganesh, Vineet, Paras, Siraj, Nilesh, Vivu, Charu, Krithika, Swagatha, Anagha, Swati, Anil, Deepti, Sunita, Dayana, Melanie, Jolly, Rajeev and Mindy

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