I had some time to burn and thought i could train my way up to being in shape enough to do Katahdin's Baxter and Hamlin peaks, and the knife's edge in September. Here's how it went.
History: Katahdin is part of Baxter state park, which was donated by a former Governor of Maine after buying 6000 acres of land including Katahdin for preservation purposes. Over time, more land was purchased and gifted to the state to what is now over 200,000 acres of state park. Katahdin has 2 main peaks and a number of other features in the area. Baxter peak is the last of the Appalachain Trail at it's northern terminus. Nearby Hamlin peak is another NE67 peak on the mountain.
Peak Elevation: Paloma peak (4919 ft)
Trail: Helon Taylor Trail
Length: 6.4mi
My intentions with this trip was to bag Katahdin's Baxter and Hamlin peaks, and maybe taking the knife's edge trail. Never was able to scrounge up a hiking buddy for the trip but met some cool people along the way. The result was me getting to the top of Paloma, where the knife's edge ridge goes to Baxter peak. I was running low on water and energy, and did not feel safe trying for Baxter on the knife's edge given my lack of physical conditioning for the hike in the first place. Also there's a bunch of open trail above treeline there and I was dehydrating fast. I don't recall why i decided to try and get the knife's edge out of the way first but that was probably a mistake. I had camped the night before and was a bit cold when I woke. I hope they gave my site to an AT hiker or something. I gave what firewood i had purchased to some other campers and a few of my beers i had with me.
Photos:
https://imgur.com/gallery/Jin8YnK
Next time I'm going up and bagging Baxter/Hamlin and probably passing on Knife's edge unless I am in better shape.
