Day 1 - Monday, June 13

Linda

Well, this is it! The first official day of our Appalachian adventure. We were beginning to wonder if we'd ever get past the first steps. Early last Wednesday, June 8th, after months of planning and preparation, we loaded up our Keltys, said good-bye to our families in Richmond and boarded a train to Boston. That was the first leg of our journey to Baxter State Park in Maine, and Mt. Katahdin, the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Arranging transportation to such a remote area of Maine could become a complicated network using all manner of public transportation from planes and trains, to buses and taxis. We were fortunate that Ronald had cousins, Susie and Don Melander, living in Concord, New Hampshire, just outside of Boston. They graciously offered to drive us all the way to Baxter State Park. That made transportation much easier, and gave us the chance to visit them as well.

The train trip from Richmond to Boston was 11 hours of meandering up the eastern seaboard, which gave us plenty of time to reflect on what we were about the undertake. Susie and Don met us at the train station, and since neither of us had ever been to Boston, we got the quick tour of some of Boston's major attractions. We drove along the Charles River, then around downtown to the see some of the buildings. I especially wanted to see the notorious John Hancock Building. It had recently made national news with a bad habit of popping out huge panes of plate glass, and dropping them on unsuspecting crowds below, much to the amazement and consternation of architects and engineers. We also spent a few minutes exploring the shops and restaurants in beautifully restored historic warehouse on the waterfront called Faneiel Mall. There wasn't enough time to absorb all the history of the area. We'll have to defer that to another trip in the future. Right now we had other priorities in mind.

Later that evening we drove back to Concord, and spent Thursday with the Melanders, visiting and relaxing. Friday morning after getting the girls off to school and sitters, we packed a picnic lunch and set out for Maine. It was a long day of driving, but the excitement mounted as we got closer to our destination. The one obligatory stop was in Freeport to tour L.L. Bean. We just couldn't get that close and not be able to say we'd been there. It's an impressive operation. We wandered through the huge store, gazing over shelves and shelves and racks and racks of outdoor gear. It's hard to imagine the scope just by looking through the catalogue, which had been our only previous experience. Our down sleeping bags and Svea stove came from here, and the catalogue was standard reading materials around our house. We bought a few needed items, before tearing ourselves away to continue on.

We arrived at Katahdin Stream Campground around 6:00 and got settled in to our lean-to. Lean-tos are a practical addition to a campground and seem to be common around here. We'll probably stay in dozens of them before reaching Georgia. After saying good-bye to Don and Susie, we fixed dinner, then talked to three people who had been up Katahdin that day. They were two brothers from Wisconsin, Allen and Danny Fischer and a friend of theirs, Connie Landry. Connie had never hiked much before and was really beat. They went on to start the trail, but we'll probably catch up to them in a few days. It didn't seem like they would be burning up the trail any time soon.

Friday had been the first nice day for a week, and as it turned out, we missed it. The rain poured all night, and was still raining and foggy on Saturday morning. The Forest Service keeps a tight rein on the trails up to Katahdin, since they are so rugged and exposed above timberline. Consequently, the trails were closed on Saturday. We spent a nice, but uneventful day exploring around camp, and tending our fire which we kept burning all the time out of a lack of something better to do. Also played some cards, washed out socks, and tried unsuccessfully to fend off the bugs. We did take a short hike up the first part of the trail, but were only allowed to go a short distance.

Rain and more rain was the order for Saturday night, and again, the trails were closed on Sunday. We almost went crazy Sunday, as we had exhausted all our avenues of entertainment. The campground was almost deserted, and we were anxious to get started. By late morning the skies had cleared, and we thought they might open the trails - but no luck.

This morning we were up before 6:00, waiting with bated breath for 8:00 and the verdict from the rangers. We finally got the okay, and after a little whooping and hollering, we quickly deposited our packs in the Ranger Station, and headed up the trail. The first 1.2 miles were a breeze, and were old hat by now, since we had walked up twice before to the Falls. They were really beautiful, and much larger and more impressive than I had expected. The real climb began shortly after the falls. The trail ascended steeply over boulders and tree roots, and followed a small spring for a good way. Apparently that first small boulder field was just a warm up to the real thing. We climbed over boulders that made the first ones look like pebbles. Several rock faces had metal hand holds that were supposed to assist with the climbing. Most of these were either broken off, or not positioned in a way that would provide much help, so we were pretty much on our own.

After several false hopes that we were at the Tableland, we finally dragged ourselves over one last ledge and made it to level ground. It was so foggy though, we weren't able to see much. While we were eating lunch, the clouds rolled away, and we could see part of Baxter Peak. Met two guys who had just graduated from the University of Idaho, Steve Peck and John Gimbel, and are planning to hike the whole trail. We went the rest of the way to the top with them and took turns with the traditional starting pictures by the weather-beaten AT sign, marking the official northern terminus of the trail. From here on, as we headed back down the mountain, we were actually walking toward Georgia, and every step brought us that much closer to completing our 2,000 mile journey.

The trip down flew by much faster than the trip up, and we got back to the campground around 3:30 to retrieve our packs. Not bad, just over 7 hours to hike the most strenuous 10 miles I've ever walked. We'd never encountered boulders like that in Virginia, but I had a feeling we would be seeing many more in the next days and weeks. It was well worth it, though. The views from the top provided a sweeping panorama of the area, and it just wouldn't have been right to start hiking the AT without doing the very beginning. We decided to walk the 1.9 miles to Daisy Pond Campground to spend our first night on the trail.

The trail to Daisy Pond was an easy, almost level section, which meandered by three picturesque wilderness ponds. We're in another lean-to, in the campground which is a couple hundred feet from Daisy Pond. Actually, pond is rather misleading. To me, the word "pond" had always meant a tiny, usually man-made body of water, just big enough to swim or fish in, usually with a few ducks swimming around for good measure. Well, this "pond" was as big as most lakes I've seen. I guess size is a relative comparison, but we'll keep track as we go on. There was no one else here at the campground, so it was nice and peaceful. In celebration of our first day, we opened a can of Oregon salmon that Grandpa Dick had caught and canned himself. The evening is warm and pleasant, but the bugs are real flesh eaters. Guess we'll turn in now. It's only 8:30, but it's been a long day.

Ron

The journey has begun. After nine months of preparing our equipment, our bodies and our minds, we have started the Appalachian Trail. The last two days of waiting at Katahdin Stream Camp have been hard on us. For the last two mornings, we would trek over to the Ranger Station and check on climbing conditions. We would return disappointed, knowing we would have another day to kill in camp. Our biggest concern is our food supply. We had packed enough food for ten days of hiking needed to get us to Monson, Maine. Each day we delayed reduced our chance of having sufficient food. There was only one place to resupply during the hundred and fifteen mile hike through the Maine wilderness.

This morning we were allowed to climb Baxter Peek on Katahdin. Since we were coming back down through the campground, we left our packs at the Ranger station. As we left camp for the summit the weather was very cloudy. The first mile was along a Katahdin Stream had little change in elevation. After a crossing the stream at the falls, the trail ascended sharply to timberline. When the trail left the woods it went straight up a boulder field to the plateau. The thick clouds limited our views. It is probably just as well, we needed our concentration on the climb. From timberline to the plateau we were no longer hiking. To climb to the top we scrambled up boulders by grabbing the iron bars bolted in the boulders and pulled ourselves up. At the top lay a broad flat plateau that rose gradually the final mile to the peak. The plateau was enveloped with dense with fog when we arrived. It made us feel we were at the end of the world By the time we reached the summit, much of the fog had burned off. We were treated with incredible views. We spent time at the summit taking pictures, eating lunch and talking with other hikers.

We are staying tonight at Daisy Pond and feel very good after the ten mile round trip hike to the top and the two miles from Katahdin Stream Camp to here. To celebrate the start of the trip we opened the can of Oregon salmon. Linda's grandfather caught the salmon and had it canned. We saved it for our supper on the trail. No major complaints except for our sore feet. The dreaded Maine blackflies are not too bad.

(7.1 Miles - 7.1 Total)