Katahdin!
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For reasons that historians will debate for decades, in August 2006 Brian, Meredith, Melanie and Paul headed to Baxter State Park to climb Mt. Katahdin. At 5,268 feet, it is the tallest peak in Maine. It is also the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail and described as the most difficult non-technical climb in the east. We took the Abol Trail up, which is about 4,000 vertical feet in about 3 miles. Since it is steep, and the gravelly terrain can be unstable, the ranger suggested that we take the longer Hunt Trail back down. While it was undoubtedly better, it was by no means an easy descent. For those of you thinking of hiking Katahdin, you should know that it is a CLIMB. Getting up (and back down) huge boulders, finding footholds, and the like for miles on end. All of the trails are very steep and take you on the brink of potentially fatal drops. Our round trip 9 miles took us about 13 hours. I would have taken more pictures of the trail, but most of the time my camera was in my bag and both of my hands were digging into the surface of whatever granite looked like it was going to stay put for a while.
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