Katahdin via Hunt Trail

SummaryBaxter Peak via AT (Hunt Trail)
OwnerMorgan E O'Neill
Creation Date2011-07-24 06:30:00 UTC-0400
DescriptionHikers: Morgan O'Neill, Erin Koksal, Mike Wilmot, John Hess

We camped in a sneaky secret camping spot on Saturday night for free, and woke up at 4:30am to get in line at the Baxter State Park entrance gate by 5am. We had been told the night before that there are only 5 unreservable parking spots at Roaring Brook, our preferred trailhead, so we had to get there early to snag one. It didn't work. We pulled up to the entrance gate at 4:58am and we were car number six. We had the option of waiting until 7:05am for when they released no-show reserved spots (if they exist), but we were ready to get our hike on so Mike decided we would head to Katahdin Stream parking lot and hike up Hunt Trail. The mountain top was shrouded in thick fog until around noon, when it began to lift and give us expansive views. The wind was very, very strong at the Gateway section of the trail (with placed rebar to help with difficult bouldering) but otherwise it was fine. We may or may not have brought a kite up to the summit to fly, and this kite may or may not have been shaped like an orca whale.

Overall the hike was fantastic, and since it goes along a ridge you get great views of the surrounding area. However, from what we've read, the trails starting at Roaring Brook let you see the Knife Edge for much of the time; our trail didn't show much at all of the mountain until you're on top of it. We did half of Knife Edge after we reached the peak, just to see it and say we did, and then we turned around and headed back down to the car. Also, apparently Katahdin Stream is swimmable :)

Ignore the dates on the photos, they're bogus, I don't know how to fix them.