The most ambitious summit of our trip would be Mount Katahdin, Maine's highest point, at 5,267 feet, located in remote Baxter State Park. Baxter State Park encompasses some of the most rugged terrain in New England and is Maine's largest protected wilderness area. There is no electricity in the park, no cell service, no trash cans, and no running water.
Mount Katahdin is best known for being the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, but there are multiple trails to its top, ranging from very difficult to extreme. The least strenuous route is via the combination Chimney Pond Trail and Saddle Trail, a round trip of 11 miles, with an elevation gain of around 4,000 feet. This route is said to take an average hiker 8 to 12 hours. Ha! We planned to hike it over the course of three days.
It was about a two-hour drive north from our hotel in Bangor to the south entrance of Baxter State Park. Shortly before entering the park, we stopped for photos at a local landmark, the colorful Pockwockamus Rock. We were now out of cell signal range and would stay that way for the next two days.
Jana claims Maine
To preserve the wilderness experience, Baxter State Park limits the number of Katahdin hikers. To park at one of the trailheads, you have to have a camping or parking reservation. At Togue Pond Gatehouse, we proffered our camping reservation before driving eight miles down a narrow gravel road to Roaring Brook Campground and the trail to Chimney Pond.
Togue Pond entrance to Baxter State Park
Our summiting Katahdin would have been out of the question if not for our two-night camping reservation at Chimney Pond Campground, a backcountry campsite partway up the mountain. That allowed us to break the 11-mile round-trip into three sections of 3.3 miles, 4.4 miles, and 3.3 miles that we could complete over the course of three days. As a trade-off, the trail segments between car and camp would have to be done carrying three days of camping supplies.
Tom sets out on the trail
I hadn't been backpacking since I was a teenager, and this was Tom's first time – and maybe his last, depending on how it goes. So I brushed the dust off my now-retro external-frame backpack from the '80s, and Tom picked up a cheap backpack from Walmart. Consequently, our gear was not modern and ultralight, and we ended up carrying around 33 pounds each. Ugh!
Backpacking in Maine's largest wilderness
Chimney Pond Trail is no joke. It's rated as only moderate, but that's a New England moderate, and those ratings can't be trusted. The first mile was reasonable enough, but then the trail became steep, rocky, and relentless. Shortly after we set off, it began to rain, making the trail a muddy mess, sometimes even flowing with water. Hopefully, the weather will be more cooperative tomorrow, because the Saddle Trail to the summit promises to be much harder, and we'll have further to go.
Enjoying a rare flat spot
A more typical section of the rocky trail
Serene scene
Chimney Pond Trail, flowing with water
Arriving at Chimney Pond Campground, we were greeted with a spectacular view of the multiple peaks of Mount Katahdin, including the Knife's Edge – the most precarious route up the mountain and not the way we'd be summiting. There was a lot of tricky footing on the trail today, and the rain didn't help anything – nor the heavy packs. It took us almost five hours to hike 3.3 miles, but we finally made it!
Made it to Chimney Pond Camground!
Many peaks of Mount Katahdin
Chimney Pond is the last source of water on the way up the mountain, and since we were camping, we needed a lot of it. We soon set about filtering our drinking water from the pond as we enjoyed the spectacular view.
Lodging: Lean-to #7 at Chimney Pond Campground for 2 nights. Despite securing a lean-to, we also packed a tent – necessary because of the swarming mosquitoes and possibility of black flies. We were lucky to be assigned the most secluded campsite at Chimney Pond, nice and private.
Chimney Pond lean-to #7
The rain had stopped before we reached camp, but I was soaked from the knees down, and Tom was fully drenched. Happily, all our gear had stayed dry inside our packs, and we each had a dry change of clothes and dry camp shoes, or it would have been an uncomfortable night.
Mount Katahdin from Chimney Pond
Dinner: Rehydrated freeze-dried beef stroganoff prepared with filtered pond water heated on our camp stove. It was better than it sounds, especially after the big hike. After dinner, we hung all our food and trash on the camp's bear line for safekeeping overnight.
Bear precautions
Campground bear line
The night sky was crazy dark. Only a small slice of sky was visible through the canopy of trees, but the number of stars we could see was still amazing! The temperature got down into the 50s, but we were comfy and cozy nestled in our sleeping bags.