Ethan and I recently visited Baxter State Park in Piscataquis County, Maine. Starting last year we have been working towards climbing all of the 4000 foot mountains in New England and New Hampshire and the 100 highest peaks in New England. Some of these mountains don’t even have trails to them so it requires some time getting very close to nature by bushwhacking. We have found ourselves on some hairy adventures in pursuit of these peaks.
Baxter State Park is a remote wilderness-managed area, spanning 200,000 acres and if I could sum it up in one word, it would be, beautiful.We hit the park at just the right time. The cooler temperatures and Fall foliage made this trip even more enjoyable and inspiring. We planned this trip months in advance. If you want to stay in the park this is how it goes because it is so popular. Staying in the park forced us to be unplugged, there was no reception so we really had no choice. This was fine though, just more opportunity to regroup, breath the fresh air, stand up-right and restore our creative juices. We also kick started our muscles. The hikes we went on were challenging and left our muscles crying out in pain and our lungs gasping for air but we loved every minute of it.
Katahdin is the highest mountain in Maine and the final stop north on the Appalachian Trail. Katahdin’s Baxter Peak stands at 5,267 feet above sea level. There are many routes to the summit all of which involve at least some scrambling up and over craggy rocks from second to fourth class and come from three general directions, north, east and southwest. We climbed the 4,756 feet up to Hamlin Peak via the Chimney Pond trail and the Hamlin Ridge trail from the east. Katahdin is shaped like a horse shoe and climbing up along the Hamlin Ridge trail to Hamlin Peak, gave us the most breath taking views I’ve ever experienced. You are essentially in a bowl shape and on the ascent we hiked through the clouds at 3000 feet and the views took my breath away. I was taken aback by the beauty that mother nature had created. If this wasn’t inspiration than I don’t know what was. Standing on the ascent up to Hamlin you can see Baxter Peak to the south, the Howe Peaks to the north and the soft clouds below — it was stunning!
Climbing up and out of the clouds:
View of the Summit from Hamlin Ridge:
Here we are at the summit of Hamlin Peak:
From the Hamlin summit we hiked over the saddle, via the Northwest Basin Trail, to climb Baxter. This climb up Baxter was long and we were exhausted by this point but it certainly didn’t feel as strenuos as climbing Hamlin. We could see down into the South Basin as we climbed and Hamlin behind us. There is a lot of good energy on Katahdin and once we reached the Baxter Summit we could see it for ourselves. A group of Appalachian Trail hikers just finished the 2,181 mile hike from Georgia and they were celebrating their accomplishment. We met one of these guys, named Hungry Horse, who was enthusiastic about running into a black bear on the Knife’s Edge! The Knife’s Edge is a mile long stretch of rocky terrain between Baxter and Chimney peaks which crests the ridge with 2000 foot cliffs on both sides. We were happy to stop at Baxter and enjoy the views. We snapped some photos and agreed to come back to hike the Knife’s Edge another time.
Hiking up to Baxter Peak:
If you are looking for inspiration in nature and a really tough work out with awesome views, I would encourage you to climb the mountains in Baxter State park, Katahdin being one of them. John Muir was onto something when he said, “In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.”