The Hike that Really Did Almost Kill Us - Mt. Katahdin and the Knife Edge
Before we ever started this hike, I read a blog post that said "sign the will." I believe it and we should have "signed the will" before we left.
If you've followed our hikes, you know we've done some crazy ones like Half Dome in Yosemite, Angel's Landing in Utah and Havasu Falls in Arizona. A lot of planning goes into a hike like this and I knew going into this one that we were not prepared . . . but I didn't know how unprepared we were.
There are several trails that lead up to Mt. Katahdin, the highest mountain (elevation 5267 feet) in Maine. We started the hike by signing in at the ranger station, letting them know our start time and which trails we were taking. (It must be dangerous if you have to sign in.)
The trail to Mt. Katahdin started out easy enough. We went up the Chimney Pond trail which was a little over 3 miles. The trial was rocky and a little challenging but not a bad start to the day. When we finished this part of the trail, we signed in again at the ranger station giving us a false sense of hope if we got lost.
Things quickly changed when we went on the Cathedral Trail which was more like rock climbing than hiking. The trail was only 2 miles but believe me, it felt like 15 miles. This was crazy stuff like we had never done before. We would conquer one mountain of boulders just to have to climb another mountain of boulders.
As we looked at the Knife Edge Trail, a 1.1-mile ragged ridge line, we knew it would challenging and there were parts of it that would be scary and even dangerous. The serrated Knife Edge is notorious for being very narrow with steep drop-offs on both sides and there have been 44 deaths on the trail since 1926. That's not a lot, right!?!?!? This was a once in a lifetime chance so went for it!
This is what the Knife Edge looks like from a distance. We're going up and over all those ridges.
We met these girls on the trail and they really did save our lives. They helped me over some of the toughest ridges I've ever climbed and they gave us water when we ran out. (That's me with the purple top and hanging on for dear life.)
If I look like I'm about ready to cry, it's because I am!
Hours later, we did it! We conquered the Knife Edge and it was getting late. There was very little daylight left, we were out of water (left our water filter at home), and we still had to go down the Helon Taylor Trial which was described as "the trail that never ends." We found ourselves climbing down boulders for over 3 miles and it took us almost 6 hours. This was the first time we ever found ourselves alone on a trail after dark. The trail markers were difficult to find and all we had was a small headlight. I was ready exhausted and ready to give up, blow my whistle in hopes of someone finding us. I just knew someone would help because we had signed in (not once but twice) at the ranger station, right. When we finally got off the trail at 11 pm, the sheet where we had signed in was thrown away and the rangers were gone. Our car we had registered was the only one remaining in the parking lot. There was no point to us signing in because no one was even looking for us.
The hike we did normally takes about 8-10 hours. It took us 16 hours to hike10 miles . . . that's how difficult it was. We consider ourselves to be fast hikers but we were in way over our heads with this one.
This is what my legs looked like the next day when we went to the beach in Bar Harbor. My legs were so scratched up from the rock climbing, they looked awful. We were so sore the next few days, we could barely move.
Marked this bucket list hike off my list! I am thankful we made it and I don't plan on doing any more rock climbing anytime soon.
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." ~Joshua 1:9
If you've followed our hikes, you know we've done some crazy ones like Half Dome in Yosemite, Angel's Landing in Utah and Havasu Falls in Arizona. A lot of planning goes into a hike like this and I knew going into this one that we were not prepared . . . but I didn't know how unprepared we were.
There are several trails that lead up to Mt. Katahdin, the highest mountain (elevation 5267 feet) in Maine. We started the hike by signing in at the ranger station, letting them know our start time and which trails we were taking. (It must be dangerous if you have to sign in.)
The trail to Mt. Katahdin started out easy enough. We went up the Chimney Pond trail which was a little over 3 miles. The trial was rocky and a little challenging but not a bad start to the day. When we finished this part of the trail, we signed in again at the ranger station giving us a false sense of hope if we got lost.
Things quickly changed when we went on the Cathedral Trail which was more like rock climbing than hiking. The trail was only 2 miles but believe me, it felt like 15 miles. This was crazy stuff like we had never done before. We would conquer one mountain of boulders just to have to climb another mountain of boulders.
After several hours of rock climbing, we finally reached the last portion of the trial leading up to Mt. Katahdin or Baxter Peak. One more mountain of rocks to climb, but smaller rocks this time.
We made it and got our picture taken at the famous sign (famous to hikers anyway). Our goal was met! This was the point were we should have taken the Saddle Trail down and called it a day. But no, not us!
As we looked at the Knife Edge Trail, a 1.1-mile ragged ridge line, we knew it would challenging and there were parts of it that would be scary and even dangerous. The serrated Knife Edge is notorious for being very narrow with steep drop-offs on both sides and there have been 44 deaths on the trail since 1926. That's not a lot, right!?!?!? This was a once in a lifetime chance so went for it!
This is what the Knife Edge looks like from a distance. We're going up and over all those ridges.
We met these girls on the trail and they really did save our lives. They helped me over some of the toughest ridges I've ever climbed and they gave us water when we ran out. (That's me with the purple top and hanging on for dear life.)
If I look like I'm about ready to cry, it's because I am!
Hours later, we did it! We conquered the Knife Edge and it was getting late. There was very little daylight left, we were out of water (left our water filter at home), and we still had to go down the Helon Taylor Trial which was described as "the trail that never ends." We found ourselves climbing down boulders for over 3 miles and it took us almost 6 hours. This was the first time we ever found ourselves alone on a trail after dark. The trail markers were difficult to find and all we had was a small headlight. I was ready exhausted and ready to give up, blow my whistle in hopes of someone finding us. I just knew someone would help because we had signed in (not once but twice) at the ranger station, right. When we finally got off the trail at 11 pm, the sheet where we had signed in was thrown away and the rangers were gone. Our car we had registered was the only one remaining in the parking lot. There was no point to us signing in because no one was even looking for us.
The hike we did normally takes about 8-10 hours. It took us 16 hours to hike10 miles . . . that's how difficult it was. We consider ourselves to be fast hikers but we were in way over our heads with this one.
This is what my legs looked like the next day when we went to the beach in Bar Harbor. My legs were so scratched up from the rock climbing, they looked awful. We were so sore the next few days, we could barely move.
Marked this bucket list hike off my list! I am thankful we made it and I don't plan on doing any more rock climbing anytime soon.
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." ~Joshua 1:9
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