Hiking at Mt. Katahdin

Basic Pond

One of my bucket lists is to hike Mt. Katahdin that located at Baxter State Park, north of Millinocket, Maine. This is my first hiking and camping experience and I choose a strenuous trail to hike. Mt. Katahdin is the highest mountain in Maine with an elevation of 5269 ft. Katahdin is the last point of the Appalachian trail starting in Georgia.There are lots of trails in this park. Chimney Pond Campground is the most scenic and popular. Therefore, you need to reserve the camping spot like 3-4 months earlier.

Since this is my first hiking and camping experience, I choose to hike from Roaring Brook to Chimney Pond Campground. Then, I am taking Saddle trail to reach the Baxter peak - top of Mt. Katahdin. I arrive at 8 AM at the Roaring Brook Campground and start the hike.

Chimney Pond Trail

1 mile to Chimney Pond Trail

Since this is my first hike, I bring too much stuffs. As a result, it take me 3 hours to reach the Chimney Pond Campground which is about 3.3 miles from the Roaring Brook Campground. The elevation of Chimney Pond Campground is 1425 ft. Typically, it take only 1.5 to 2 hours.

The View from Chimney Pond Campground

After lunch, I continue the journey to the top of Mt Katahdin thru Saddle trail, the easiest trail to reach the top.

Saddle Trail

The hardest part of the Journey

After 0.8 miles hike, I finally reach the top of the Saddle Brook. Even from here, the views are amazing. Even though, I am so tired from my head to my toes but the views worth the effort.

Saddle Brook

From Saddle Brook to the top of Baxter Peak is about 1.4 miles and the trail is not as difficult as the Saddle trail.

The white line up to the mountain is the Saddle Trail

 Eureka.....I reach the Baxter peak after 5 hours hike.

At the top of Mt. Katahdin

Knife Edge view from Baxter Peak

Other Hikers cross the Knife Edge trail toward Baxter Peak

 

One of the Views from Baxter Peak

One of the Views from Baxter Peak

After taking pictures, snacks, and enjoy the views for an hour or so, I go back to Chimney Pond Campground thru Saddle trail and stay one night there. 

Lean-To for one night

Bear Line

The next day, I go down thru Chimney Pond trail. In the middle of the trail, we stop at Basic Pond and also, has a fabulous view of the mountain.

That's my first hiking and camping done. I enjoy it and cannot wait for next destination.

For the review of my trip to Mt. Katahdin, I would rate is at 5/5. This is my first hiking and camping experience in my life. The first place I choose is Mt Katahdin thru Chimney Pond and Saddle Trails. These trail are considered difficult for the first time hiker like me but I made it. I chose the right beautiful day to hike this mountain. The hike from roaring brook to chimney pond was so tiring and the saddle trail to the baxter peak was more tiring. I always thought why I chose to hike this mountain. However, when you reach the top of the mountain, Baxter Peak at Mount Katahdin, I realized all the sweat from the hike worth for the views from Mt. Katahdin. This one experience made me one to hike more to other places. I wish I did it years earlier. I recommended people to visit this place, the views are amazing. Lots of bugs so prepare repellent. I used the wet tissue type repellent and it worked like a charm. I was actually so worried that I could not hike this mountain due to amount of snow in 2015. The saddle trail that I wanted to hike is not open until two days before my departure. I was so happy that I could make it. From roaring brook to chimney pond campground, there is one pond that you should visit called as basic pond. The view is as good as the view from chimney pond campground. More review: Mount Katahdin