Going South - The Hardest Part... Part #5

This is the Hunt Trail, The official Start of the trail for me. Standing from the top it looked like the spine of a huge alien beast.  the boulders were bigger than Abol Slide and the drops were more severe. there were times early on where I think I spent more time free falling down a 10ft rock than actual controlled descent.  On either side was a 3000 ft drop and here I was gleefully hopping from boulder to boulder, sliding down one rock only to deftly brace and glide to a safe landing. I was riding a tide of emotion from reaching the peak and feeling like a mountain lion stalking down prey. At one point Brian was in the lead and was cautiously inching his way down and around the side of a 30ft slab of granite, and with my confidence soaring I leaped onto the slab baseball slid my way down the face, braced myself on a boulder below and landed softly beside him. To say I was enjoying myself would be an understatement. but with all this hubris comes consequences. 

According to the Penobscot Indians, Pamola inhabited Mt. Katahdin,  Pamola is said to be the god of Thunder and protector of the mountain. The Indians described him as having the head of a moose, the body of a man and the wings and feet of an eagle. Pamola was both feared and respected by the Indians, and his presence was one of the main reasons that climbing the mountain was considered taboo.

The spirit resented mortals intruding from down below. Because of this, the mountain was off limits to all below. It is also thought that it took its prisoners to Alomkik, located near Katahdin.

I am sure Pamola was grinning antler to antler when we caught up to Duchess and Riffle who were trying to get down a particularly steep drop.

There are places where the drop off is 10 feet or more and the local hiking clubs have set Rebar into the rock to assist climbers. going up is fine because you are using all of your arms and feet and can see the places you need to brace.  Coming down it is a blind drop and not quite as easy to lower a dog down when you are just a shade over 5'4" tall as duchess was.

So Brian went down first and I took a Picture of myself with Riffle before lowering him down to Brian.  Duchess was having problems finding the footholds while still hanging on to the rebar. Her legs were just a touch too short. So I inched my way across the ledge and I used my arms to help her get a little lower while Brian placed her feet on the out croppings.  I then grabbed onto the rebar and lowered myself to the ground.  This is the last full action I remember clearly and we still had 3 miles of descent to go.

The next 4 hours are a blur, Brian said I was lucid one moment and babbling the next, he thought it was just exhaustion catching up with me. We sat down at a small stream and refilled our water. I had the overwhelming urge to urinate and then my next memory is sliding down small 2 foot rock steps in the dark, when did it get dark??

My head lamp was on and out of my pack when did I do that?  I tried to stand up, it felt like my feet were made of lead and the only thing supporting my legs were my ankles.  The rest of my legs were jelly.

I remember Brian pointing out a toad and telling me to put my bug net on..  Every time I straightened my legs the muscles around my knees would cramp up every time I tried to lift my legs I couldn't get my foot more than 2 inches off the ground.  I had felt this way once before, right after a seizure....

The missing time, the intense muscle pain, the urgent need to pee, all signs pointed to a seizure. there were several times I am told where I was just sitting on a rock staring out into space not moving an inch. Then I would get up and wobble my way forward a few more inches and sit down again.

Eventually Brian told me I was just sliding on the rocks one inch at a time hardly moving forward at all.

I remember coming to a bridge over a stream and then coming to a sign that said we had 1 mile to go. Brian told me the next morning that I insisted on getting my GPS out of the backpack to confirm these figures.

Next thing I remember is a clearance and arriving at the Ranger Station. Brian said the Ranger was none to pleased with out very late arrival.  We started the hike at 7:55am and finished the hike at 11:55 pm

We made it to our lean to and I demanded to be allowed to make some tea using my jet boil. I remember waking up several times in the night shivering because I laid down on a ground cloth and hardly covered up before I passed out.   

Here is a picture of the back of my pants after the Descent. They were new Rip stop pants when I started..

Katahdin was everything I could have wanted and many things I feared. She let me live and guided me out of Pamola's grasp.

I had completed the hardest part of the trail beaten bruised, badly sunburned and hardly able to walk but it was the greatest adventure I ever had the pleasure to take part in.

I want to Thank Brian Hackman for his seemingly unending patience in dealing with an unknown situation. He did way more for me than I could ever repay.

I also need to thank the Appalachian trail Lodge for their hospitality and great advice.

With the need to recover from the amazing Katahdin I caught a ride back to Pennsylvania with Brian to recover and plan the next steps.  I will be talking with my doctors on Monday morning but the plan is to hop back on the trail Wednesday at Carlisle PA and take on southern PA, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia before Flip flopping back up to take on the 100 mile wilderness and New England. 

I need to put a few more miles on my trail legs AND find another pair of pants before I dive into the big mountains of New Hampshire.