I was on the trail at 5:15am for the final 5 miles and 4000′ up to Mt. Katahdin. (It was disappointing to see this sign call it Baxter Peak)
The weather was perfect with AM temps in the 50’s and blue skies. The shadow in the valley below is from Mt. Katahdin.
Incredible views on the climb up.
I hiked around some of those lakes over the last several days.
Then the trail really started to ratchet up…it gained 1700′ in the next mile. That’s just ridiculously steep and these boulders are huge. I would no longer consider this hiking…more like Class 4 technical rock scramble.
Here’s the spine we were climbing up.
Then you reach a flat-ish area called the Tablelands before the final last push to the top.
2189 Miles later !
The view of Maine’s wilderness was stunning.
This is the ridge we ascended.
I decided to take a different way down called the Abol trail. It drops ~4000′ in 3 miles in a mess of boulders.
Look who made a surprise visit at the bottom! Turns out my parents were on vacation in Bar Harbor (~100 miles away) and I finished at the perfect time for them to come see me and pick me up.
The parting shot. 
I will do one more post tomorrow with some final thoughts.
GoBugJuice.com 
Congratulations! I am very happy for you. I have been following you progress on and off as it gives me a good idea of the landscape that “Little Kiss” is hiking. He is also in Maine, but perhaps a week or more behind you. He is healthy and hiking with “Lucky Dog.”
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Glad you enjoyed the blog and good to hear LK is doing well. I shot him a text the other day. Can you send me the link to his Blog.
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He is not blogging his trek. I hear from him in text messages and phone calls. Once every few weeks he does make a Facebook post. This link may work for you https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=craig%20bacino%20posts
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Thought I would give you an update on Little Kiss. He is in Millinocket waiting out the cyclone/hurricane like severe weather so he can complete the ascent of Mt Katahdin. Not the crystal clear weather you had. He hopes it will clear by Monday.
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Thanks for the update…I sure hope the whether improves. I didn’t realize it was so bad right now. Let me know how things go.
Sent from my iPhone
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LK finished today, in not quite the weather conditions you enjoyed! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154412638517402&set=a.10153199400082402.1073741831.625302401&type=3&theater
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Congratulations, Dawg!!
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Congratulations! What a journey! I felt like I was with you all the way. Enjoyed every post!
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Glad you enjoyed the blog!
Sent from my iPhone
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Wow! Amazing! Well done. Say hi to your parents from the cowies.
What a great accomplishment! Way to go. I enjoyed reading all your posts.
Maybe we wil do this when we retire. For now we are planning our next hut trip !!
What next for u??:)
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