Baxter State Park, Take 2

My friend from high school, Mike , and his girlfriend make their way up the Abol Trail. I think this is shortly before we make our way past Thoreau Spring. A spot on the trail where H.D.T had stopped although I doubt there was much of trail then and definitely no German tourists. We lucked out for weather on this trip. If there had been rain or snow they likely would not have allowed us to summit. Nor would we have wanted to.

The summit of Mt. Katahdin in October of 1996. The peak in the background is part of Katahdin. We ran into a few people who were finishing their thru hike of the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Ecstatic does not begin to describe their emotions when they reached the end and began popping champagne. It made me seriously consider thru hiking the trail. For about a week. This was before the Bill Bryson book came out. It's still on my to do list though.

Mugging for a photo op at the shore of our camp site in 1997. We had some pesky racoons at night but otherwise a perfectly isolated spot. It was here where we witnessed the Northern Lights, me for the first time.

Too cool for school. The summit of North Traveler. A pretty mellow hike compared to some of scrambling we did on the Abol Trail. One of the best hikes was in August of this year when my friend Dave and I did the North and South Brother loop. All the camp sites had been reserved so the park was full but we hiked for about six hours and only saw two other people on the trail.

South Branch Pond (Upper and Lower) as viewed from the North Traveler trail. We canoed to a trail head close to where the ponds are connected by a stream. Our camp site would be just off the right edge of the photo on the far shore. I really need to go back here.