For those of you that are situated near the mountain I'm sure you have already done it and can vouch for how fucking awesome it is. The views and the ponds are unreal and in general the entire climb is awesome.To people who have not climbed it and are within driving distance I HIGHLY recommend driving a few hours to climb because it is just so dope. For my trip i took Chimney pond trail to the Ranger check in station, then from there I took Cathedral trail to summit at Baxter peak (the highest peak on the mountain). This route up was my favorite part of the trail. Chimney trail because of the amazing ponds with their crystal clear, cold waters and Cathedral trail because of the upwards climb over boulders and massive rocks the entire way. My only regret was that i did not bring a fishing rod, because Basin pond's (one of the ponds on the way up) waters no doubt held some massive trout. Once at the peak the weather changed on a dime and went from beautiful sunshine to clouds rolling in and I was soon engulfed in white foggy clouds. With the weather changing It was time to leave the summit and make my way back down the mountain. On the way down I took Knife's edge and Helon trail. There isn't much to say about that except for Knife's edge was awesome. Unfortunately it started POURING when i got to the end of the edge so i didn't get to stick around and chill out for a bit. The rain turned to hail and the winds were probably about 100 km/hr when the lightning started and put on quite a show; I honestly thought i was going to be struck by lightning. Helon trail was killer on the legs in the rain, and 3 foot drop after 3 foot drop eventually takes a toll on your legs and knees. After about 9 hours of mixed hiking and relaxing I was done my first hike on Katahdin. I really hope to take a few more trips to this awesome mountain so that i can try out some different routes. In conclusion to this long and possibly pointless thread, I enjoyed my hike and hope that if you decide to embark on this hike, you will too. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
ps. While in Maine I stayed at the Moosehead inn. During my stay I found that the lake across the road has a sweet fishing hole right outside of that dam thing. I caught a pretty sweet pike there and a shit ton of bass.
