July 2, 2024
Katahdin National Natural Landmark (Maine). Helon Taylor-Knife Edge-Hamlin Ridge Trail Loop.
Part 1 of 3. Helon Taylor Trail to the Knife Edge. 3.1 miles with 3343 feet of elevation gain.
Baxter State Park is a northeast hiker’s paradise and home to Katahdin, the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.
There is no easy way to any of Katahdin’s peaks. It’s all boulders and straight-up hiking. My last trip to Baxter SP was 13 years ago and involved a Cathedral-Saddle Trails loop to Baxter Peak (the main summit). This time, I wanted to do the bigger Helon Taylor-Knife Edge-Hamlin Ridge Loop over Pamola, Chimney, South, Baxter, and Hamlin Peaks.
Baxter SP requires reservations months in advance. Last March I booked a stay for July 1-7 at Roaring Brook Campground close to the start of Helen Taylor Trail. I booked so many nights to guarantee I would have a good weather day for my hike. This is an all-day, completely exposed trek, and good weather/dry conditions are a must.
The forecast looked good for my very first full day, so at 5am on July 2 I began my ascent. I brought three liters of water and my filter (I ended up drinking five total liters).
Helon Taylor begins after a couple tenths of a mile on Chimney Pond Trail. Below treeline, the terrain is large rocks and roots with minor scrambling, and the ascent is first moderately steep and then just plain steep. There is one water crossing halfway up, and I refilled one of my bottles here.
Once above treeline, you get a great view of Hamlin Ridge to your right. You then climb directly up over rocks and boulders with lots more minor scrambling. When you reach the beginning of the last steep hump of Helen Taylor, you can see the Knife Edge ahead of you to the left of Pamola Peak.
Post 2 of 3. Knife Edge from Pamola to Baxter Peak. 1.1 miles, 365 feet of elevation gain, (?) feet of elevation loss.
Plan on at least an hour to get across. Two hours if you are afraid of heights.
There were four hikers on Pamola when I arrived at the peak. Two women who had started their hike together and earlier, and two individual men who had passed me during the last bit up Pamola. A woman behind me arrived as I was resting, so that made six of us total. We each decided to begin the Knife Edge at the same time, and this was a good thing since, over the next hour or so, we spontaneously formed two separate groups of three and supported one another across.
The most difficult part of the Knife Edge is the beginning (from Pamola Peak). There is a chimney with a 30(?) or 40(?) foot down climb and then an 80(?) foot up climb to the top of the knife edge. That down climb was definitely the most difficult section for me. Even with everything stowed in my pack and my pack cinched as tightly to my body as possible, I did not feel safe descending. The trick is to turn around and face the rock at one specific point, and the hand and footholds are there, but psychologically I could not do it. At this point, there were four people just ahead of me and one woman behind me. The young man just ahead descended the chimney to a small saddle, climbed back up to where I was, and offered to take my pack to the saddle so I could more easily descend. This was SO HELPFUL. I still had psychological trouble with the descent since you cannot see all the footholds as you descend, you just have to feel for them, and the young man – Tony @poptart_mafia – let me know where the footholds were. If not for Tony, I might still be frozen on that one descending spot right now.
Barbara, the young woman behind me, descended carefully, and the three of us, Tony, Barbara, and I, made our way up the other side of the chimney. I had no trouble on the ascent. It is steep, but it felt straightforward with obvious hand and footholds. I am not sure I would want to come down that section either, though.
Once on the Knife Edge itself, the process to Baxter Peak felt tedious/exhilarating but straightforward. The edge is narrow enough that one wants to proceed with caution, but never so narrow as to feel like one might fall off. There was plenty of room in spots for people coming the other way to pass, and at one point our group caught up with the other three person group, and we all took a break fairly close to one another and all spread out.
All along the way, Tony, Barbara, and I talked about hiking, some personal tidbits, the Whites, children, moose encounters, bear, all kinds of things. They were both really good company. Tony has just begun his first round of the NH48, and I look forward to his future posts of his hikes.
At one point I glanced at my Gaia app (easier to look at in the moment than my map), and it said Baxter Peak was still 0.9 miles away when it was more like 0.2 miles away. I could tell by sight that the giant cairn was closer than 0.9 miles from where we were. Always take app info with a grain of salt.
I had to take a quick break to get my poles back out just before reaching Baxter Peak. My knees were killing me, and the terrain had evened out enough to allow use of poles. When we arrived at Baxter, Tony took my photo. I include him in some of the photos here to show a better sense of scale.
Part 3 will be from Baxter Peak across to Hamlin, then down Hamlin Ridge Trail.
Post 3 of 3. Baxter Peak to Hamlin Ridge Trail (then to North Basin Trail, North Basin Cutoff, and back to Roaring Brook Campground via Chimney Pond Trail).
Baxter Peak was crowded with hikers who had come from various other trails. I thanked Tony again and bade him farewell. I looked for Barbara, but she was meeting someone on the other side of Katahdin and had already moved on. After I rested, I continued toward Hamlin Peak on Saddle Trail. The footing is terrible on that section. Large loose rounded rocks that move under your feet with each step.
Tony caught up with me, and we exchanged pleasantries again before he went on ahead and down the mountain via Saddle. I continued toward Hamlin on Northwest Basin Trail.
The ascent of Hamlin Peak from the intersection with Saddle Trail was the easiest footing of my entire day. I also saw absolutely no one from this point onward until I was all the way back down in the trees near Chimney Pond.
The direct sunlight got to me a bit, and I drank a ton of water. There is a nice spring a couple tenths of a mile from Hamlin Peak at the upper start of Hamlin Ridge Trail. I refilled two of my three bottles here.
The view from Hamlin was gorgeous. Took a video.
The descent on Hamlin Ridge Trail was beautiful but tedious. Rock/boulder hopping most of the way down. I was hot due to the constant sun and relative lack of breeze, and bugs were becoming an issue. It took forever for me to get down to North Basin Trail. I rested at the intersection, then continued slowly back to the campground.
The last two miles felt like ten since I was sore and hot and tired. I stopped often to drink water, and at one point my hand cramped up. I also managed to drop a sentimental blue Buff on Chimney Pond Trail. By the time I realized I had dropped it, I was too tired to go back up to look for it. I have filed a “lost” form with the rangers and hope it eventually ends up at headquarters in Millinocket.
I had not done a hike of this caliber in over a year, and I feel I handled it well. Total time, including all my rest stops, was 10 hours and 45 minutes.
See you next year, Katahdin.