UP MOUNT KATAHD1N. 



F. S. CRABTREE. 



We went to Milo, Me., on the Bangor 

 and Aristook Railway, where we took a 

 small steamer running from Lake View to 

 Schoodic. At Norcross we loaded our 

 canoes and other truck on a scow, when the 

 steamer took it in tow and started up the 

 lake. After leaving the lake we had 5 carrys 

 to make and a good deal of quick water to 

 pole up. 



We finally reached our destination and 

 pitched camp on Katahdin, or, as the map 

 has it, Abotjackamat. 



After dinner I went over about a mile to 

 another stream and found where a big 

 moose had wandered along the bank a few 

 days before. His tracks looked like those 

 of an ox. We hunted hard but did not get 

 a thing for 4 days. Then Cole went out, on 

 the Katahdin trail, sat down, and had been 

 there but a few minutes when a doe came 

 along and stood up to be shot ; so we had 

 venison from that time on. 



There were plenty of deer, but the leaves 

 and weeds were as thick as in summer and 

 it was almost impossible to see them. 

 I wounded one deer but failed to get it. 

 Then another member of our party killed 

 2, another killed one, etc. We started 

 some caribou but did not see any. One 

 night a big moose came down to the 

 stream, right across from our camp, and 

 not liking the looks of things turned and 

 went away again. 



On October 4th we started for the foot 

 of Mount Katahdin, 5 miles from our camp 

 on the river. It was very cloudy, as it had 

 been all of the time. We climbed to the 

 foot of the landslide ; made a brush lean-to 

 and stayed there till morning. We break- 

 fasted at daylight and started on the long 

 climb. The labor was terrific. Think of 

 going straight up a hill 3 miles long, at an 

 average angle of 40 degrees, in a narrow 

 road, with no chance to beat from side to 

 side to get an easier grade, and you can get 

 a faint idea of what it was. In many places 

 the grade is 50, 60 and even 70 degrees. 



Near the top, where it is very steep, we 

 could go only about 75 to 100 feet without 

 stopping to rest, and our hearts were beat- 

 ing like trip hammers. We had to be very 

 careful not to start any stones down on 

 those behind us, as the slide is covered with 

 them, of all sizes, and all loose. 



Within about 1,500 feet of the summit we 

 reached the top of the slide, and from there 

 up it is about as near perpendicular as it 

 can be and have the stones stick on the side 

 of the mountain. We called the grade here 

 a good 70 degrees or more, and this was 

 where we had to get down to business. It 

 is one mass of rocks of all sizes, and it 

 looked as though there was danger of pull- 

 ing some over on us. Sometimes when I 

 would come up under a big rock, weighing 



some thousands of tons, with nothing, so 

 far as I could see, to hold it up, I would get 

 out from under it as soon as consistent 

 with dignity. 



Finally, after about 2 hours of hard work, 

 we reached the summit, and it was just like 

 going up over the edge of a table. The 

 top, or table-land, as it is called, is an im- 

 mense bowlder-strewn plateau, of many 

 hundreds of acres ; and to get on the high- 

 est peak we simply walked off to the North 

 side, something over a mile away. 



I forgot to say that when we had gone 

 up about 2 miles we got through the heavy 

 clouds, into the sunshine, and the top of the 

 mountain was as clear as could be. From 

 the summit we looked out on the clouds, 

 far below, and it was a most beautiful sight. 

 It looked like a great ocean, with waves 

 rolling on it. Far away we could see the 

 blue tops of several mountains, showing 

 above the clouds, exactly like islands in the 

 ocean. Of course the view was shut out 

 below, but it was beautiful as far as we 

 could see. On the North side is an almost 

 perpendicular cliff, 3,000 feet high, which is 

 wild and rugged in the extreme. 



Nearly 350 lakes can be seen from the top 

 of Katahdin, on a clear day, and the view 

 must then be magnificent. 



It is remarkable and fortunate, too, that 

 there is a spring of excellent water on the 

 top of the mountain. We were all half dead 

 with thirst when we got up, and all stam- 

 peded for the spring like a drove of cattle. 



We saw the skeletons of 2 caribou that 

 some wretch had shot, sometime in August 

 I should say. The legs had dried, but the 

 eagles had picked the bones quite clean. 

 Cole said last year they saw 6 or 7 carcasses 

 that someone had shot and left, in the same 

 way. 



Doctor Ford, a large, heavy man, did not 

 get to the top for more than an hour after 

 the others. One man stayed behind with 

 him to locate the remains in case he should 

 fall down the mountain. The Doctor was 

 a total wreck when he finally landed. 



We stayed up there 3 hours and then 

 started back. When we got to the edge 

 and looked straight down, about 1,200 feet, 

 and saw where we had to go to get to the 

 upper end of the slide I could feel my hair 

 rise. The slide, all the way down to where 

 it disappeared in the clouds, looked like a 

 great road and a fearfully steep one too. 



It was ^ery hot, going down, and the 

 sun almost burned our feet. We were glad 

 when we got down into the clouds again, 

 where it was cool. About 2 miles down we 

 came through the clouds and could see the 

 country below. We reached camp on the 

 river just before dark, tired and foot-sore, 

 and I don't think the Doctor is thoroughly 

 rested yet. 



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