Katahdin was known to the Native Americans in the region and was known to Europeans at least since 1689. It has inspired hikes, climbs, journal narratives, paintings, and a piano sonata.[4] The area around the peak was protected by Governor Percival Baxter starting in the 1930s. Katahdin is the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail and is near a stretch known as the Hundred-Mile Wilderness.
The mountain is commonly called just "Katahdin",[6] though the official name is "Mount Katahdin" as decided by the US Board on Geographic Names in 1893.[7]
Geology
Katahdin is part of a laccolith that formed in the Acadian orogeny when an island arc collided with eastern North America approximately 400 million years ago. On the sides of Katahdin are four glacial cirques carved into the granite by alpine glaciers and in these cirques behind moraines and eskers are several ponds.[8]
In Baxter State Park, many outcrops of sedimentary rocks have striations, whereas Katahdin Granite and Traveler Rhyolitelava have weathered surfaces on which striations are commonly not preserved. Bedrock surfaces of igneous rocks which were buried by glacial sediments and only recently exposed have well preserved striations, as in the vicinity of Ripogenus Dam. Several outcrops of sedimentary rocks along the Patten Road show striations, especially on the north side of the road at Hurricane Deck. A few outcrops near the Pattern Road just north of Horse Mountain are striated, as are several outcrops of sedimentary rocks along the road from Trout Brook Farm northward to Second Lake Matagamon.
The mountain massif itself consists of multiple peaks. Baxter Peak is the tallest, and is the official northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. South Peak and Pamola Peak are southeast and east of Baxter Peak, respectively, along the Knife Edge ridgeline, while Hamlin Peak lies to the north.
There is low lake country to the south and west of Katahdin, and lowlands extending east to the Atlantic and north to the Saint Lawrence River in Canada.
It is commonly thought that Katahdin is the first place in the United States mainland to receive sunlight in the morning, but this is incorrect. Other mountains lower in elevation but farther to the east or southeast see the first sunrise of the day, depending on the season.[11]
Climate
Climate data for Mount Katahdin 45.9023 N, 68.9146 W, Elevation: 4,685 ft (1,428 m) (1991–2020 normals)
Katahdin is part of a laccolith that formed in the Acadian orogeny when an island arc collided with eastern North America approximately 400 million years ago. On the sides of Katahdin are four glacial cirques carved into the granite by alpine glaciers and in these cirques behind moraines and eskers are several ponds.[13]
In Baxter State Park, many outcrops of sedimentary rocks have striations, whereas Katahdin Granite and Traveler Rhyolitelava have weathered surfaces on which striations are commonly not preserved. Bedrock surfaces of igneous rocks which were buried by glacial sediments and only recently exposed have well preserved striations, as in the vicinity of Ripogenus Dam. Several outcrops of sedimentary rocks along the Patten Road show striations, especially on the north side of the road at Hurricane Deck. A few outcrops near the Pattern Road just north of Horse Mountain are striated, as are several outcrops of sedimentary rocks along the road from Trout Brook Farm northward to Second Lake Matagamon.
Katahdin is referred to 60 years after Field's climb of Agiokochuk (Mount Washington) in the writings of John Gyles, a teenage colonist who was captured near Portland, Maine, in 1689 by the Abenaki. While in the company of Abenaki hunting parties, he traveled up and down several Maine rivers including both branches of the Penobscot, passing close to "Teddon". He remarked that it was higher than the White Hills above the Saco River.
Among some Native Americans, Katahdin was believed to be the home of the storm god Pamola, and thus an area to be avoided.[16]
The first recorded climb of "Catahrdin" was by Massachusetts surveyors Zackery Adley[17] and Charles Turner, Jr. in August 1804.[18] In the 1840s Henry David Thoreau climbed Katahdin, which he spelled "Ktaadn"; his ascent is recorded in a well-known chapter of The Maine Woods.[19] A few years later Theodore Winthrop wrote about his visit in Life in the Open Air. Painters Frederic Edwin Church and Marsden Hartley are well-known artists who created landscapes of Katahdin. On 30 November 2011, Christie's auctioned Church's 1860 painting Twilight (Katahdin) for $3.1 million. The letter describing the ascent of Charles Turner Jr. states that they began at the (West Branch Penobscot) at 8:00 a.m. and arrived on the summit at 5:00 p.m. guided by two Native Americans who were initially cautious but when the "cold part of the mountain" was reached and sensing the determination of the others became ambitious to reach the top first. Turner lists his party as: William Howe, Amos Patten, Joseph Treat, Samuel Call, William Rice, Richard Winslow, Charles Turner, Jr. In the 1930s GovernorPercival Baxter began to acquire land and finally deeded more than 200,000 acres (810 km2) to the State of Maine for a park, named Baxter State Park after him. The summit was officially recognized by the US Board on Geographic Names as "Baxter Peak" in 1931.
Elizabeth Oakes Smith "climbed Mount Katahdin in 1849—reportedly the first white woman to do so".[20]
The Appalachian Trail on Katahdin's Hunt Spur
Recreation opportunities
As the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail and southern terminus of the International Appalachian Trail, Katahdin is a popular hiking and backpacking destination and the centerpiece of Baxter State Park. Baxter State Park is open year-round, though strictly regulated in winter. The overnight camping season is, weather permitting, from May 15 to October 15 each year, with some campgrounds staying open until October 22. Capacity limits have been placed on day use parking at the trailheads to minimize the overuse of trails.[21]
Mt. Katahdin has several trails leading up to Baxter, Pamola, or Hamlin Peaks[22] These trails start right up the mountain, but each trail on the mountain ends up taking eight to ten hours round-trip depending on ability. Even for experienced hikers, Katahdin is often considered one of the most challenging hikes in the entire Appalachian Mountain range. [23][24][25] The rest of the trails go up the north side or west side of the mountain. These are accessed from the Chimney Pond Trail. For these trails, hikers must park at the Roaring Brook Campground and hike in. All trails are maintained by the Baxter State Park Authority, which runs the State Park. All of the trails on the mountain are classified as very strenuous, the highest classification the Park Authority gives, except for Saddle (strenuous), Hamlin Ridge trail (moderate), and Chimney Pond (moderate).[22]
The most famous hike to the summit goes along Knife Edge, a glacial arête which traverses the ridge between Pamola Peak and Baxter Peak. There have been more than 60 deaths on Katahdin since 1933 including October 8 and 9, 2020.[26] The park as a whole typically sees a need for roughly 40 search-and-rescue events per year (1 in 2,000 hikers), with a peak of 70 in 2013. The vast majority of incidents occur in the summer months, and the primary causes are leg injury, exhaustion, dehydration and disorientation.[27]
^Blake, Irving H. (October 1926). "A comparison of the animal communities of coniferous and deciduous forests". Illinois Biological Monographs. 10 (4): 10–39.
^"PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University". PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University. Retrieved September 30, 2023. To find the table data on the PRISM website, start by clicking Coordinates (under Location); copy Latitude and Longitude figures from top of table; click Zoom to location; click Precipitation, Minimum temp, Mean temp, Maximum temp; click 30-year normals, 1991-2020; click 800m; click Retrieve Time Series button.
^Blake, Irving H. (October 1926). "A comparison of the animal communities of coniferous and deciduous forests". Illinois Biological Monographs. 10 (4): 10–39.
^Eric Pinder. "Of Moose and Men...and Mountains". North to Katahdin. EricPinder.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
^Turner, C. (1804). A Description of Mount Catardin (Second Series Vol. viii ed.). Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society.
^Henry David Thoreau (1864). "Ktaadn". The Maine woods. Boston: Ticknor and Fields. pp. 1–84. OCLC12015878. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
^White, Jonathan W., Shipwrecked: A True Civil War Story of Mutinies, Jailbreaks, Blockade-Running, and the Slave Trade, Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2023, p. 47.
William W. Geller, "Mount Katahdin — March 1853: the Mysteries of an Ascent" (2016)Maine History Documents. 119. Page 10 identifies Higginson as the anonymous author of "Going to Katahdin", omitting "Mount", but endnote 13 on page 19 makes clear that it is the same article as "Going to Mount Katahdin", listed above.
