Crossover Blog (2/2) - (hike "The Owl" up at Katahdin)

Monday, July 18, 2022 - Yesterday I drove up to Millinocket, Maine, visiting the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine (read that blog here). Today I will be hiking "The Owl" up at Katahdin - that allows me to write one of my favorite type of blogs: The Cross-Over Blog (modeled on the age-old tradition of comic book heros "crossing over" into each other's comic for an issue, then flip-flopping. Today is DixonHeadingNorth. After spending the night on a bunk-bed at the Appalachian Trail Lodge, The Appalachian Trail Cafe opened at 7 AM:

Great coffee/omelet/home fries/toast!!!

Nice drive north, with my first view of Katahdin and Knife Edge at 8:37 AM:

It took some organizing to get to this day-hike. More and more frequently, you can no longer just "drive into" a National Park - they are trying to cope with over-crowding, and have established "windows for entry", which you sign-up for at recreation.gov, a government website [it does a surprisingly good job of organizing everything]. I am disappointed that this system is filtering down to State Parks, but such is life. On July 5 (2 weeks ago), I logged onto my recreation.gov account and paid my $12 entry fee for today ($12 for out-of-state), plus $5 each to park at Katahdin Stream (today's main hike) and at Abol (a secondary hike to a waterfall). Side-note: they only hold your parking spot if you enter The Park by 7:05 AM, which means no breakfast at The Appalachian Trail Cafe - I had no problem because I hike on weekdays, with a lot fewer people.

It is a nice "Morning in Maine":

But once you enter The Park, it is all dirt road:

I started my hike up Hunt Trail (the Appalachian Trail) at 9:30

Nice trail through the Maine Woods:

1 mile later (25 minutes) I was at the intersection with The Owl Trail:

where I exchanged the White Blazes of the A.T. for the Blue Blazes for going up to The Owl.

You are gaining elevation all the time - sometimes it is gradual, sometimes it is more aggressive:

An hour-and-20 minutes into the hike (my Water Management was excellent - I drank twice as much water as I expected, but the exact amount I brought), you get a nice break-out view of the ridge going up to Katahdin:

And this is where I am going:

At 11:30 there is a REALLY COOL view down into Witherle Ravine:

and "The Panorama":

I had to keep going up:

At noon I hit The Summit, with it's GREAT 360° VIEWS:

Looking North:

Looking East at Katahdin:

Looking South at Katahdin Stream:

and a few minutes later, a nice "balanced rock" view Looking West:

I made Great Time back down the mountain, and signed-out at 1:30. Interestingly, I was the ONLY PERSON on my trail up to The Owl:

I would like to tell you what got me started on this hike. Back in 2016, on September 1, Ardath and Tad were finishing the A.T. (he for the WHOLE TRAIL, and she for the last "100-Mile Wilderness"); and they invited me to come with them on their last day up to the Summit of Katahdin:

(Nice of them to let "the old guy" tag along!)

So, on my way up, I'm looking down to my left and saying "What is that nice mountain down there? And is there a trail for it?":

Well, as you can guess, that "mountain down there" is The Owl, and yes, there is a trail for it. Hence my hike today.

After a quick dip in Katahdin Stream:

I went back down the road to Abol:

with it's 1.8 mile round-trip hike to "Little Abol Falls":

From there, I headed back HOME, through thunderstorms and blazing sunshine. Dinner on the road, and a big hug and kiss from my wife when I got home. Thank You God for a wonderful 2-day adventure!!

Music for today - mellow driving up through the woods:

Tom Waits - Closing Time, 1973 debut album

Tom Waits - Small Change, September 1976 fourth album

This is the album that got me started with Tom Waits. the first song ("Tom Traubert's Blues") is BEAUTIFUL. I saw him down at The Bottom Line sometime after the album's release (it was getting good airplay on WNEW-FM), and it was a great show. According to Wikipedia, when asked in an interview with Mojo in 1999 if he shared many fans' view that Small Change was the crowning moment of his "beatnik-glory-meets-Hollywood-noir period" (i.e. from 1973 to 1980), Waits replied:

Well, gee. I'd say there's probably more songs off that record that I continued to play on the road, and that endured. Some songs you may write and record but you never sing them again. Others you sing em every night and try and figure out what they mean. "Tom Traubert's Blues" was certainly one of those songs I continued to sing, and in fact, close my show with.

Tom Waits - Used Songs 1973-1980, 2001 compilation of songs from Tom Waits's Asylum Records years.

And then music for rockin' down the highway:

various - Digital Empire II, 1998 2-cds

Ouch - a lot of loud aggressive music - can be deleted.

various - Elmopalooza!, 1998

As the cover says: Gloria Estefan, Jimmy Buffett, and special guest Steven Tyler singing "I Love Trash". WHAT A LOT OF FUN!!!!

Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison, 1968 live album

Historic Album!

Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about visiting Art Museums and National Parks (and hiking in the Rockies)
hyperlink: dixonheadingwest
http://dixonheadingwest.blogspot.com/