The twin peaks of Bigelow (left) and The Horns (right) in the distance. Little Bigelow stands to their left, and then the flat lands in between. Taken from Pleasant Pond Mountain.

Sunrise over Maine.

Moxie Pond sunrise.

Looking back even further to the Bigelows, from Moxie Bald.

The line above the log help balance.

Through the color.

Little Wilson Falls over slate steps.

Little Wilson Falls, cropped differently.

Little Wilson falls through the brush.

A piece of slatey rock sticks out as a precipice.

Golden birches, or beeches, or something, in front of an otherwise bleak sky.

See the blazes across Big Wilson Steam? It's a ford.

Vaughn Stream Falls.

The rain overnight turned a little trickle in to a raging torrent.

Commando didn't believe that this was the same stream where, the night before, I had to jam my Nalgene under a rock to fill it.

These raging rivulets were everywhere.

The stream bounces off a rock and down in to Slugundy Gorge below.

Barren Mountain fire tower in the fog. No views today.

How can I keep my feet dry when the bog bridges have sunk?

Cooking.

Clear and cold at the Pleasant River.

Sun and birches at the Pleasant River crossing.

Yellow birches at the Pleasant River, also a higher-than-knee-deep ford.

Under 100 to go!

The first views of Katahdin from Gulf Hagas Mountain.

Frost on Gulf Hagas Mountain. My water bottle had become icy overnight.

More frost.

Ice in boot prints.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Looking south along the Trail from Whitecap Mountain, Maine.

The flat lands to Katahdin.

Damnit!

Falls on Logan Brook, near the Logan Brook Lean-to.

Often times crappy books are left in the shelters, but they all seem to get great reviews. This one even got a review from the Saint Paul Star Tribune, a paper which doesn't exist. (The book was Stephen J. Cannell's The Tin Collectors, and he probably just made the reviews up.)

Boreal forest at every elevation.

Thick pine needles over thin soil and roots.

Foaming at the stream.

The 50 miles from Whitecap to Katahdin trade mountains for lakes.

Dusk over Crawford Pond.

Cooper Brook, at the Cooper Brook Shelter, looks icy in a long exposure.

I was soothed to sleep by the rumbling of the stream.

A straight, flat, leafy section of the Appalachian Trail in Maine.

Yellow Birches over the outlet of Cooper Brook near Jo-Mary Lake.

Yellow birch and reflection.

Yellow foliage in the north country, across Jo Mary (or maybe Pemadumcook) Lake.

Yellow foliage in the north country, across Jo Mary (or maybe Pemadumcook) Lake.

Shade from the trees.

Antlers Campsite sign.

The aptly-named Fort Releif Privy. With glass windows!

A crystal-clear, cold Potaywadjo Spring, near a Lean-to of the same name.

Katahdin in the clear, over Pemadumcook.

Katahdin over Lake Pemadumcook (as controlled by a dam near Millinocket, which is why it is so low). One of the best views of the big mountain on the trail. It's not far now.

It's called Nahmakanta Stream. Anywhere else it'd be a river. The trail follows it for miles.

Nahmakanta Lake, with golden birches against the boreal pines higher up.

A few golden birches stand out in the late day sunlight over Nahmakanta Lake.

Late day sun over Nahmakanta Lake.

Crossing a "stream" on a bridge shared with a woods road.

Rainbow Stream.

This type of Lean-to floor lends the name to the so-called "baseball bat lean-tos," of which there are three in Maine. I never slept in one, but you better have a pad. Originally, they'd be covered with pine boughs. They are used in remote areas where it is impractical to carry in manufactured boards for the floor. These are made from nearby saplings.

Holy wah! 20 miles to go!

Katahdin from Rainbow Ledges.

Crossing Hurd Brook, I spotted one of the coolest trees on the trail. This fallen cedar log supports a new tree growing straight up out of the horizontal log, at least five yards from the bank. It also provides a sturdy crossing of the stream.

The 100 Mile Wilderness! I made it. Now time to feel pavement beneath my feet once more.

Katahdin above the Penobscot. Tomorrow's endeavor.

Katahdin and the Penobscot. I just missed the last of the pink light, but not because I didn't sprint the last mile in to Abol Bridge.

Big Niagara Falls, with tannin coloring the water brown.

Big Niagara Falls.

Looking up Katahdin Stream just after sunrise.

Fog lifts off of Daicey Pond early in the morning, Katahdin is viewed from the Daicey Pond dock.

Mist on Daicey Pond and Mount Katahdin./p>

Mount Katahdin from Daicey Pond Campground.

Smaller peaks in Baxter.

Frost near Elbow Lake, Baxter State Park.

Frost on a bog bridge, only a bunny had preceded me across this morning.

My tracks were bigger.

Frost and sunrise, Baxter State Park.

Here I am!

Crossing Katahdin Stream.

Katahdin Stream Falls.

Katahdin Stream Falls.

The top of Katahdin Stream Falls.

Red Mountain Ash and the Hundred Mile Wilderness, from Katahdin's flanks.

The Owl, from Mount Katahdin.

Ice on the way up Katahdin.

Lesser peaks of Baxter.

The Hunt Trail scrambles up Katahdin.

White blazes, white snow.

Clouds build over the lakes of the 100 Mile Wilderness.

2172.6 miles down, TWO to go!

On the Tableland, a couple flat, rocky miles to the summit.

Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park, the Tableland.

Appalachian Trail sign on the Tableland, Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

A blaze along the Appalachian Trail, Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

The end, Baxter Peak, is in sight. Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

Ice on the Trail from Thoreau Spring, Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

Thoreau Spring, Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

Snow and blazes, The Tableland, Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

Katahdin Sign, Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

Cairn on Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park, 5268 feet. The Knife Edge lies behind, closed due to snow and ice.

Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park, The Knife Edge.

Just past noon on the 17th of October, I found my way to the summit of Katahdin, took a picture, and took in the views and the fresh air. Which was 30 degrees and moving by at about 40 miles per hour.

Pamola Peak, Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

The summit Cairn and the Knife Edge, Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

Pamola Peak, Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

The views from Katahdin included the (closed) Knife Edge and, shown here, Chimney Pond, half a mile below.

Glaciers scraped out a half-mile-deep chasm, and treeline is 2000 feet below this spot. Hamline Peak sits at the other end of the Tableland. Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

The Tableland, Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

The Sign, Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park. Appalachian Trail terminus.

Ari Ofsevit, Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park, Appalachian Trail complete! October 17, 2006.

The last blue blaze on the Knife Edge Trail before the Katahdin sign beyond. From there, it is white blazes all the way to Springer Mountain in Georgia, nearly 2200 miles away.

Pink soil from Katahdin's pink granite, looking down the Hunt Trail along the Tableland on Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park. The 100 Mile Wilderness lies beyond.

The Tableland. Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

Summit sign. Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

My head blocks the summit cairn, with the Knife Edge and Pamola Peak in the background. Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

The first blue blaze on the Knife Edge Trail. Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park.

Katahdin Stream Falls.

Katahdin Stream Falls.

Katahdin Stream Falls — A mile from the trailhead, it is a last reminder of the trail before I head back to civilization. Until next time.

Katahdin Stream Falls.

Katahdin Stream Falls.

Fog envelopes Mount Katahdin. My Appalachian Trail Hike complete, my legs do not want any more pounding for a few days at least.