Appalachian Trail (Kennebec River to Pleasant Pond Shelter)

The Appalachian Trail in Maine is generally considered the most difficult of all the fourteen states that the A.T. traverses. The Maine portion covers about 282 miles and offers hikers rugged terrain, stunning wilderness, and remote beauty. In some sections, don’t expect to hike more than a mile an hour and get used to steep ascents and descents. Slippery and sometimes hazardous weather can occur at any time, and the terrain is often remote to say the least.  The hiking season in Maine is typically from late May to early October. Snow can linger on higher peaks into June, and weather can change rapidly.

The hike from the Kennebec River to Mount Katahdin is the final stretch of trail for northbound thru-hikers, and there are frequent rock scrambles and numerous river and stream crossings in this section. Many streams require fording (since the spring runoff washes away the smaller bridges that are found in most other states) and this small creek just north of Caratunk was no exception during our hike. It had swollen from heavy rains that caused a flash flood during the day and Mackie and I were not sure we could cross it when we first ran into the raging stream.  We hiked this short section of trail on our 1996 cross-country trip. It is just north of the Kennebec River (and near the small town of Caratunk, Maine) and is a fairly easy day hike. We started at Pleasant Pond, visited the nearby Lean-To (or shelter as they say in the South), then followed the Trail back to Caratunk. The rains were heavy during our hike, and most of the Appalachian Trail was under water (but you are likely to have much better weather than we did).