My name is Preston Osborn, I am an associate at The North Face Columbus and I recently took the opportunity to use the store's demo gear for a trip to the beautiful state of Maine with my twin brother Nathan and our two friends Kody and Bloom. We spent six days in the area south of Appalachian Trailhead that is referred to the 100 mile wilderness. This area is the longest stretch of the Appalachian trail that does not pass through a town or store and is regarded by some as the most difficult section of the trail. Our group decided to pick a spot on the trail and hike north to the trailhead of Mt. Katahdin and then loop back down to where we started. We covered approximately 65 miles with about a 15,000 ft. net elevation change. I decided that this trip was the perfect time to test out some of the The North Face products that I have not yet had the chance to use outdoors, and some gear that I have used and knew it would help make the trip successful!
North Face products used:
Minibus 2 tent
RE Meow sleeping bag
Crestone 65 pack
Verto pack
Dhaulagiri II GTX boots
Paramount Peak convertible pants
Venture Jacket
The gear that I was using for the first time was the Minibus 2, the RE Meow, and the Dhaulagiri boots. The Minibus tent was relatively lightweight and very simple to set up. The rainfly vestibule that extends on both sides gave us a space to store our packs every night and keep them from getting wet from rain and dew. Also, we weren't able to have a fire a few of the nights because of trail rules and conditions, so it was great to have a roomy tent to hang out in when the bugs were attacking us! The RE Meow bag also did its job well. Being an all-season bag it was heavy enough to keep my warm when the temperature dropped 50 degrees at night, but not too warm. the bag's stuff sack filled with my spare clothes also made a nice pillow. These essential items helped make my overall trip a success, but the time that the gear helped me the most was the day we hiked 5 miles to the top of Mt. Katahdin.
We woke up earlier than we had the previous days that morning because everyone was anxious to start our hike towards the 5,200 ft. peak! We got up, cooked breakfast, packed up what we needed for the day, and left camp a little after 7:00 am. It was chilly that morning, so I tossed on my Venture shell over my t-shirt. I strapped up boots and packed my food and water for the day in my Verto pack. The Baxter State park ranger had posted that morning that the trail up Katahdin was a Class II for the day (this meant that the trail was open, but it was not recommended to go higher than the treeline). Being that it was almost a cloudless sunny day, we figured that he had posted this rating due to the wind. The first couple miles of our hike that morning was very relaxed and relatively easy. We stopped at the falls that the trail pass to take a short break and get some great pictures. A short time after the falls, however, the trail begins to incline quickly and get very rocky. As we pushed on, it was awesome to watch the progression of rocks on the path to change from basketball sized rocks to truck sized boulders. The Vibram soles on my boots helped me to maneuver around and over these boulders on the path with confidence. Once we got about 2 and a half miles from the summit the trees disappeared and felt the strong wind, which we estimated to be between 20 and 30 mph. It was around this area that we debated whether to continue to the summit. There was a section that left us very exposed to the wind and some substantial drop-offs. The other three in my group were using larger, more cumbersome packs that they decided to drop at this point and pick back up on the way back down. However, I left on my Verto pack since I knew that I and the others would need some water and food at some point the rest of the way up. The last 2 miles up to the summit is a plateaued section that is relatively easy, but we were all glad we had brought jackets because of the wind and temperature drop that is cold enough to keep some piles of snow around even in the middle of summer.
Once we made it to the top we all agreed that the view from the highest point in Maine made our trip. We looked over the view of Baxter State Park that is riddled with lakes, ponds, and streams. We also got a great view of the rocky ridge that connects the north summit to the south summit, which is only 20 ft lower in elevation. After snapping some pictures and spending about 20 minutes at the summit, we headed back down the mountain. We made sure to encourage others on our way down to keep going because the view was worth the work to make it to the top!
