Everything about Mount Katahdin totally explained
Katahdin (USGS name Mount Katahdin) is the highest mountain in
Maine. Called
Katahdin by
people local to the peak and by the
Penobscot Indians: the term means "The Greatest Mountain".
It is located in east central
Piscataquis County about 25 miles (40 km) northwest of
Millinocket. It divides the East and West Branches of the
Penobscot River and is the northern terminus of the
Appalachian Trail. From the low lake country to the south and east, the mountain appears to be one of the tallest and most abrupt in the
Appalachian Mountains.
Natural history
Katahdin is part of a
laccolith (an intrusion of
magma underground) 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 picturesque ponds. Katahdin is one of the best places to view glacial features in the Eastern States.
Fauna include
black bear,
deer and
moose as well as swarms of bloodthirsty
black flies (a sort of
midge) and
mosquitos in the spring. Among the birds are
Bicknell's Thrush and various songbirds and raptors. The mountain has its own indigenous butterfly related to an Arctic type. The flora include
pine,
spruce,
fir,
hemlock,
beech,
maple,
birch,
aspen, and
diapensia.
Human history
Katahdin is referred to 60 years after Field’s climb of Agiokochuk (
Mount Washington) in the writings of John Giles (Gyles) a teenage colonial who was captured near
Portland, Maine in 1689 by the
Abenaki. While indentured among the
Abenaki they wandered up and down the rivers including the
Penobscot, so he saw the “Teddon”. He remarked that it was higher than the
White Hills above the Saco. Among the Abenaki, Katahdin was believed to be the home of the storm god
Pamola, and thus an area to be avoided.
The first recorded climb of "Catahrdin" was by Massachusetts surveyor Charles Turner in August of 1804. In the 1840s
Henry David Thoreau climbed Katahdin and his ascent is recorded in a well known chapter of
The Maine Woods. A few years later
Theodore Winthrop wrote about his visit in
Life in the Open Air. Painters
Frederick Church and
Marsden Hartley are well known artists who created landscapes of Katahdin.
In the 1930s
Governor Percival Baxter began to acquire land and finally deeded more than 200,000
acres (809 km²) to the State of Maine for a park, named Baxter State Park after him.
Name of the peak
There is a controversy over the correct name for the mountain: because "Katahdin" means "Greatest Mountain", "Mount Katahdin" means "Mount Greatest Mountain", which local people maintain is incorrect
Two
US Navy ships have been named
USS Katahdin after the mountain.
Katahdin is also the name of a
1914 steamboat (later converted to
diesel) owned by the Moosehead Marine Museum that plies the waters of
Moosehead Lake in northern
Maine.
The composer
Alan Hovhaness composed a Sonata for piano, Op. 405 ("Mount Katahdin").
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. The most famous hike to the summit is called the Knife Edge, which traverses the ridge between Pamola Peak and Baxter Peak. The Knife Edge is closed during periods of high wind.
Katahdin lies within
Baxter State Park, which is open year round, though strictly regulated in winter. The overnight camping season is from May 15th to October 15th each year. Capacity limits have been placed on day use parking at the trailheads to minimize overuse of the trails.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Mount Katahdin'.
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