"g" traversed Knife Edge with the Boys in 2001. This trip would be different. He and his daughter, "a", planned this adventure as part of her send off to American University later in the month. Although, some very sketchy, freaky, and anxiety provoking sections of hiking the edge had eluded "g's" memory, the most difficult part of this trek was securing the necessary backcountry permits - they don't have many to offer!

Their adventure began with visiting Joe and Cruisin' Mona the 10K Queen on Little Sabago Lake, ME. CM, Slammin Sarah and "g" ran the Beach to Beacon 10K on August, 5th. The next day, "g" and "a" headed 4-hours north to camp and hike in Baxter State Park for, four days.

It was a long, flat, scenic... and sometimes under-stimulating drive north.

Baxter State Park generally consists of 2 glacier formed basins. The most popular hiking is along the southern basin rim - a series of ridges known as Mt. Katadin. Katadin's 1.1 mile ridge line is called Knife Edge which is flanked to the north by Baxter Mt. (the northern terminus for the Appalachian Trail), and to the south by Pamola Mt.

In 2001, the Hat, Whiskey Tottin', and "g" hiked the loop clockwise. This was a big mistake. The CW loop is more challenging of a climb up Pamola and down Baxter mountains. Moreover, traversing down/up/down Chimney Peak from Pamola was a nightmare which kept "g" awake for weeks after their hike. This time... in 2006... "a" and her dad would hike the loop from Chimney Pond Campground... counterclockwise.

On Sunday around 4:00 PM, the Hiking LaBella's arrived at Roaring Brook Campground. At lean-to #8, our dashing duo in trail running shoes BBQed shrimp, baked potato and green squash for dinner. For breakfast, cheese omelets, grilled bagels with cream cheese, and freshly squeezed juice got them rockin' for their 3.2 mile hike up into Chimney Pond Campsite - their base camp for 2 nights.

Entering Baxter State Park and the first view of Knife Edge from the south.	Roaring Brook Campground/Lean-to #8 Organizing gear for the next day's hike to Chimney Pond.
After some initial gear organizing, "a" and "g" took the Ranger's advice and hiked 0.3 miles to Basin Pond. The promised views of Moose were plentiful!
		Preparing dinner at dusk.