{"id":4604,"date":"2017-02-17T09:49:17","date_gmt":"2017-02-17T14:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=4604"},"modified":"2025-08-23T16:47:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T20:47:22","slug":"no-mountain-is-too-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2017\/02\/17\/no-mountain-is-too-high\/","title":{"rendered":"No Mountain Is Too High"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With their backpacks slung around their shoulders and snowshoes strapped to their feet, students from the University of Maine at Presque Isle and the University of Maine at Orono teamed up to hike to the summit of Mount Katahdin. The eight outing club members began the ascent on Saturday, Jan. 28, at around 10:30 a.m. Unfortunately, they wouldn\u2019t end up summiting. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Three UMPI students–Thad Dudley, Ryan Christo and Tom Carlton –were members of the group. The other students were from the University of Maine at Orono. On Friday, the UMPI students drove to U Maine to discuss the plans for the trip. The following morning, the whole group drove to Millinocket, where Baxter State Park is located. That\u2019s where Mount Katahdin is. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They went up the south side of Katahdin on Abol Stream Trail. According to UMPI freshman Tom Carlton, it was a tough hike. \u201cIt was cold. You have to trek through it either way. You adapt to it,\u201d he said. Climbing Katahdin in the middle of winter can be perilous and Carlton knew that despite the conditions and circumstances, they had to keep going no matter what. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It took them five hours to reach Abol Camp. Two of the students from U Maine were their guides. Once they reached the camp, they set up their sleeping bags inside the lean-tos on the trail. They also learned that day to use crampons and ice picks, since they would need them for the icy trail leading to the peak. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The three UMPI students and one of the U Maine students slept in the center lean-to at the camp, which became the hub. This is where the kitchen was located. The UMPI students even got breakfast in bed on Sunday morning. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They were going to hike to the summit on Sunday. \u00a0But one of the UMPI students fell ill, probably with the flu that had been going around campus the previous two weeks. The team decided not to climb to the peak. This wasn\u2019t the only factor, however. The previous day there were 60-mile-per hour winds and whiteout and frostbite conditions. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Despite the unplanned events, Dudley still found the journey to be a very positive and memorable experience. \u201cYou made these great friends within 24 hours that you just met the day before,\u201d Dudley said. \u201cEverybody has the same goal, so it\u2019s bringing us all together.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Carlton also found the expedition to be a great experience. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a true test of your endurance and drive to keep doing stuff, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d Carlton said. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Dudley and Carlton both eagerly agreed that they would go again if the opportunity arose. Dudley is planning another trip in late spring. \u00a0When he graduates in four years, he would like to hike the entire Appalachian Trail. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For more information about events hosted by the UMPI Outing Club, contact Amanda Baker at <\/span>amanda.g.baker@maine.edu<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With their backpacks slung around their shoulders and snowshoes strapped to their feet, students from the University of Maine at Presque Isle and the University of Maine at Orono teamed up to hike to the summit of Mount Katahdin. The eight outing club members began the ascent on Saturday, Jan. 28, at around 10:30 a.m. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":4605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4604"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8905,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4604\/revisions\/8905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}