Barefoot on Mount Katahdin: How We Conquered Maine's Greatest Mountain (and Survived a Gut Emergency) A tale of a school bus too wide for the wilderness, a thru-hiker who'd rather go back, and a small stone elephant that crossed 2,190 miles The view that makes you forget your legs exist. Briefly. There is a special kind of humility that comes from driving a 40-foot converted school bus across North America only to be turned away — repeatedly — not by bandits, weather, or mechanical failure, but by tape measures. BaseCamp, our beloved home-on-wheels, has been rejected by Mexico (too heavy), bridges in the Deep South (too tall), and now, in a twist nobody saw coming, the great wilderness of Maine. Baxter State Park, home of Mount Katahdin — at 5,269 feet the highest peak in Maine and the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail — has a vehicle size limit of 9 feet tall, 7 feet wide, and 22 feet long for a single vehicle...

We got the bug for backpacking while approaching Mt. Katahdin. The standard approach was inaccessible to larger vehicles in Baxter State Park, so we were forced to ditch our Skoolie (converted school bus), and join the AT. This approach from outside the park to the south meant joining up with the north bound thru-hikers that were finishing their AT bid. It was a match made in heaven, and now we prefer to travel on foot. On that first trek we didn’t have the right gear, but we had the right attitude… Oh how our gear has evolved! Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission for purchases made via these links at no additional cost to you. This helps keep the site up and running. Thank you for your support!  Long distance trekking demands careful gear selection. Every ounce counts, and going ultralight means striking the perfect balance between weight, comfort, and durability. Whether you’re crossing the Mojave D...