Transforming Friday with Nature's Wonders

Hi there Garden Peeps!!

We're making a special trip this time around...I hope you're not tired of mountains or afraid of heights!

This one holds a special place in my heart and it's on my mind - my sister, a few girlfriends and I are planning a hiking trip to occur in two weeks. It will be my third time up...I'm very excited!

Let's visit Mount Katahdin at Baxter State Park - the highest peak in Maine, U.S.A.!

Forgive me for the copy/paste here for a moment with some background info. but wiki states it well, I think. :)

Mount Katahdin (pronounced /kəˈtɑːdən/, "kə-tah-dən") is the highest mountain in Maine at 5,269 feet (1,606 m). NamedKatahdin by the Penobscot Indians, the term means "The Greatest Mountain".[3] Katahdin is the centerpiece of Baxter State Park: a steep, tall mountain formed from a granite intrusion weathered to the surface.

The flora and fauna on the mountain are typical of those found in northern New England. Katahdin was known to the Native Americans in the region, and was known to Europeans at least since 1689. It has inspired hikes, climbs, journal narratives, paintings, and a piano sonata.[4] The area around the peak was protected by Governor Percival Baxter starting in the 1930s. Katahdin is the northern terminus of theAppalachian Trail, and is located near a stretch known as the Hundred-Mile Wilderness.

In the 1840s Henry David Thoreau climbed Katahdin, which he spelled "Ktaadn"; his ascent is recorded in a well-known chapter of The Maine Woods.[12] A few years later Theodore Winthrop wrote about his visit in Life in the Open Air. Painters Frederic Edwin Church and Marsden Hartley are well-known artists who created landscapes of Katahdin. On Nov. 30 2011, Christie's auctioned Church's 1860 painting Twilight(Katahdin) for $3.1 million.

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 Parkafter him. The summit was officially recognized by the US Board on Geographic Names as "Baxter Peak" in 1931.

Then there's the famous, "Knife Edge."

The most famous hike to the summit goes along Knife Edge, which traverses the ridge between Pamola Peak and Baxter Peak. The mountain has claimed 19 lives since 1963, mostly from exposure in bad weather and falls from the Knife Edge. For about 3/10 of a mile the trail is 3 feet wide, with a drop off on either side. The Knife Edge is closed during periods of high wind.

Here's a short clip if you'd like to vicariously experience a little taste of this beautiful mountain and the challenging but fun hike!

I offer a jumping point here...it's meant to inspire just how it inspires and allow authors poetic-wiggle-room. Anything in this post is fair game...a small list of possibilities? How about the Hundred-Mile Wilderness, Henry David Thoreau, the Appalachian Trail, the Penobscot Indians or even the makings of the very mountain itself... the granite intrusion. Or if you have a mountain that's grown a granite stone-shape in your heart, by all means, share! 

Enjoy the stroll in the peaks my pond friends, link up a new poem below and visit your neighbors. Thank you! 

(All images and info. via wiki creative commons.)