Kahtadin

Katahdin, the “Great Mountain” of the Penobscot, rises above the forests of northern Maine. Its steep granite massif stands apart from the neighbouring ranges, with exposed alpine ground on its high summit. In the beliefs of some Indigenous people it was the home of the storm spirit Pamola, and a place to be approached with caution.

John Gyles passed near the mountain while travelling with Abenaki hunting parties after his capture in 1689, and described it as higher than the White Hills above the Saco River. In 1804 a surveying party including Charles Turner and two Indigenous guides made the first recorded ascent. They set out from the West Branch of the Penobscot in the morning and reached the summit that evening.