When my frequent hiking partner and good friend, Scott Fisher, called and offered me a spot on his permit to climb Mount Katahdin over the weekend of March 10-11, I jumped at the chance. Actually, I had started begging him to go back in mid-January. After almost a hundred summer trips to the summit, I thought I was ready to climb it in winter.

A couple of years ago Scott and I and two others tried the same thing. They all made it to the top, often in whiteout conditions. I stopped climbing part way up Abol Slide and turned around. Now, I was ready for another try.

So, after a night spent in the back of our trucks, five of us – Scott, his friend Steve Vose of Augusta, Justin Morrill of Presque Isle, and Justin Hawkins from Watertown, Mass., – loaded our sleds and struck out on skis for Abol Campground in Baxter State Park. The air temperature hovered around freezing under the brightest of blue skies. The mountain rose up from the landscape like a brilliant white ghost as we skied from the Golden Road to the park perimeter road a couple of miles away.

Once we reached the road, we began the real work of skiing to the campground. Up to that point it had been a flat ski along Abol Stream. On the road, though, we soon encountered “the hill.” For the next 11/2 miles we ascended for almost an hour until we reached the lean-tos and home for the night. Pulling sleds up that hill was like dragging an elevator counterweight. I got off the skis and walked it on snowshoes on the snowmobile-packed surface.

Finally, we topped the hill. I say we, but the rest of those guys got ahead of me. I pulled my way up slowly until, a half-hour after everyone else, I got to the lean-tos. It was 1 p.m. I had skied a little under five miles from the truck in about four hours. For my buddies it was 31/2. Scott, Steve, and one of the Justins took a hike to break out the trail to the base of Abol Slide for the next day, while I took a much-needed nap in one lean-to. The other Justin napped in the other lean-to.

I woke up when Scott and the others came back with a trail report that conditions were fine. Soon after, it was time for supper. We had unloaded the sleds of gear.

Our winter climbing equipment – rope, helmets, mountaineering boots, crampons, and ice axes – was assembled and ready to go. Now it was time for the food and stoves.

During supper I got to know my campmates, two of whom I had just met, Justin Hawkins and Justin Morrill, or Morrill and Hawkins for clarity. Morrill was a 21-year-old student from UMaine-Presque Isle majoring in natural resources with an outdoor recreation minor and a variety of other outdoor-related concentrations. Scott met Hawkins at an online climbing Web site.

Hawkins is a middle school math and science teacher preparing for Mount Rainier.

Both Scott and Steve reached the summit of 22,000-foot Acongagua last year. Me, I’d climbed Mount Washington in winter with Scott a few years ago and climbed Mount Adams in winter the next year.

After a great meal of chicken, red beans, and rice, the sun was down. We told a few jokes, then all agreed on a 4 a.m. start and settled in, three of us in one lean-to, two in the other.

It warmed up overnight and we loaded the packs with just the essentials for the day – clothes for when we were hiking above treeline, food for the day, and the climbing gear. The predicted rain never appeared, only a fine mist. But even that stopped, and we were headed up the Abol Trail by headlamps toward the summit. Once again, the gang got ahead of me. I was moving slow because of the tough slog of the day before. Then I hit a wall.

You could call it a runner’s wall, but I wasn’t running. I could barely lift my legs to move forward. I had bonked – hard. Scott waited up ahead and when I caught up, I told him that I wasn’t going for the top and had to go down. We weren’t even to the base of the slide, only a little over a mile from camp, with three miles to go to Baxter Peak. I realized that if I felt this weak now, I wouldn’t have any strength left for the hike down.

The wind picked up and daylight dawned as I wound my way back to the lean-tos. I was really disappointed in myself for not getting to the top, but instead of just sitting around waiting for those guys, I decided to take a ski of 21/2 miles up the perimeter road to Katahdin Stream. It felt great to move with no sled and only a fanny pack for weight. The morning clouds parted, so I could see the top of the mountain. The wind picked up and the clouds were soon streaming across the Tableland.

After taking in the quiet and scenery, it was time to head back to Abol. There was a family on snowmobiles parked along the road, so I talked to them awhile, then got back to the lean-tos. I packed my sled for the trip out and shortly after, everyone came back from their trip to the summit.

They told me about the conditions above tree line – wind blowing a gale, air fairly cold, but clear visibility for a couple of hours until the clouds rolled in again. It was 1 p.m. by then. They had made the round trip in about seven hours. I was really glad they made it and soon we were all loaded up and on the road for the way out.

The fun part of the hike is the hill, and skiing down it while being pushed by the weight of the sled. Along the way, I had time to think about what I could have done differently to make it to the top. I wasn’t really prepared physically for the trip. I had only been on two hikes all winter. If I had gone on more training hikes locally, I would have been in better hiking condition. I’m pretty sure there’s a few things I could have left out of the sled at home to lighten the load but not much.

Mainly, it was the rigorous trip in that got me. It wouldn’t have been so hard if I had been in better hiking shape.

I didn’t feel too bad about it, though, all things considered. I had a great night in the park with good company. Any night in Baxter State Park is better than not being there. The winter scenery was spectacular, even if I didn’t see it from the summit, and I did manage to ski almost 15 miles over the weekend.

Anyway, I learned some lessons from the trip. I still want to climb Katahdin in winter and I’m already planning for how I’m going to be in better condition by next year. I’m not going to quit trying. As Steve said in an e-mail later in the week, “Getting to the top is only 10 percent of any trip to the mountain. The best part is the company you keep on the way.” Well put, I thought.

If you plan a trip:

Baxter State Park has a lot of requirements designed to keep you safe. I won’t state all of them, but here are a few: You must fill out paperwork for a permit to be in the park overnight and climb the mountain in winter. Four people is the minimum allowed above tree line. You must have rope, helmets, an ice ax, and crampons. For more specific information, call the park at 207-723-5140 or visit the Web site, baxterstateparkauthority.com. All the winter regulations are there.

One more thing to keep in mind. In many ways it’s easier to climb Mt. Washington. The long way in, to the base of Katahdin, adds considerable difficulty.