The “Harty Party,” a group of hikers that included Donald Harty and his niece Karen Herk, climbed the 5,267-foot Mount Katahdin at Baxter State Park in Maine in July. Harty wore the brown Hi-Tec hiking boots his father, Orange resident Tom Harty, was wearing when he was killed in a home invasion on Oct. 5, 2016, just three weeks shy of his 96th birthday. The younger Harty retrieved the boots from the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, which had taken them as evidence, following a four-year effort. He has made 15 to 20 climbs in the reclaimed footwear and was determined to conquer Mount Katahdin because it was one of his father’s favorites. The elder Harty last climbed Katahdin when he 89.
The “Harty Party,” a group of hikers that included Donald Harty and his niece Karen Herk, climbed the 5,267-foot Mount Katahdin at Baxter State Park in Maine in July. Harty wore the brown Hi-Tec hiking boots his father, Orange resident Tom Harty, was wearing when he was killed in a home invasion on Oct. 5, 2016, just three weeks shy of his 96th birthday. The younger Harty retrieved the boots from the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, which had taken them as evidence, following a four-year effort. He has made 15 to 20 climbs in the reclaimed footwear and was determined to conquer Mount Katahdin because it was one of his father’s favorites. The elder Harty last climbed Katahdin when he 89. Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO