Date: 2007-09-08
From: Baxter State Park

To: Mt. Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: broken clouds

For 2011 Journal - click "2011 AT" under "My Other Journals" on left middle side of this page. Tigger once asked Winnie the Pooh what one thing made him the happiest. After contemplating for a moment, Pooh responded with something that went like: "Well, eating honey is a favorite but the moment right before I taste the honey is when I'm the happiest". At 7:30 this morning I arrived at "Tablelands" which might be described as the shoulder of Mt. Katahdin. The previous 2.5 hours were spent clawing, climbing, digging, and huffing my way up to Katahdin. "Hemlock" was right; a hiker just needs to find "The Zone". And it was all around the mountain the whole time.   After today there will be no need to map out the next water source, the one left over Lipton Side Dish I have will be thrown into the hiker box, and I anticipate the transition back to the norm. The two daily use hiking shirts which are permeated with such an odor that multiple washings in super strength detergent can't help will be promptly tossed into the trash with the aim of a steady three point shooter.   I'm going home now. Thank you Mt. Katahdin, thank you Mahoosuc Range, thank you Bosco for being my hiking buddy, thank you Pennsylvania rocks, thank you White Mountains, thank you Killington Peak. Thank you Ann for doing the job of everyone and being the sexiest, most supportive loving person I've ever known, thanks to all the free thinking hikers who walked, drank, slept, laughed, struggled and wandered through the woods with me and became family, thank you Hudson River, thank you to all the drivers who gave me a lift to and from town.   Thanks to the Hashers for perpetually demonstrating that age is beyond relative as this trip may have never happened had I not been surrounded and supported by such a diverse bunch of partiers and true unconditional friends, thank you to all the people who spent time and effort just to line the trail with a cold soda, fresh treats and notes of encouragement. Thank you to all the trail maintainers who volunteer countless afternoons maneuvering a few big rocks just to prolong the life of our boots and feet. Thank you Mea for being proud of me while I dream about, thank YOU for being curious and following all the trail muse, thanks to Joe for keeping the ship afloat, thank you Mom and Dad for tucking me in, thank you AT. Thank you earth for being such a remarkably wonderfully untamed place and inviting me into your living room to prop my feet up wherever I choose these last few months. I will forever cherish this experience and am truly grateful to have eaten, slept, healed and danced with Mother Nature. I am merely a speck on this planet for a minute sliver of time and pledge to keep my space as I found it and am not at all too naive to acknowledge that this special slice of my life is just on loan from generations yet to be.    The sore feet are already a thing of the past. The roots that had me tangled up like a game of Twister are quickly being remembered with a special respect as those same roots are the backbone of a select group of living wood that has been spared from pests, lightning and the mighty axe. The over thirty vertical miles climbed have given me a sense that what may appear unreachable is really within grasp if you believe in whatever power compels and drives your inner self. These were some of my thoughts as I walked through the misty windy "Tablelands" of Katahdin today. An invincible feeling of accomplishment has wrapped itself around me. "The Zone" is indeed loaded with honey. On the way home though, I'll be the guy happily savoring an IPA and lobster roll at that little corner pub with old random plank pine floors, a patriotic flag hanging proudly, bar stools with slightly torn thick cushions that have been duct taped back together, and a jute box with The Band's "The Weight" playing in the near ground. Then I'll try to get a seat with a view of the Green Monster. More photos later. Peace out.