Date: 2005-09-28
From: The Birches

To: Summit of Mt. Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: few clouds

We are done! Today, at 11:00 AM, Gypsy, Touk, Mouth, Tink, and I reached the summit of Mt. Katahdin. It was a picture perfect day. A Class 1 day as determined by the weather and the park rangers. A day that thru-hikers dream of and we had it. We had it all! It is Thursday afternoon as write this. I am in New Hampshire, sitting in Tink's house, having been graciously given a place to stay for a couple of days by her parents. We are watching the rain pour down and the wind blow, four walls and a roof over our heads, still not grasping the reality of what we, and I use the collective we, have done. I think Tink and I are still a bit shell shocked. We do know we are glad we are not out there today! We started the climb at 7:30 this morning. It was a difficult climb, hiking up the mountain like we had over the past several weeks. It then turned into a rock climb and, in some places, not an easy one. We all had full gear on and I'll explain that one in a minute. It was a beautiful day, hardly a cloud in the sky, a little cool but that is to be expected. Heck, we were climbing up to 5267 feet. We cleared one peak and then the mountain played a little trick on us. We thought we were coming to the summit because we could see a sign. By this time Touk and Mouth were ahead, then it was Tink and I, with Gypsy behind us. We cimbed up to the sign and found out it was a sign telling us to stay on the trail, to avoid damage to the fragile plant life (We were above treeline). We looked at each other and shook our heads. We had reached the Tablelands, a flat stretch, almost like a plateau, with a mile still to go. However, this time we could see the summit. Excitement was building and we kicked the pace into high gear. As we neared the last 500 yards we heard yelling behind us. It was the Sequin Sisters and that group of 7 coming up behind. We returned with yells of our own. We could hear each other a half mile and more away. Up we scrambled. Touk followed by Mouth, then Tink, Gypsy and myself. We were so close! And there it was! The sign marking the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. I was the last to walk up and touch it. I reached out to touch it and hesitated, pulling my hand back just a little, as if I was afraid it was going to disappear. I reached out again and this time made contact. I could hear the voices of the other four behind me but it was just sound. No coherent sounds were coming through. I remember saying softly, to myself, "18 months, 3300 miles, and I am here. I have done the AT." I stepped back and the noise came flooding back. I joined in the whooping and hollering, the hugging, the picture taking, and the general celebration. We took our individual and group summit photos. As we finished up the other group came in and more whooping and hollering ensued. It was a great time on top of the mountan. Thirteen thru-hikers sat down around the surrounding area and had lunch. Day hikers were coming up, congratulating us and having a good time with us. They knew how special it was for us. We stayed on the summit for an hour or so and then it was time to go but not before we put the stones we had carried from Springer Mtn. on the cairn. With all the water bottles I have been losing I was surprised I still had the stone! Now, the reason we had full gear is that we were not going back the same way. We were going to take the Kinfe's Edge trail back down where we were going to be met by Tink's mom, when we got down. The Knife's Edge was a fantastic hike down and it's name is well deserved. You are doing a rock walk with 2000 foot drops on either side. Several ups and downs were included in the journey down and we had to laugh. Here we were, done with the hike, and we are taking one of the harder trails back down! Well worth it though and a lot of fun! We reached the base of Katahdin around 4:30 where we met up with Tink's mom. Mouth was going as far as Millinockett(sp?), an hour away. We were dropping the Gypsy sisters off in Bangor, and then Tink and I had another 4 hours in the car til we hit her house. A 7 hour ride in all. It was strange saying goodbye but with the knowledge that we would be seeing each other again in a week, at the Gathering. The journey is over. For now. There are plans in the works for other adventures in the nea future. I will give a little more detail on this in my post hike entries. Over the next couple of weeks, after I get home, and when reality finally hits me, I plan on writing a few more entries talking about the hike in general, discussing gear and giving some pointers based on my experience, and what the hike has done for me as well as future plans. I also plan on getting a lot more pictures up. Thanks to all of you who have read my journal. Thanks for all the support you have given. It means a lot! I hope you have enjoyed reading it and I hope I have provided you with a good story. A true story. I hope you have all gotten an insight into me. There is a quote that Tink read to me one day and the last line hits home. "To understand me, you'll have to swallow a world." If I wrote the journal well you should have been able to swallow my world for the last six months. I hope you read some of my other adventures when they happen. Believe me, they will happen, and they will happen every year. I have mentioned the PCT in '08. That is definitely going to happen then. There is a potential doozey of a hike, in the early planning stages for next summer, if we can pull it off. If that one doesn't happen then there is a smaller one planned. Again, details to follow. All I have to say is it has been a heck of a ride and well worth every minute of it!