Date: 2016-08-28
To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I woke up in my home this morning. It felt great. A couple days ago, while hiking, I found myself thinking about my trail family and many others who I was so fortunate to have spent time with along this incredible journey. Many of you reading this from the beginning know that I almost never started hiking. As Beth and I cried before she drove home, I really was ready to back into Hiker Hostel, get my stuff, and join her for the ride back. I knew then that I wasn't emotionally prepared to leave her then.Looking back, it's hard to imagine that I really didn't see her for more than a month at the beginning of this hike. I guess it was a period of hiking immersion. What I know and suspect you know too is that I could not possibly have completed this hike without her overwhelming support.Support is such a woefully inadequate word to describe what she provided. I got her love the way she gives it with smiles, laughter, kidding, and ribbing. "Come on Bubba!" Can't begin to recall when she began saying that. We had fun when she visited. She met my hiking friends. I had already separated from Subman, Suds, and Spirit by the time she arrived for her first visit, but she met Blues Brother and Fresh Ground there. They were already known to her from my journal posts and our phone calls. She quickly met Candlemaker and Booty there, even I didn't know that I'd hike with them in many of the upcoming states. The Good Friday meal at Woodchuck's is a memory I hope to remember every year from now on. Beth and I rode bikes on the Creeper Trail and she dangled her feet over McAfee Knob. Those were times of sheer fun. We had other visits, like the one at Delaware Water Gap, where I needed so much time to prepare for my next few days of hiking that all I could do was introduce Beth to those I was hiking with at the time. But I'm so glad that we took the time there for her to meet Bubbles & Sprout, Mountain Man & Karma, and she got to see CandleMaker there too. Then there were multiple visits with Rambo that allowed the two of them to get to know each other. If you saw then or are realizing now how involved and important a part Beth was for this hike, then you're understanding it correctly. And that all took place before I got Lyme Disease and how she facilitated my recovery and kept this thru-hike alive by hiking with me or being with me while I solo-hiked longer sections between trailhead parking lots. Looking back, I could not have kept hiking without her. My hike would've ended. I know I wouldn't have wanted to continually hike solo north of Connecticut. But I didn't have to hike solo because she was always ready to do whatever it took to keep this adventure alive. Beth brought the fun back into the AT for me. As the fun returned, my hiking strength began to return. My strength never returned completely. I was a much weaker hiker after Lyme Disease, but my physical stamina and ability was good enough and leaning on her, my emotional strength and enthusiasm came back.Then came our family vacation. A time we cherish with our family and loved ones. With it came the big decision about how to resume hiking post-vacation. Beth was the one who challenged me to resume hiking with Subman and Suds and accept that I'd temporarily skip some miles in the Whites in order to hike north of New Hampshire's Route 2 (essentially all of Maine). To say that I initially hated that idea, and the thought of it, is a gross understatement. I realized it was the right thing to do though. In the end, it was a pivotal decision and a great one for me. Not only did I hike with Subman and Suds but Blues Brother shocked me by turning up along the way and Spirit of 76 was there too. I wouldn't have gotten out there without her. She didn't complain about switching roles from hiking to not hiking. She added up the miles she hiked with me and said they total more than 200. That's a lot of hiking and then she hiked the very difficult Mt. Katahdin hike too. So the hike has ended. But my journey with Beth will go on, hopefully for decades to come. I can't imagine ever finding a way to return her love and encouragement. But I assure you that I will try.