Date: 2006-10-11
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Miles today: 442.5

Well it's taken me a bit longer to write this than originally hoped. Since I summited last Saturday (9/30). Before I get all philosophical and emotional about the rest of my hike I want to talk about what you all have missed since I last wrote. I've talked to many other past thru-hikers who say that their favorite state of the trail was Maine, and I must whole heartedly agree. From the moment I entered my home state I felt a remoteness and sense of peace that was difficult to find in many of the populated (and roaded) mid-Atlantic states. Even the challenging spots (i.e. Mahoosuc notch & arm) were beautiful. The weather in the last several weeks of my hike was variable, we'd have a few days of rain separated by several sunny (and sometimes unseasonably warm too!). Perhaps because of the beautiful weather I experienced over the Saddleback Range, the Bigelows, and Gulf Hagas/White Cap Mtns. they became some of my favorite spots of the entire trail. Up until the day I summited Mt. Katahdin I was always meeting new thru-hikers and really enjoyed hiking with them. Goldfish, Compost, Popcorn, Timber, Sleep Ninja, Natty Boh, Low Gear and Bear Can were great company in and before the 100 mile-wilderness. Sometimes there's nothing like a "hiker train" to get you going (and keep you going), especially one that talks about comic books and their corresponding movies, right guys :-P   Speaking of keeping you going, I was thrilled to be visited at several occasions by groups of friends and relatives. At the Kennebec I was greated not only by my Dad but also by a family friend/distant relative Bridget Qualey (what a nice surprise visit from the newly converted trailjournals.com junkie!). We had a great hiker feed at the road and hung out for hours consuming brownies, sandwiches, soda/OJ, and lots of other snack brought by Bridget. After we'd been there less than an hour who should appear out of the woods (heading south) other than Faceplant and Nobee (man and dog we had met down south and who Ice stayed with at Kincora's for a couple of days) they had flip flopped and were heading back to CT. Along with them was Seed and High Five the Beer Dog (another man and dog combo) who crazily enough knew Popcorn and Timber from home (guess that they convinced him to hike it on a ski trip) but had never seen each other on the trail despite starting only 2 weeks apart. So it was grand reunions all around!   Hiked the next five miles with my Dad (thanks to help of Bridget to move our car up so we could slack) which was very enjoyable... have to say that this and the Mt. Katahdin experience (where he caught up with the four of us thru hikers practically running towards the bottom... Compost was impressed) makes me think this ol' thru-hiker still has pretty decent wheels! From Caratunk I only carried 2 days of food to Monson where I met up with both of my parents and my grandparents. :-)   It was great to see them all! We enjoyed a somewhat blustery, but delicious, picnic by Moosehead Lake which was topped off by the "surprise" dessert that turned out to be a wonderful blueberry pie. Thanks Grammie! After we got done eating it was back to the warm car... and out of the wind! Ended up doing a little night hiking b/c I couldn't pry myself away, but it worked out fine b/c when I got to the shelter everyone was still awake. Oh yeah other hikers I didn't mention, Link and Jeannie the trail talk was true, they do indeed bake their own bread every night. Hike the whole next day and a half in the rain. When I rolled in to Cloud Pond Shelter I got to see Righty, John Peterson, Lefty and Buoy and met Sleep Ninja... at this point we were all soaked and cold. Nothing better than crawling in that sleeping bag though knowing that tomorrow I'm seeing a whole bunch more friends and family. Have to say I was pretty spoiled in Maine (carry 2 days of food into the 100 mile wilderness and getting resupplied at Gulf Hagas)! Met up with Sleep Ninja at the Chairback Gap Lean-to and end up hiking with him all the way to the end! We got down to the river and who was there but Ice and Kaitlin, another MMA friend. Then we headed to the gate where a full blown BBQ was going on - just for me ! My parents, my aunt, uncle, and Grandpa, lots of friends from my church, and special guest Isaac (Nikki and Mike's new baby boy) were all there to welcome me "almost home." I joked that I needed 70 hugs to fuel me for the next 70 miles and I'm sure that I met and exceeded that! Thanks to everyone who came despite the ominous sky that really gave me a boost for the rest of my hike. PS Sleep Ninja also really appreciated the trail magic... and as we say when it rains it pours... In the next 24-48 hours we had lots more wonderful trail magic, met Don Brewer's brother on his way down from the Carl Newhall Shelter where he'd left candy (and some real good stuff too!) and sodas etc. in the creek! Then got up on to White Cap and to add to our enjoyment of the beautiful view we met Fly by Mike who hooked us up with all sorts of goodies! Also ran into Old Reb's wife who was waiting for him on a logging road, she gave us a few treats and even took our trash for us! Amazing how eager thru-hiker are to drop "all that extra weight." lol!The fall foliage was just about peaking as we neared Katahdin and it was amazing to be able to walk and enjoy all its beauty. Stayed at one of the best camping spots on the trail at the Rainbow Lake Dam. Sleep Ninja and I set up our tents looking out over the lake at Mount Katahdin with her cloud nightcap just covering her peak. The light of the setting sun was just amazing. We had a fire - of course! Seem like we did every night for the last 5 nights of hiking! Very nice :-)   Then it was into Abol Bridge where we hung out with Bear Can and Low Gear (woke up to a Bald eagle perched on a treetop across the river). Our jaunt in to Katahdin Stream Campground was... WET! Very rainy, but that made Big Niagra Falls quite the lunch spot (although our stop was expidited by the fact we were wet and soon became cold after stopping). One of the rivers we forded was quite swollen but thanks to Sleep Ninja I was able to cross safely on the sketch "bridge" - two oversized saplings and one stand (of a 3 strand) rope.   Fortunately once we got to the campground we were able to hitch a ride out of Baxter to where we were going to stay the night (and meet Dad, Mike, and Brian - the summitting party) at Natarswi in the health lodge - a heated cabin! It was spaghetti and italian sausage for dinner with pumpkin bars for dessert - a good "last supper" to fuel us up the mountain the next day. An early start - 4:45 so we could get in line and make sure we got a parking spot (Katahdin was bound to be packed the last Saturday in September). Sleeping Ninja and I dropped my Dad, Mike, and Brian off at Abol (they were going up that trail b/c it's about a mile and a half shorter than the Hunt Trail that the AT goes up). Dad thought it would take him 4 hours to hike up (ended up he was wrong, so they ended up waiting at the top for like an hour... guess he's in better shape than he thought) so Sleeping Ninja and I hung out for 45 minutes before starting up the mountain. It took us 3 hrs and 15 mins to hike the 5ish miles to the top... and we were taking our time. As we neared treeline we entered the clouds and it became more and more blustery. Rime ice covered the windward side of everthing... it looked like we were on the arctic tundra. Slick icy rocks warranted care in walking although all I really wanted to do was run to the top! Got to the peak and we were welcome by cheering from the crowd gathered there (lots of college outing club groups etc)... what an undescribable feeling to touch that sign... I just grabbed it leaned my head on it and yelled "YES." Then all the classic pictures were taken including one opening the mini bottle of champagne that was brought up for me! :-) Fortunately we hung around at the top for long enough that the cloud lifted giving us spectacular views! Then it was back down to the parking lot to continue the celebration with the other thru-hikers who also summited that day, Sleep Ninja, Compost, Natty Boh, Low Gear, Bear Can, Link, Jeannie, and a few others! On the way we stopped at the overlook above Katahdin Stream Falls and my water bottle rolled off into the stream and woooop over the falls it went... fortunately Mike chased it down and miraculously recovered it (I was much relieved). After the celebration in the parking lot it was time to stop in at Natarswi for one last gorgeous view of the mountain before heading home. Even when I was in the van with Mom on the way home it was still so surreal, this day just seemed like any other in a way... I was just hiking. Yet at the same time it was the completion of a goal held for many months... many years. I reached it, the end, the sign I dreamed of almost everyday on the trail. Still I have not been able to organize my thoughts enough to reflect on the end of my journey no less the entire thing, so I guess you'll all have to be patient :-)GA->MA2,174.6 milesMay 10 - Sept 30, 2006 144 days