Date: 2004-09-24
From: The Birches Campsite

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

Sept 24 - We Did It, We Did ItYES! WE DID THE WHOLE THING. What a feeling. It took six months and two days to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. Tonight Boonie, Palm Tree, and I are singing, "We Are The Champions"!There are few good weather days on Katahdin. Often it is completely socked in and you can not see anything.   Our summit-day weather was perfect. Absolute bluebird sky, you could see clearly in all directions. My overpowering impression is that the Lord God certainly did smile on our pathway this day. Toward the end of this journey I got into the habit of expressing our good fortune in just that way in lieu of saying we were lucky. I asked the Lord for safety, health, and good weather every day. And we often observed that the weather seemed to cooperate with our plans. Up at 5:00, we went to the Ranger Station, broke out gear to reduce weight for the day, signed in, and started up the approach trail by 7:20. We reached the top of Katahdin Mtn (5267') by about 11:40. We saw lots of exciting trail on the way up. Got pictures. Its a pretty good climb but, of course, we also had done over 2100 miles of training.When you get to Katahdin you do not have any degree of difficulty beyond what you have already experienced. I was a little spooked by the reports that some places have metal rod hand holds to help negotiate cliff faces. True, but not very scary. Its not like coming down the cliff faces of Mooselake Mountain in New Hampshire and finding that some of the climbing blocks are missing! This climb was actually fun. Once over the Hunt Spur(3400'), the trail levels out some. Higher still you reach "The Gateway"(4600') and a Tableland surface that makes you feel you are on the high plains of Tibet or some other exotic place. As experienced a few times earlier in the journey, the beauty, wonder, and excitement of the place simply empowers you. It draws you upward. I sensed that we were hiking faster as we neared the top. As you approach the top there are more rocks in the trail. Large 3' - 5' rocks that you have to dance over or pick your way around. That certainly slowed our progress. Reaching the top is a fairly easy climb and the emotion is exactly as you might expect. It's done, it's done!We took about a zillion pictures of various individual poses and of various collections of friends.   Then we ate lunch together and everyone congratulated each other all over again. Someone suggested I play a little penny whistle music. I played some of THE AGGIE WAR HYMN then played Danny Boy. That seemed to please everyone and surprise a bunch of others. As usual this brief performance drew applause and approvals. (I felt shorter was better as there were several groups huddled close by and I did not want to disturb them). After being on top about one and a half hours we started down.On the way down, the constant declining terrain and the rock climbs got a little tiring and by the bottom my left knee was hurting as much as it ever had before on the trail. Boonie and I came down together.   He got a lot of good pictures. We happened to get on an old trail route coming down the Spur, making for an even more difficult descent there. Boonie even had to remove his pack to squeeze thru one tight spot. I collapsed my poles, stored them on my pack and scampered using just my hands for support. This was suggested by hiker friend, Quest, and it did help. All in all we were relatively slow. Guess we got tired. Took us about 5 hours to go up and about the same to come back down. But I was determined to stay safe, not get in a hurry, and avoid any injury on this last of the trip. At the bottom we were met with a cheering crowd and more trail magic drinks and treats. Hikers and friends included Hawk, his wife Peggy, Quest and daughters Jessica and Aline, the Hobbit sisters, Crash Bang and his parents, Cat-Dog and husband, Gary, Spice Man, Palm Tree, and about four other hikers who plan to summit on Saturday.We rode with Hawk & Peggy to the Katahdin Inn in Millinocket. Most of us went to dinner about 8:00.At dinner we firmed up plans to travel to Bangor with Quest and his daughters tomorrow. They are returning to Bangor tomorrow and flying back to Florida on Sunday. Boonie and I will go with them to Bangor. He will get a rental car, return to Millinocket, provide transportation for Palm Tree and make a trip thru Canada and New England. I will get a plane ticket and fly to Houston tomorrow if possible.Then I will start my life over again. According to wife, Mary Ann, it's going to be my turn to do EVERYTHING for a while. After 6 months on the trail, I can handle it.I will also write each person who signs my Guest Book. And I will exchange digital picture files with several persons as planned. Just let me know what you need. I'll now be glad to correspond with any person who wants to ask specifics. I realize this could turn out to be a tall order, but I want to help any of you who may want to ask about incidents, equipment, preparation, etc. Finally, I plan to write Harpers Ferry and suggest the formation of a Signage Auxiliary Group. This proposal will enable people who live far from the trail (such as TX) to assist the maintenance clubs by making signs as may be needed. I plan to work out specifications and clarify whether the clubs actually want this kind of participation. As you may know each of the clubs seem to have their own preferences. Some may want fewer signs and location ID's. Harpers Ferry may want to nix this whole idea. We will see. Sox and Adam, I missed you.