Date: 2006-08-30
To: Epilogue and Many Thanks
Miles today: 0.0

Come visit my webpage or check out my pictures. My 2000 miler application asked me to describe a few highlights or unique aspects of my hike. I didn¢t realize there would be an essay question, and it was so difficult for me to answer I had to set it aside for a few days. How do you pick highlights from such an epic journey? Some of the days that stick out in my mind are days that I saw something spectacular, like the snow covered Smokies, the woodchuck that thought he could climb a tree, the Keffer Oak, Pierce Pond, my first bear, my first moose. Some of the days I will always remember were when I arrived at treasured landmarks, like Amicalola, Neel¢s Gap, Harper¢s Ferry, the White Mountains, the Kennebec River, or Katahdin. But the last group of days that were highlights to me were just random days that for some reason simply stick out in my mind, like the day I did laundry at the NOC, the day I went to the Big Meadows wayside in the Shenendoahs, or the day I had lunch on top of a bald before hiking up The Priest. I think my friend Pebbles summed this up well in a recent e-mail, ¢It's weird, memories about the AT - some random days like that are so vivid in my memory, for reasons I can't really understand.¢ There are so many highlights to this adventure that I simply couldn¢t just pick a few to squeeze into one paragraph, so I decided to tackle the ¢unique¢ part of the question. This was also tough. Does unique mean getting chased down by a rogue cow beside the Elk River? Maybe it means waking up to a 300 lb. bear in my face or being circled by a pack of coyotes. It certainly doesn¢t mean stumbling over rocks and roots or falling flat on my face ¢ I saw lots of other hikers do that too. I guess in the end I don¢t really know what unique means in terms of other hikers, but I do know that every day I had some sort of experience that was unique to me. So I pretty much failed the essay question and am positive that I didn¢t need to check the ¢sure you can quote me¢ box. That¢s okay though, I made it to the end, and that was my goal, my dream. I¢ve gotten a few complaints about the anti-climatical nature of my last entry, the day I climbed Katahdin. But all the way through I tried to have my journal reflect how I felt at the time, and climbing Katahdin was kind of anti-climatical for me. In the end it reemphasized a lesson about life, about how living life is all about the journey, not about the destination. That last day was the saddest day ¢ the day my friends and I gathered around a sign and felt pride and astonishment at our achievement and then abruptly said goodbye. We said goodbye to the trail, to the life we had known for the past 5 months, and goodbye to each other. But the sadness of the end will never override the fun of the adventure, the whole AT experience. I started this trip alone, afraid to talk to other people, but I grew as a person and realized that needing to have friends around doesn¢t make me any less of an independent person. It¢s nice to have someone to cheer you up when you¢re feeling down, when you just want to stop hiking for once ¢ people who know exactly what you¢re going through. I don¢t think I could have made it all the way if it weren¢t for the wonderful people I met on the trail, in addition to all the love and support I got from my friends and family at home. So thank you. Thank you readers for following along with my journey. Thank you Steve and Thorin for being my first compatriots, The Jukebox for making me laugh and giving me a name, Mickey One Sock and Woody for giving me advice and walking with me through the fog. Thank you Minnesota Smith for giving me something to talk about, Sparrowhawk for your positive attitude and delicious tea, and Tofurky for being my Rhoda and staying with me when I was sick. Thank you Kurly and Swanson¢s for being fun and laughing at my eccentricities, Mountain Goat for teaching me not to set my tent up on a mountain top, and Stinky, Orangutan, No Worries and Little Bro for reminding me how carefree it is to be young. I¢ll never forget Sourdough and Orangeman, thank you for bringing that youth into adulthood and walking with me when I needed it, and of course, talking to your goldfish. Thank you Cookie for understanding how I felt about leaving my family, Karuna Miel for keeping me company in Damascus, CRAM for listening to my margarita rant, and Uber Dude and Bandit for thinking I¢m ¢girly¢. Thank you Bemis and South Paw for telling me excellent stories in the snow, Bugs for saying you¢d like to be more like me, and Boy Floyd for convincing me not to quit, packing out that disgusting stuffing, and Poppy¢s wonderful trail magic. Thank you Gator Goat, Freeze Out, Snickers, Pond Water, Buttercup, Moat, Novocain and Excitable Boy for being there when I¢d lost my friends and my husband and needed a new group of friendly faces. Thank you Chestnut for making me laugh when I was lonely, Carefree for staying up with me to chase "bears", and Papa Bear for teaching me about flowers and birds. Thank you Turtle M and Turtle D, wherever you are, for being with me on those 3 cold and snowy days in the Smokies, and Longhaul for being there on the cold and snowy day on Katahdin. And then there¢s my posse, who all survived Virginia through Delaware Water Gap with me, and who will always reserve a special place in my heart. Thank you Jebus for deep and provocative thoughts, your enthusiasm for math, and rescuing my hat. Thank you Thumper for making me laugh and being my friend even if you didn¢t understand me. Thank you Yeti for being on the outside looking in with me and making me feel like what I had to say was important. Thank you Doogie for staying true to yourself and secure in who you are. Thank you Granite for being you, and adding sunshine to every day. Thank you Grizzly for understanding me and wanting to be my friend. Pebbles, you were there when I needed another girl to talk to and you made me feel accepted, and I thank you for that. And last, but certainly not least, thank you Snake ¢ you were my life preserver on my darkest days on the trail and you never gave up on me. You walked with me almost every day when no one else would and never cast me aside. And even though we agreed on nothing it somehow worked out and I hope you¢ll be my little brother forever. Is anyone still out there? I know this Oscar speech would probably have lost me by now¢¦The friends (and friends¢ parents) and family I want to thank are all over my guest book ¢ so you all know who you are. But I especially want to thank Aunt Judy and Cindy for coming out to visit me, and Uncle Johnny who somehow found himself plugged into the internet. Thank you Aunt Janet and Uncle Ed aka Aunt Betsy and Uncle Boomer for being my rescue squad and support crew and mailing me numerous cards and goodies along the way which always gave me something to look forward to. Thank you Mom and Dad for always being loving and supportive no matter what crazy idea I have and for showing your pride in me, it means the world to me. And Robert. The only regret I have about this trip is that you weren¢t there to see what I saw and experience what I experienced. Not many husbands would have said ¢I don¢t want to go but you can go if you want to,¢ and then have taken over all the work, bills, housecleaning and pet sitting for a half a year. It¢s part of what makes you unique and why I love you. You inspire me to be the best person I can be, and you truly want nothing more than my happiness. Thank you for that. My only hope is that you can say the same about me.