Date: 2004-10-07
From: The Birches Campsite

To: Baxter Peak, Summit of Katahdin and End of Journey
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Last night at The Birches were Kip (playing his camp guitar which he has carried the entire distance and I¢ve just now heard him play), Chef TB (quietly and reflectively writing his journal), Keytone (cooking in the dark, enjoying his final noodle dish of the trip), White Patch (feeling no pain in his knee!), Mousebait (trying to catch some early zzz¢s to ease a slight feeling of ill), Sherfoot, Lil¢ Tree, Ursa Minor, Walking Stomach (trying to recall tunes to stump the guitarist), Tarzan (whom I haven¢t seen since he left the trail in TN for a six-week healing of a turned ankle), Gather (in his sleeping bag with a dose of Nyquil and a grand dose of Swan¢s Melaleuca on his raw feet), and One Thing (reviewing his agenda for the next few weeks, from the warmth of his sleeping bag). Slimer (who summitted this week) and his Dad (who has been a generous trail angel supplying thru-hikers with a total of 60 McDonald¢s cheeseburgers, fries, sodas, and peanut butter cups), made a supply run into Millinocket for us. I needed nothing but he returned with orange juice for Ursa, miscellaneous items for others, and some meds for son Gather.The ambiance was the perfect menu for Swan: peaceful, reflective, loving, mellow, ballad-style music, campfire. My desire was to rise early enough to hike to the trailhead by 6:15 to watch the first of the sun¢s morning light touch the peak of Katahdin. I did just that but the top of the mountain was enshrouded by a cloud. The sunrise was lovely regardless. Shortly after 7 a.m. the rest of the over-40 crowd arrived and we began our final climb. The younger crowd minus Gather and Chef rose at 4:30 hoping to have a front row seat at treeline for the sun¢s appearance. The weather report was perfect, stating we had a "Class I Day". We signed the day¢s climbing roster at 7:14 and were off.My fears from last evening melted into nothingness as I entered the woods. When the boulders, rebars and hand-over-hand climbing began, we proceeded as we have for the past 2170 miles: one step at a time, above treeline, and over the first pile of rocky obstacles. I was forewarned, and accurately, about a second serving of boulder navigating. Expecting the worst is sometimes quite beneficial. With the exception of three or four hands/knees/and even one belly crawl, it wasn¢t nearly as frightful or difficult as the picture my imagination had produced.Leading the way, at one point I saw a smallish sign. I gave out a spontaneous whoop of glee while simultaneously realizing something wasn¢t quite right. The sign was too small and was not surrounded by thru-hikers. But we¢re almost there right? Wrong. We had arrived at the Tableland, successfully passing up and through the rocks of the Gateway. From here 1.6 miles remain. The summit is not in sight until we cross over this slight peak ... and then ... !! There it stood a short distance away: the symbol of success, the most photographed location on the Appalachian Trail, the most desired vista for all northbound thru-hikers. It shouts out to all ¢Congratulations! Well done!¢.KATAHDINBaxter Peak   Elevation 5261 FtNorthern terminus of the Appalachian TrailA mountain footpath extending over 2000 miles to Springer Mountain, GeorgiaSeveral hiking soulmates are already posing for a group photo. They see us coming and wait. Ursa and I break into tears at first sighting of the sign. Our friends burst into applause when they spot us. We grab as many hugs and high fives as we can before we step into our well-earned spots for the photo shoot.It has been 28 years since I exclaimed with such joy and amazement ¢I did it!¢. Only this time it was ¢WE did it!¢. Without Ursa¢s encouragement, assurance, sense of humor, and common sense, this journey would have been much more difficult and stressful. Without her smiles I might have been a woeful, whimpering bag of emotions, suffocating in my own fears. Without her healing hands of massage I might have been laid up with tendonitis in the ankles or legs. And without her love I¢d be only half the person I hope I am at conclusion of this adventure. We did it Ursa! Alone we¢d have succeeded; together we triumphed. So let the celebration begin!Last evening I visited extensively with Flutterby, a thru-hiker who returns annually to repeat her final summit. As we were approaching the trailhead this morning she came bounding out of her camp towards me. In her hand was a bottle of champagne which she flung to me saying ¢Congratulations Swan! Either stash this in the woods or hump it up.¢ I humped it up! She seemed as ecstatic to have caught me as I was to be recipient of the celebratory libation. When Lil¢ Tree, Walking Stomach, and Sherfoot arrived atop Katahdin we shared their smaller bottle of champagne and saved mine for later this evening. After all, we still needed full faculties and balance for negotiating our retreat off this mountain!Now this evening, I¢m numb, not from the champagne, but from disbelief. Expecting to feel uncontrollable emotion, I¢m quite surprised. I¢m thrilled, ecstatic, proud, saddened, relieved, lonely, empowered, enlightened, tired, energized, but incapable of expressing anything in a meaningful way. I¢m simply numb. We had hoped to celebrate with other thru-hikers tonight but their locale is far distanced from this hotel. But the over-40 crowd has not forgotten how to have a great time. With Chinese cuisine, congratulatory toasts, infectious laughter, grand conversation, and marvelous company, Ursa and I conclude our 2174.1 mile trek. I feel my words on this final day are anticlimatic, unworthy of expressing the deep significance of this milestone. Perhaps after I return home more poetic and insightful reflections will spring forth from my fingertips. My intent is to add a few more entries to this online journal in the next couple weeks. It will take a bit of time to post the remaining pictures, of which there are many. If you are interested, please continue to log on to this site this next month. The visual treats of the final section of the AT are not to be missed. Hopefully my camera captured some of the awesomeness and beauty spread out before us. Today I bid farewell to the Appalachian Trail - but the journey continues.   "So --- with all the out-of-the-way things that have been happening," Alice thought, "nothing really is impossible."