Date: 2013-09-20
From: Katahdin Stream Campground

To: Katahdin, Baxter Peak, Northern Terminus of the AT
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: broken clouds

WE DID IT!Before I start, I'd like to apologize to all of you for taking my sweet time in posting my last three hiking entries. We arrived late back in Millinocket after our summit and then had to get up early to take Cash to the bus station and then Sky Pilot to his hotel for a Sunday flight (both in Bangor) and then we headed northeast to Prince Edward Island in Canada where the hustle and bustle of the tourist traps are smothering me. Good thing Kathy is here to calm me down. My feet still hurt after three days of no hiking, especially the one with a hole in it. Okay, since you've read this much - I'll start my last hiking entry.T Minus 9:20:13 is here and we're ready for lift off! At 6:15am on 9/20/13, the four of us, me, Kathy, Sky Pilot and Cash head off in the dark. The other three, Waffles, Monk and Grinch have already left. Cash tells me he's going to hike with me today. He wants us to finish together. The first mile was an easy hike. Cash and Sky Pilot were out front. I was taking it easy, not to rush into it with Kathy. Once we hit the boulders, Cash was sitting there waiting for us and it was a good thing because he was showing Kathy where to place her hands and feet and I was behind her, just to give her a boost, a knee to step up on and to be there to keep her from falling to her death. Sky Pilot must have caught the fever because he was gone! I told Cash he didn't have to stay with us but he looked right at me and said, "I told you we are going to finish this together and that's what were going to do." (I've asked Kathy if we could adopt him!)The time is starting to fly by. The boulders are getting bigger and it starts to sprinkle. We're on the Tablelands part of the climb, which is somewhat flat, so Cash goes on ahead of us but is never really out of our sights. When we get about two hundred yards from the Northern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail, Cash says, "Let's hike up together." Kathy films it with Cash's camera. So on September 20, 2013 at 12:20pm, I finished what I had started on February 21, 2013 along with two of the greatest guys on the trail, Cash and Sky Pilot. The three of us had big 'ol cigars brought up by Kathy and, thanks to Mrs. Sky Pilot, we had champaign. The rain sprinkles were gone and the sun was out. The clouds were in and out and after one hell of a celebration with fellow thru-hikers, it was time to start our southbound hike. And like M-80 said, "I don't have to follow that little white strip if I don't want to" and that's exactly what I did! The hike back down turned out to be an adventure in itself. Kathy, who was giving it all she had, was running out of gas. She gave herself the nickname "Noodles" first and then changed it to "Jello" which described the way her legs felt. They were giving out. She had not been hiking for the last 2000+ miles like we had and didn't have our hiker legs. She had climbed 4172 feet in 5.1 miles and now she going back down. She is a trooper and the guys stayed with us and helped us down. It was dark by the time we made it back down to the campground - now as four south bounders. For our safety, I drove us to Millinocket to our rooms at the Appalachian Trail Lodge. We were all too tired to go out to eat so me and guys went to McDonalds and ordered take out. Kathy and I ate our food on the upstairs porch - do we know how to celebrate or what?I've posted some pictures and in a couple of weeks I'll give my final thoughts of my hike. So until then, thanks for reading my journal and I hope it was fun and helpful to all, including the future hikers. Before I go, I have but one thing I've been waiting to be able to say and that is - I am a THRU-HIKER!