Date: 2009-08-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Dear readers,Enjoy the newly posted photos from the summit of the Big K. I'm still traveling so it'll be awhile until I can post photos from my last few weeks on the trail and get around to a lengthy entry regarding Gangsta and my final days together on trail. It deserves a lot of thought, effort, and time, therefore I will not rush to get that entry posted, but I figured that many of our readers might be itching to see summit photos, so I thought I'd post a few. Enjoy the fog. Can you believe that it was clear, hot, and sunny by the time we hiked the 5 miles down. You could see the summit crystal clearly from Katahdin Stream campground - it looked like a bluebird day up there. Had we only had weather like that three hours earlier. Such is life...To give you a brief update on the recent happenings, I've discovered a new level of stiffness. One that can only be obtained by thru-hiking for 5.5 months, then sitting for hours in a crammed backseat of a car on a roadtrip. Yes, I have gone from independant life on the trail to an Erskine family road trip around Maine. Are you wondering how that transition is going? Ask me in a week. I'm hoping I can survive the drive home to Michigan without going stir crazy in my 18 inch wide backseat, cramped leg room, and the torturea of my mom's books-on-CD blaring over the speakers. I didn't know 26 year olds still go on family road trips. Apparently, they do.In all seriousness, though, I'm thankful that they made the trip and wanted to be at Katahdin for my big day. We're spending some time exploring Maine these next few days since it's not the most accessible state from Michigan. We went to Bar Harbor yesterday, Acadia today, and tomorrow I will be blowing all of my extra hiking funds at the Freeport Outlet mall. Particularly, the Patagonia outlet. Besides Katahdin, it's been the next best thing I've been looking forward to. Loon claims it can be hit or miss. I'm hoping tomorrow is a hit because I've got money to burn (not really, I mean, I am officially unemployed now, but I definitely deserve to treat myself to some new clothes, right?)Oh, and did I mention we CAMPED outside of Acadia last night!? Yes, apparently, I can't get more than one night in a real bed these days. It was car camping though (does that make it any better?), and well, car camping just seems completely absurd to me now, after living the minimalist lifestyle for so long. My parents live it up right in the front country, complete with table clothes, lanters, a 10x10 tent, and other ridiculous items. I laughed at my mom who insisted on walking down the dirt road to the bathhouse just to go pee! That's why there are trees, people. Oh, and on that note, in Bar Harbor, I had to pee really badly, and was so irritated that I had to walk around downtown looking for a public restroom! I guess as a thru-hiker, we get accustomed to being able to go to the bathroom any time and anywhere we please. My mom is getting mad at me for wearing the same t-shirt every day. I've been sitting in a car! It's not dirty. I forgot deoderant today, which my mom made sure to tell me when she caught a whiff. I shaved, but only had time to do below the knees. In my skirt (yes, I wore my OR skirt to Acadia), my legs above the knee looked ridiculously hairy, not to mention the hairy patches I shaved around due to scrapes and scabs. Why did they not look that bad in the woods? Maybe I just wasn't self conscious about it...I said goodbye to Gangsta yesterday. We had a big cryfest in the middle of the Appalachian Trail Cafe. It made the reality of this hike ending that much more real. I cried harder and longer when we parted ways than I did on the summit of Katahdin-- proof that this hike was not soley about the destination. But it's okay, it wasn't goodbye, only a seeya later, and of course, we've exchanged too many text messages to count in the past 24 hours since. A few leftover Poptarts and Little Debbie Honey Buns remain in my foodbag. I don't want to eat them. They don't appeal to me in the "real world", not to mention the guilt I would feel after consuming something with such high caloric value, knowing I wouldn't be hiking 20 miles afterwards. 10 minutes after saying goodbye to G, I received a text from her saying "I pulled out a Little Debbie Cosmic Brownie from my foodbag and realized it's now comfort food, not a snack" (cue cryfest #2 in the middle of the restaurant). I put on my favorite pair of jeans for the first time since March and they slipped over my hips and buttoned with much greater ease than before my hike. The scale hasn't changed much, but it's evident my body has.Yes, there are a lot of changes I will need to make, many that I'm not all that excited about. It's late and my mom is telling me I need to go to bed. Sheesh, I miss deciding when my own bedtime is. Maybe I should have YO-YOed.More to come when I get home next week!Happy Trails,Wags (am I Amy now?)