Date: 2014-08-18
To: home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I have been home for a week now and i honestly cant believe i just thru hiked the AT. Even though i was tired and ready to come home it feels like it flew by in a blur. It seems like only a few days ago i was being dropped off at the Amicalola falls state park thousands of miles from home and thousands of miles from my destination thinking, 'was this a good choice?' and 'well, better get walkin'. from the start and even long into the hike i didnt know if i could or would finish but i intended to give it my best try. being a fella that is not terribly outgoing i was really glad to make a couple first class friends on my third day making it not feel like i was alone trying to figure all this madness out. Captain phillips and the Finnish lumberjack are both excellent people that were a true pleasure to travel with. the lumberjack was a teacher on break, section hiking georgia and captain phillips intended to thru but had home duties come up and had to get off the trail at harpers ferry. the trail is an incredible learning experience that is hard to describe. you learn so much about people and how many truly nice people there are out there. to be perfectly honest of all the other hikers i met there were only 3 i did not like, thats good odds, and many many people i really liked and is a bit of a harsh reality that i wont ever talk to these folks again but am so glad to have called them friends on the trail, you know who you are if youre reading this. too many names to list them all. you learn of the kindness of people that dont know you or really any of the other hikers that take time and money to do trail magic that may consist of a six pack of soda in a stream to a full blown cookout to feed a hundred hungry hikers. either one is such an amazing feeling to come upon, hard to describe the thankfulness of a soda found on the trail, it means so much. you quickly learn what your body will do. can you carry 35 lbs for miles and miles each and every day, yup. can you tolerate aches pains, and blisters, yup. can you deal with only random showers, laundry, and plenty of dirt, yup. can you cope with your pack trying to grind your love handles off? can you tolerate a week of rain and everything you have getting soaked? how about bugs driving you mad? yup, i got thru it. Can you keep going? not always easy, the trail is not easy, but yes, i can keep going. you learn how much the hike is not all about you. it was never just me hiking. getting a message from a friend or family of incouragement is right up there with the random soda. i had days when i felt stuck in the mud, i didnt want to go any further and got a motivational text from a friend that changed my mood and propelled me thru the rest of the day (this happened more than once). i got food delivered, housed, fed, showered, and laundered by friends and family along the way that i gave thanks to have. im lucky to live on the east coast and have people along the trail, some folks from out west dont see people they know along the way. a familiar face makes a big difference. i was also lucky to have a great home crew taking care of things for me. cindy took care of all my mail and got everything i needed and usually delivered it. my old ma was there to get things i sent home and whatever else was needed, thanks ma. you learn what you need to have and what you want to have to make the hike easier. it all comes down to weight but you need comfort too. its a harsh circle i finally got good at by the time i was halfway thru maine! you also learn that the hike is more than just a walk in the woods even though most of the hike is a walk in the woods. you learn a lot about yourself, the trail community, and the trail towns. its much more of an experience than a hike, i didnt see that coming, i thought i was just going for a long walk. so many of the experiences on the hike cant be described by words. its a hard road. lots of rough trail. lots of hills with mountains behind them crushing your hopes, lots of mud, lots of rocks, its a long hard road. you do get to experience your body becoming a finely tuned hiking machine. feet get hard, legs get muscled with endless energy, and your arms become nonexistant (who needs arms to hike?). some days i felt like superman cruising easily up and over mountain after mountain. the greatest experience is that of when you finish. you get to the sign. the sign that affirms you can handle all the trail throws at you and keep going. many emotions bubble up at the sign, joy, elation, disbelief, sadness, pride, and surprise are a few. when i think back to the moment i first saw the sign i get that tingly feeling in my nasal cavity right before a tear shows up. its more than i can describe. its big. whew. anyway, the most important thing to me on this last post is to thank the many many people that helped me along in all ways. people from home, friends family, and people that didnt even know me but cheered me on through their computer. Thank you all for helping me to reach the finish line on this extraordinary journey of a lifetime. i would possible call it epic but that seems an understatement. 132 days of the hardest most difficult vacation i will ever go on, without a half ounce of regret. Thank You