Date: 2016-08-28
From: Baxter Peak, Katahdin

To: Green Bay, Wisconsin
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I'm known for finishing what I start and am one of those horrible parents that raised the kids with this philosophy¢so the thought of, to borrow a current political euphemism, ¢suspending¢ my hike, didn't initially sit well with me. I also don't like the idea of becoming a statistic associated with throwing in the towel. But after hiking more than four months, nearly 1300 miles through eleven states and summiting Mt. Katahdin, I decided to head back home rather than flip south to finish the remaining 862 miles from Rockfish Gap, where I began my thru-hike attempt on April 11. There were several contributing factors, but the nail in the coffin remains the reality I wouldn't be able to finish hiking the entire length within the window of time I had available to do it this year. The most miles I hiked in one day was just under twenty-one. As recently as Day 106, I hiked over twenty miles, but that took all day and my feet were mutinous. I didn't want to force myself into a situation where I¢d have to sustain high mileage averages for the sole purpose of finishing on time¢even if that were possible. And, there has been that persistently buzzing bee in my bonnet or¢as ¢Purples¢ would call it¢my macro lesson: I prefer being on water vs. being concerned about where to find and carry it. Maine was an affirmation. Two of my best stealth campsites were along shorelines. I longingly gazed at Mooselookmeguntic, Rangeley and Flagstaff lakes, lakes that I have already paddled, as I hiked past them. I let the lakes seduce me. My thoughts began fomenting a wilderness canoe trip this fall in Minnesota instead of hiking yet more elevation changes in pursuit of white blazes¢and knowing I'd still need to come back to finish.Finally, all my trail companions, since Andover, Maine, have either been Northbound thru-hikers who were ending their hikes atop Katahdin or section hikers. It wasn't hard to become swept up into their finish feelings. I do wonder had I been traveling with a group of Flip Floppers, or even buddied up with another hiker following a similar itinerary, if my enthusiasm for the trail and a drive to finish would have endured. Turns out summiting Katahdin did feel like an ending. Nah¢¦I blame it on my horoscope. I'm a Pisces. It's the lure of water. My husband and I took our time heading back to Harpers Ferry where a food drop was left in anticipation of my flip. We zig-zagged through the Northeast, crossing the trail and visiting some of my hiking highlights and missed opportunities as part of my bakery/brewery/ice cream walking tour. After visiting the trail head near Monson, where a friend had geocached a surprise for me to discover at the base of the sign post, day one included a stop for lunch at the the Kennebec River Pub and Brewery near Carrautunk, Maine. We continued on to Gorham, New Hampshire camping that night at the base of the Whites. The next morning we stopped at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center and then drove through clouds on the auto road to the top of a very obscured Mt. Washington This time, there were few tourists and no line to take summit photos. I also think I threw up a little in the back of my throat showing Sam the ¢trail¢ leading toward Mt. Madison.I pointed out mountains and notches as we meandered through the rest of the state, then Vermont and Bennington, a town I hadn't visited on my way through. Sigh¢¦we arrived too late at the Crazy Russian Girls Bakery. We headed down to North Adams, Massachusetts, spending the night with the same friends who put up with me for four days back in June. Day three following Route 7 brought us through Great Barrington, Massachusetts and Connecticut with stops at the Sweet William Bakery and White Hart Inn and Taproom in Salisbury and ice cream at Annie Bananie in Kent. Until we reached Pennsylvania, we meandered through New York hitting the Bulls Bridge covered bridge, through Fahnestock State Park and around Canopus Lake, over the Bear Mountain Bridge and along the Palisades Parkway adjacent to Harriman. We finally took to the Interstate where billboards and traffic assaulted my senses, and stopped for the night back at Common Ground Farm and Retreat Center, near the Eckville Shelter in Pennsylvania. Day four was D-Day. But by now, I knew the answer. After stopping for lunch and Yuenglings at a surprisingly quiet Doyle Hotel in Duncannon, Pennsylvania, we picked up my resupply the ATC headquarters in Harper's Ferry and headed back to Wisconsin.It's been less than 24-hours since I returned home and for the first and only time on this trip, I awoke in the middle of the night not knowing where I was¢ironically in my very own bed. I shocked my parents by showing up at their house this morning (which is a reason I didn't want to post this update sooner.) I¢ve washed my sleeping bag, put a few things away and took a yoga class revealing still very sore toes and knees. I have welcome messages chalked on my driveway and a lovely cake decorated with a backpacking/kayaking/camping/head-banded Barbie made by my neighbors. The door hasn't been closed to finishing next year, but for now I¢m heading off to sneak in that canoe trip in the Boundary Waters before my friends and clients get wind that I¢m back.Thank you for following me and for your comments. I read them all.