Date: 2009-06-20
To: The End
Miles today: 239.0

Here we are. Sitting in a living room unused by any other AT hiker save ourselves, and our Grandparents who are so nicely housing us while we wait to aclamate to non-trail life. I'm finding that the Emma in me is much stronger than the Spring Leaf. Already whipping my cell phone out whenever mom texts or calls, back-seat-driving whenever we go somewhere and also I am getting used to climbing into a car instead of putting on the backpack.   But, every once in a while, not uncommon type once in a while, I do find Spring Leaf peeking her head around the corner, shaking her head. "You should walk instead of driving there you know." And I agree with her, so off we go, we walk. I'm starting to sound schizophrenic aren't I?? And maybe I am, Spring Leaf and Emma didn't mould together as I thought they would, instead I am plain Emma (just with amazingly ripped legs =) ), but everyone in a while Spring Leaf takes over and I am the crazy AT hiker who feels lazy if I don't hike at least 10 miles a day. I feel really guilty not walking every day, like I'm betraying myself or something. I'm definitely going schitzo =S.   I am just plain Emma, but plain Emma has changed a bit, and for the better. I used to be in what traffic my rather smallish city has, and just accept it; now I look at traffic, and I cringe and can almost feel the pollutants killing things, including me. I used to be slightly frightened when I thought about the future, what with going somewhere to college, making my own life-long decisions, basically having to be a fully responsible adult; now I can look at any situation, and though it may be daunting at first, I¢ll straighten my shoulders, stare the problem straight in the face and proudly announce I¢ve done about 500 miles of the AT. I was mentally and physically challenged on that trail, like nothing I have ever done before. In the beginning, there were many times when I was defeated completely in both my physical and mental capabilities. In the middle of our trip, my muscles began to harden into steel hiking machines, which occasionally broke down, but not nearly as often. My mentality also hardened. Yes, I still am the happy, smiling, laughing girl with the blonde braids making a fool of her doing something randomly. But I am not the same girl who once quaked in her shoes while facing any one of her problems. My heart has become hardened as my muscles, not for those I love of course, but for those who make my life harder than it out to be. Like Problems, Challenges, Stupidity etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Not that those things aren¢t good in life, I just have a new approach to them!   Well, after 463 miles on the trail(472 if you count the Approach Trail), 10 or more miles of side trails (counting some of those darn blue blazes to water we hike twice as much!), countless miles walking to resupply stores in towns (why was the grocery store in Gatlinburg 3 miles away from everything else????????????), breaking the 20 miler mark and a million experiences ranging from kinship, brotherhood, to anger and pain, from suffering to beauty, we the Vontraps, are done with our journey. Two of us will come back in the near future (under 5 years most likely), one of us will not be coming back for a long while. That would be me, Spring Leaf. After hiking 470 miles of the AT, I have grown to love it, but at the same time, I find the trails back home slightly more inviting. The AT is a bit far from home, and I don¢t think my mother and I could bare to be departed from each other for so long ever again¢¦until I go to college, which will be an interesting adventure.    So here¢s to an end of an amazing trip. I can¢t remember what I first expected of this long trail, but I¢ll tell you what, all those expectations, whatever they were, were completely blown away by the first week. From how beautiful to how rainy, to how freaking hard it was to the amazing people you met along the way. I hope that as long as I live I will never forget everything I learned and saw on the trail, never forget the awesome people I met, though I won¢t ever see/hear them again. The AT hiker Spring Leaf found much on the trail, and hopefully didn¢t leave to much behind seeing as it is a ¢Leave No Trace¢ policy out there¢¦   Thank you everyone for the brotherly love on the trail. Wishing all you thru-hikers the best of luck, remember, ¢Don¢t look up.¢ All you section hikers, thanks for the refreshing energy you gave because you weren¢t dead beat after walking 12 miles for the 20th time, and remember WE CAN ALL BE FRIENDS AT THE SHELTERS =). And y¢all LASHers out there, way to do the long hauls, we¢re a rockin¢ awesome group if I do say so myself.   Goodbye for a long while.~~Spring Leaf~~