Date: 2016-09-25
From: The Birches Shelter

To: Katahdin
Miles today: 5.0

I was up at 5 am this morning to get an early start up Mt Katahdin. The trail started out easy enough but after a mile or two it began climbing in earnest. The wind seemed to be getting stronger the further up the mountain I hiked. "I wonder if this is the best day to be going up?" I wondered. I watched as numerous groups of people stopped and turned around due to the cold and the wind. I put on my down coat, my wool hat, and my raincoat and pressed onward. I reached a point where I had to stow my hiking poles and begin climbing hand and feet over big boulders.Next I came to a few places where I had to grab on to a piece of strategically placed rebar and swing my leg up onto the top of a ledge. At one point I had to hold on to my injured leg and give it an extra shove to reach the next foothold since my injury prevented me from doing it with just my leg muscles.The wind was howling at this point - probably gusting at around 60 or 70 mph. I felt quite exposed going up over the various boulders but continued climbing. Another few hikers, a girlfriend and father of a through hiker turned around "We're not dressed for this cold weather" leaving the NOBO to continue on by himself. I could feel a fine sleet blowing sideways across the mountain and started to notice places where ice from the sleet was beginning to build up on rocks. I would have felt better if I had someone to hike up with me, for moral support, to give me a boost if I needed it, and to be there in case I slipped and fell or something. "Well, I've made it this far mostly on my own." I thought while thinking that it'd be nice if my old hiking buddy Dr Fix-it was with me. (He's heading South through the Shenandoahs right now)I bit further up I met Mogly coming down the mountain. He was one of the hikers who spent the previous night in the shelter with me. "It's pretty bad up there... it gets quite a bit worse than right here, in fact I was blown off my feet at one point in the flat section up there.""Should I turn around?" I asked"No, you can make it, just take your time and go slow." He advised. Well, I made it to the top but it was a miserable day. I had pictured hiking up on a sunny day and spending an hour or so at the summit taking enough photos to get the perfect shot. I think I was at the summit for about 3 minutes. I took another guy's photo and then he offered to take a few of me. I was uncomfortable in the fierce cold wind and wanted to get down below tree line as soon as I could. It took about six hours for me to get to the top and almost that long to make it back down to the bottom. I took a different trail down - The Abol Trail - it was steep but doable so I was spared the challenge of making it back down over the obstacles I'd come up over on the Hunt Trail on my way up the AT. My wife Joanna was waiting there for me and it was so good to see her. She flew into Bangor and drove up earlier today. She brought along a special teddy bear that one of my daughters got for me when I was injured 3.5 years ago. On the front of the bear it says "Get Well Soon!"When I decided to hike the Appalachian Trail almost two years ago I was struggling with the effects of my motorcycle racing accident. It hurt when I did anything and I didn't know what to do as I waited for something - anything - to heal my injuries and return me to "normal."The thought that I had back then was "If I hike 2,000 miles then my leg will have to be in better shape... maybe I'll even be completely healed." Completely healed.. ? No (not yet : ) This was pointed out to me by another hiker who passed me on my way down Katahdin. "You just hiked the entire AT? Congratulations..." He said. "And you did it with a BUM LEG!""Ok... haha... thanks... " Yes, I'm still limping but working on fixing that is my next challenge. I've lost an extra 25 pounds of weight I didn't need, my legs are finally about the same size, and I can hike 15 miles without much pain or having to think about my leg for every second of the day. So I'm definitely getting better. Mentally I feel 1000 times stronger - After going up and over so many steep mountains and making it the entire 2,189 miles of the AT (despite my injuries) I know that I can do anything... YOU can do anything - if you just break it down into bite sized pieces that you can handle each day. I really appreciate all of the support that I've gotten from you and my other journal readers. The encouragement I received really did make a difference for me and was a big part of my being able to complete my adventure on the Appalachian Trail.My kids surprised me with a video that tells the story of my injury and healing on the AT. Here's the video about my healing journey. Thanks again for all of your support and encouragement.