Date: 2004-08-25
To: Mt Katahdin
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: broken clouds

This was the most perfect day to end this wonderful journey. Walking up Katahdin was like a dream...it was crazy to be at that point when you have thought about it for so long. It was an absolutely perfect day...sunny, in the 70's, not a cloud in the sky. The walk up the first few miles was fine, no big deal. Then bam, all of a sudden there are these humongous boulders in front of you that you have to climb UP. OK, cool! Fun! Some of them have iron rungs drilled into them so you have somewhere to hold onto or step down on. And all around you are the most breathtaking views of the mountain ahead and behind. It's just a huge mountain. And you get to see the path ahead for a mile going up, up, up. It was like a jungle gym for grown-ups. Finally we get to Thorough Spring, the last spring on the AT. Holy water. So cold and delicious. Then Aswah says to me, "Only one more mile on the AT." I started bursting out with tears. My god, what a journey it has been. I am sad to see it end and yet I am so proud of myself for what I have accomplished. There were so many times that I didn't think I would make it. But yet, here I was. So it was great and for that last mile up to the sign I just couldn't stop crying. What a geek. Getting to the sign was surreal. You keep seeing that picture everywhere...before you go on the hike, during it and finally you are really there. We stayed up there for just about a 1/2 hour and then we debated which way to go down. We started at about 11:30am & took our time going up for pictures and nostalgia. So we didn't start our descent until 3pm. We decided to go down the knife edge.Oh my god I have never been so scared in my life. The narrowest path made up of rocks sticking straight up. And we had our entire packs on us so that made it more fun with staying balanced. Most people go up with a day pack. So this very narrow pathway with 1000 foot drops on either side. Wowsa. What a way to end this. And then we hear of a guy who the other day died from a boulder rolling onto him and nobody could lift it off of him. Gee, real reassuring when you're trying to make it down in one piece and before dark. So this was scary-ass climbing for a mile. The "chimney" was especially scary. Straight down. This wasn't hiking, it was serious mountain climbing without anything holding you or helping you down. Just hold on as tight as you can and trust the person below you guiding the way. Teamwork was amazing here. Your character is really tested at a point like this. There was a group of about 7 of us descending at the same time helping eachother down. It was great. So we get down the real hard part and still have a good 3+ miles to go. Then we were blessed with an amazingly colorful sunset surrounding us all around. Wow, was this a perfect day. We ended up walking in the dark for the last mile or so. Thank god all of us had headlamps or lights to guide us. We ended up getting in after 10pm. It took us 7 hours to do the last 5 miles!!! But wow, was it worth it!! What a great mountain. I really can't believe that southbounders start with that mountain on their thru-hike.What a long, strange trip it's been. I have met some really wonderful real people on this journey. This was better than I ever expected. Now that I am home, I really miss the woods. I really miss the freedom and the simpleness of life. I think everyone should do this if they ever get the chance. You get to learn so much about yourself and about what life is about. And what you really want to do with your life. Thanks to everyone for all of their support. Love Lisa :O)