Date: 2009-07-27
From: The Birches (Katahdin Stream Campground)

To: Mt. Katahdin!
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: light rain

The final day we awoke with anticipation. "Awoke" would be a technical term as none of us had slept much due to the combination of heat, bugs, and a lack of space. Ate a good breakfast and hit the trail around 7 am. Signed the on trial register at the trail head and began the over 4,000 foot climb. It was not raining as forecasted but the overcast skies had put the mountain in fog and it was rather windy. The 5.2 mile trail to the summit started steady and not that difficult but then continued to get steeper. When we broke out of the tree line we found ourselves on a very exposed ridge where the trail just seemed to go straight up and over large boulders and other difficult obstacles. It was without a doubt the most difficult sustained climb of the whole trail but it was comforting to know we had so little left. Reached the table lands by about 10:30 and enjoyed the much more leisurely walk in the fog across the flat shoulder of the mountain. Reeve dropped to the back as we approached what we knew to be the last up. Owing to the fog the arrival at the summit was somewhat sudden. The sight of the sign appearing out of the fog 20 yards ahead of me caused me to stop and take a picture. I slowly approached with less elation than I had anticipated. It was more like Birdman and I had been stunned to silence by the significance of the end of our journey. We walked the last few steps side by side and reached out to touch the sign simultaneously. Despite Ms. Janet's warnings I could not help but to give the brand new sign (brought up on July 25th) a kiss. Reeve then took control of the camera and we had an extensive photo shoot. Pictures included everything from throwing birdseed as confetti and removing all clothes but boots and underwear and lounging across the top of the sign. It was warm enough on the summit that we remained about a half an hour to savor the accomplishment. We had some nice snacks and then started down for the last time. Because of the weather we elected to go back down the AT rather than head over the knife edge with no views. We agreed with our friends the Linkers that we would meet them at 3-4pm at Katahdin Stream Campground. The hike down was very hard on the joints and we were all glad to reach the bottom on time. The Linkers had brought us some snacks and refreshments to celebrate and then we hopped in their truck to drive back to Monson. Back at Shaw's again we picked up Reeve's car and extra gear. We also got to see a few thrus that we had hiked with along the way. Stink, Boof, All Good, and Tobasco were all about to head into the wilderness for their last week on the trail. We wished them luck and exchanged contact information as we departed. It was another 2 and a half hours or so of driving to the Linkers and we arrived around 9:45 pm. All three of us enjoyed great showers and then a spectacular seafood chowder. Had a great time catching up with the Linker's and went to bed fully relaxed.   Now that the journey is over I realize how lucky my father and I were to be able to complete such an awesome adventure. Were it not for the support and help of all the people along the way we would not have reached the end. It was also great to have this journal to keep all of our communities aware of our progress. It was truely special to share such an interesting experience with all of you. I hope that you have enjoyed reading these entries and that they have given you a sense of what long distance hiking is all about.